My Favourite Makeup Brushes

I have collected and used a fair few brushes in my time. When I studied theatrical and media makeup I got my first set of "professional" brushes, these weren't actually that great and I only have one or two brushes left from the set now. I have collected a variety of different brushes which I love and use everyday. These brushes are a real mixture in terms of price, from high street to more high end but they all do their job perfectly.

Real Techniques Brushes

If I could only use one brand of brushes, I would pick Real Techniques hands down. 

Buffing Brush - My favourite brush for foundation, this guy is extremely well loved. I personally don't like traditional flat foundation brushes, as my foundation always streaks when using them. Discovering this brush was a revelation. 

Available from Boots in the Core Collection which contains this and 3 other brushes for £21.99

Duo Fiber Face Brush - I remember a time when you could only get duo fiber brushes from MAC and now you can pick them up in Boots for a third of the price! I like using a duo fiber brush to apply my powder as the bristles are less densely packed so you get a lighter finish and it stops you looking cakey.

Available from Boots in the limited edition Duo Fiber Set which contains this and 2 other brushes for £23.99

Stippling Brush - My favourite brush to apply cream blusher

Available from Boots £11.99

Duo Fiber Contour Brush - This also comes in the duo fiber set along with the face brush. I don't use this to contour, I actually use it to highlight. Again, as the bristles are less densely packed you get a lighter finish and a much more subtle effect.

Bobbi Brown Bronzer Brush - Since I got this for my Birthday last year I have used it every single day. Although the bristles are quite dense, this brush is so soft and even with daily use it never sheds any hairs.

Available from Bobbi Brown £38.00

Chanel Blush Brush - My favourite brush for powder blushes. I like that this brush picks up a lot of product and allows you to be quite precise with your application. I can really focus my blush on a certain area and build colour easily.

Available from Debenhams £33.00

MAC 217 Blending Brush - The only eyeshadow brush you need. This brush does everything, packs on colour but blends it out at the same time. Also as the bristles are slightly narrower at the top this is great for doing my favourite trick of blending eyeshadow underneath the lower lash line.

Available from MAC £18.00

Sigma SS217 Blending Brush x 2 - Now I know I just said you only need one eyeshadow brush and you do. These Sigma brushes are knock offs of MAC's 217. The brush is exactly the same, except for  a shorter handle. Sigma are an American company which essentially copied all of MACs brushes but for a cheaper price. They have now renamed all their brushes and these are now called the E25 Blending Brush. If you are on a budget I highly recommend Sigma's eye brushes, their face brushes however I'm not so keen on but I can honestly not tell a difference between this and my MAC 217. I got these both for free as gifts with purchase from love-makeup.co.uk

Available from Love Makeup £10.50

Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler - Simply the best eyelash curlers. The gold ones were limited edition and are no longer available but you can buy the original silver ones.

Available from Space NK £20.00

Tweezerman Tweezers - Again, you cannot get any better than Tweezerman tweezers. These New York print ones are no longer available but ohmygoodness I have seen the cutest Harajuku Lovers pair which I want so bad!

Harajuku Lovers Tweezerman Tweezers Available from Beauty Bay £23.76

Revlon Brow Brush - Its ridiculous how hard it is to find a traditional eyebrow brush, after an age of searching I finally found this Revlon brush in Superdrug. I use it to brush through my brows if I have been a bit overzealous with the eyebrow pencil. I cant find a link to this online but try your local Superdrug.

Ardell Brow Trim and Shape Grooming Tool - I discovered these mini eyebrow razors about 3 years ago in New York and I have used them ever since. They are perfect for those fair hairs which you cant pluck or for the monobrow area! As it removes all the fair hairs it makes your makeup go on so much smoother! You cant buy these exact ones in the UK but have a google for similar versions.