Affordable Brushes for Beginners

Hello again,

Today we are going to talk about brushes. I love me some brushes and I have a pretty good variety of them. Some are professional and some are very affordable. I will be the first to admit that you don't have to have a ton of brushes in your collection. I just tend to tell myself that I "need" all of the ones I have. haha! The purpose of this post is to give you an over view of what brushes I would recommend if I were just starting my collection. I hope that it is helpful for those of you that are just getting into make up or are trying to increase your collection. I will link to all of these brushes so you all can check them out if you wish.

Here we go...


~Eye Brushes~

Eco Tools has very nice brushes and to make the deal even sweeter, they usually are on sale at Ulta or the drugstore. I purchased this eye brush set years ago before I went on a trip. (Note: there is one brush missing from the kit. It's with my other dirty brushes, so I didn't include it in the photo) I only took these brushes and I was, and still am very pleased with them. They have held up nicely even though I have washed them several times.
http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod1620045

Sticking Eco Tools, I came across this lovely pair a few years back and snatched them up. In fact, I gave this brush set away in a giveaway I did a year or two ago. They're great brushes! Again, awesome for traveling because they are 4 brushes in 2 handles. Genius idea! The only thing is that they can be difficult to store. Especially if you keep them upright, like I do. I store mine in a small metal tin. I have had these for years and have not had any issues with the bristles getting weird on me from being stored that way. All I do is make sure to put the smaller end down because those bristles are shorter.
http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?productId=xlsImpprod6380097

Here is a closer look at the brushes you are getting in this duo. I use these a lot! I really like them.

Now let's move on to the Up & Up Brand from Target. They have great brushes in this line! This is an old brush and I don't know if it looks like this anymore. I believe they have silver handles on them now. I wasn't able to find this on Target's website but I know they have an eye set now, so I will link to that one below. I wanted to share this brush because it makes and awesome blending brush. If you are looking for a good blending brush, you want something that is full like this. The more movement you get in the bristles, the easier it is to blend.
http://www.target.com/p/up-up-medium-shadow-smudge-brush-duo/-/A-14898265#prodSlot=medium_1_8&term=up+and+up+crease+brush

Here is a close up of the brush. It might not be the fluffiest of brushes but I am telling you...it gets the job done!

elf is a great place to find affordable brushes. I own a ton of elf brushes! Most of which I end up liking so much that I buy a back up (or two) when they are on sale.

This Crease Brush is a fairly new brush. I purchased 2 of these right off the bat because I knew I was going to like them. Another tip when shopping for elf- If you can wait, I recommend purchasing when they have a 40% or 50% off sale. They're stuff is affordable already, but if you can save more money, why not!?
This brush is also good for blending. Howver, my favorite way to use this is to apply a darker shadow to my outer corner. It is small enough that it fits perfectly in that space.
http://www.elfcosmetics.com/p/crease-brush

The "C" brush is one of the first brushes I ever purchased from elf. This is great for apply color all over the lid or for packing on shadow. It's very stiff and you don't get a ton of movement from these bristles. It's also good for applying cream shadows or pigments. 

http://www.elfcosmetics.com/p/eyeshadow-c-brush

~Face Brushes~
I have to admit, I have a bit of an obsession with face brushes! Especially blush brushes. I picked my 3 favorites from elf.  For some reason I did not take pictures of these individually so we will go left to right as I talk about these.


Complexion Brush-
This is a great brush to use for powders. I use this to apply my Bare Minerals Foundation. It doesn't apply it as heavily as a kabuki type brush does, but I like my foundation to be light. It's also good to apply Mineral Veil or a finishing powder over the top of my foundation. I do not recommend using this for liquids but you can use it to set your liquid foundation with powder.
Another way I like to use this is to apply a bronzer in larger areas of my face. Not so much in the way you apply contour shades but just to give the skin an over all warm up in tone.
http://www.elfcosmetics.com/p/complexion-brush

Blush Brush-
I believe I own 3 or these by now. I use these for blush, bronzer, contour, highlight, setting my under eye concealer. This brush is awesome! Definitely worth the money.
http://www.elfcosmetics.com/p/blush-brush

Mineral Powder Brush-
This brush does not have a name printed on it so I believe this is the correct brush linked below. I have been using this for blush lately but now that I know it's listed as a "mineral powder brush", I am going to have to try that! This brush is again, very versatile in it's uses. I could easily contour with this baby.
http://www.elfcosmetics.com/p/mineral-powder-brush?Dept=tools-single-brushes

Well, my friends, those are some of my favorite affordable brushes. I have a ton of brushes so if you'd like more information on those, let me know! I hope you found this post helpful. One more thing I want to mention, don't feel like you have to use the brush only for what it is labeled as. I use my brushes however I want. Some shadow brushes make great concealer brushes and as you read above, some blush brushes make great everything else brushes. haha!

I hope you guys have a great day and I will see you back on Friday.

Until next time...

Xoxo,

Adela