Affordable Makeup Brushes

Hi there! This post has been highly requested because many readers are under the impression that brushes have to either be poor quality and cheap, or straight from the MAC store. I’ve decided to give you an idea of some affordable brushes that I found have worked for me.

e.l.f. Cosmetics

I’ve been using e.l.f.’s lip brush, powder brush, and eyeshadow brush for some time now, and for such a low price point they’re pretty impressive. The lip brush is not very stiff, so I don’t recommend it for applying a bold lip colour – or any lip colour precisely. This lip brush would best be suited for simply applying some gloss. Though the eyeshadow brush has bristles that are tightly packed, it does not pack colour onto the lid. If you need to simply do a quick sweep of a neutral shade all over the eye – then this $1 brush is for you. In January I purchased the brand’s powder brush and it has been working fairly well. It works better when you wash it regularly, because the bristles sometimes have a tendency to become a bit frayed – but nothing to get you too frustrated, after all, it was only 1.50CDN.

Spa Resources

As mentioned in one of my previous posts, my stipple brush is by Spa Resources – a Canadian brand whose items retail in Wal Mart. The stipple brush has been going strong for over 2 years, and for only 8CDN it was pretty much a steal! This multipurpose brush is amazing. Earlier this year I decided to give their crease blender brush a chance — it’s pointed in the way that a pencil brush would be, but slightly bigger. So for crease blending it’s a little too tightly packed, for this reason it gives more of a harsh line than well blended colours. I would still recommend it, but moreso for blending out an eye kohl, smoking out a colour under the lower lashline, or creating a cut crease. The crease blender brush stands up to its name. I’ve been using this to apply and blend in all my crease colours, and it’s great! It doesn’t diffuse the colour too much, nor does it make it look too harsh; therefore if you’re looking for a brush to really diffuse you’re colour, go for a fluffier blending brush, such as the 785 by Bdellium Tools.

Real Techniques

Real Techniques as you probably know is the brainchild of sisters Sam and Nic Chapman – the Pixiwoo duo; makeup artists who have videos on YouTube. These brushes can be found at ULTA, Target, and Wal Mart. Here in Canada, we don’t have ULTA, but you can find them at Wal Mart and every now and then a few of them can be found in Winners. I only have the Core Collection, but I’ve heard amazing things about the brand’s other brushes so I’m dying to get my hands on some more.