Eye Brushes 101

I believe every girl should own, at the very very least, one eye brush. The one brush should be fluffy and dense, to both apply and blend. My one brush for this purpose is the MAC 217, made out of white goat hair. MAC's description of the 217 is "For shading or blending of colour or creamy products. This brush has fine, densely packed fibers that are arranged in an oval shape." I use this for blending in the crease, applying lighter colors to the crease to blend, and dusting my MAC Melon pigment on my lids in the  lazy days. It's super soft, but if you want to preserve the white goat hair you need to clean frequently. After washing, you might want to put the original plastic covering on so the hair don't get splayed around.

My second essential eye brush is a flat shader - the Urban Decay Shadow Makeup Brush that I got in my makeup palette. The company's description is "Get an all-over sweep of color with the flat side of the brush, or use the fine, rounded tip for more precise shading. Thanks to the tight bristles, this multi-purpose brush picks up a little or a lot of shadow, so you can shade, blend and define." Trusted, this brush is very smooth in a bad way. It's synthetic and plastic, and don't hold color well. However, it does what I need it to do and pats shadow on the lid more or less. The MAC equivalent is the 239.

My third essential is the pencil brush - an essential for smokey eyes. MAC's pencil brush is the 219, and fit to the name, is shaped like a pencil. According to MAC, the brush is, "For precision shading on lid, in eye crease or along lash line. The soft, smooth fibers of this brush are gathered into a pencil-shaped tip. It is ideal for blending eyeliner into eye shadow to create a smoky looking eye." My 219 is slightly pokey, but at an angle it's doable. I'd say it's too stiff, but I'll do with what I have.

My last need-to-have brush is an angled eye brush. MAC's would be either 266 or 263. The 266 description is "For creating sharp, precise lines. This brush has fibres which are carefully arranged to form a perfect angle." I use the Ecotools angled eyeliner brush, which is probably the second softest brush in the list after the 217, and by far the cheapest (3$!). I use this for gel/cream eyeliner, and either this or the 219 for my brows. Not too many purposes, but does the job well.

Now you may be thinking, "why not use the free applicators?" Well,

1. You can't wash them

2. You can't blend with them

3. They spread lots of germs as they cannot be washed

4. You'll just end up spending more on applicators

I hope you enjoy my take on brushes for beginners!