The ONLY reason you are even seeing my collection of eyeshadow makeup brushes is because they all had to be washed at one time because they all fell in the sink while it was full of dirty water. (Dirty water from washing off a facial mask. My drain is slow, and the water backed up a bit.) Seriously. I have two of the easiest and most effective methods for washing makeup brushes, but I'm so incredibly lazy that I just end up getting more brushes, so I don't have to wash the ones I have on a regular basis.
OK. Let me rephrase that. I don't buy new brushes because the ones I have are dirty. I buy new brushes because I have a brush problem. I MUST HAVE THEM ALL! And I cannot get rid of brushes I don't use any more. I decided to I would write about my shame. I'm hoping it will motivate me to "clean up my act" and a) wash my brushes more often, thereby reducing the number of eyeshadow brushes I actually need to own. And b) You can help me decide which ones to get rid of.
Now remember these are all eyeshadow brushes. I am not showing you my face brushes. That will have to be in another confession. Fortunately I'm not as out of control with the face brushes. I have divided them up by Brand. But then I got tired of that so the rest I divided up by use or non-use. Let's begin!
OK. Let me rephrase that. I don't buy new brushes because the ones I have are dirty. I buy new brushes because I have a brush problem. I MUST HAVE THEM ALL! And I cannot get rid of brushes I don't use any more. I decided to I would write about my shame. I'm hoping it will motivate me to "clean up my act" and a) wash my brushes more often, thereby reducing the number of eyeshadow brushes I actually need to own. And b) You can help me decide which ones to get rid of.
Now remember these are all eyeshadow brushes. I am not showing you my face brushes. That will have to be in another confession. Fortunately I'm not as out of control with the face brushes. I have divided them up by Brand. But then I got tired of that so the rest I divided up by use or non-use. Let's begin!
My Holy Grail Eyeshadow Brushes:
These two Lancome Gift With Purchase brushes are so coveted by me and so special I would grab them if there was a fire in my home so I could save them (OK not really. I would grab my son, but let's fantasize.) These brushes are literally older than some of you reading this post. That's right. These two brushes are 24 years old. I acquired them in 1989! LAST FREAKIN' CENTURY!
Not only are the natural hair bristles still incredibly soft and still super shiny, they are perfectly shaped and formed. They hold the perfect amount of powder for an all over shading of the lid. They do not contribute to fall out, they are light and easy to hold, they are not too stiff or too floppy, and they have yet to be rivaled by any other brushes I own.
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| Sideways view |
I have tried numerous time to find an equivalent replacement but every time I think I found something, it winds up not being as good.
My MAC Eyeshadow Brushes:
I may not purchase from MAC any more (The whole Rodarte Fiasco turned me off of the brand), but their brushes are still awesome. Two of the MAC brushes are fairly old. We're talking 19-20 years old. The still perform fairly well, but I will admit that they are not as soft as they once were.
I have the old version of the 213 Fluff Brush and a New 213 Fluff Brush. I think the older version is fluffier, but I like the newer one because the older one is kinda frazzled looking now. It is 20 years old after all.
I have the old version of the 224 Tapered Blending Brush. The old version is thinner and much more tapered than the new version. I prefer the old version but it is slightly on the floppy side. This one is about 20 years old too.
I have the 210 Precise Eye Liner Brush, which looks frazzled here too, but I promise that when I get it wet to use with a cake liner, it imparts a near perfect fine line on the eye. It's not as great with gel liners because it's a little on the floppy side. But use this baby with liquid or cake liner and you're golden!
My Sephora Eyeshadow Brushes:
I tend to get a lot of brushes from Sephora because they are sometimes less expensive than MAC (Sometimes) and they always have something I can add to my basket to get that extra cash needed for free shipping. I admit I'm a sucker for that. Sephora changes the look of their brushes so often that it's hard to keep up. If you fall in love with one brush you might never see it again because Sephora constantly discontinues brushes too. It's a Pain In The Arse (PITA), so that's why I have duplicates of some brushes because I saw they were being discontinued.
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| Old version on the left, New version on the right |
To start I have the Classic Brow Brush. I have very light and highly annoying eyebrows. Not only do they have a mind of their own, but they in no way match my hair color so have to fill them in. This is the perfect brush to do that. The reason I have two is that the one with the silver ferrule got worn out for daily use over several years, so I bought a new one (the black ferrule). I should throw away the silver one, but like I mentioned above. I'm a hoarder. I can't.
Then I have two of the Classic Rounded Smudge Brush. I love using these brushes for blending in the crease and also to make the perfect smoky eye. I got 2 because they were on sale. Why I painted one with holographic blue nail polish, I do not know.
I have two flat eyeshadow brushes that I am unable to find on the Sephora website. These seem like synthetic hair, but it could be a blend. They are flat and perfect to adding that brow bone highlight if like me, you are stuck in the 1990's and still do a brow bone highlight..
The Classic Large Synthetic Eyeshadow Brush was purchased with the hope that it would be a back up for my beloved Lancome brush. But it isn't. Not even close. Still a nice brush, but not holy grail status.
I have the Sephora Pro Airbrush Concealer Brush in with the shadow brushes because it's slim, and it was in the container that fell in the water and I had to was it. I figure why not include it. I love it by the way. My concealer has never looked so natural. (You NEED this concealer brush.)
My Workhorse Brushes:
Aside from my Sephora Brow Brush, my cheapo Spoolie and the Bobbi Brown Ultra Fine Eye Liner Brush are brushes I use EV-ER-RY-Day! The Spoolie is obviously used for taming my unruly brows, and the Bobbi Brown brush is the perfect brush for lining powder under my eye. I have issues with pencil liners (that's another post all together) and by 10AM pencil liners are either gone or smudged down to my chin, so a powder liner is the answer for me.
This brush is perfect. It's actually old too. Like seriously 15 years or more. I might need to replace it as it is looking a little raggedy.
The Brushes I Love To Hate, But Still Use Anyway:
elf. Not my favorite brand. But I must admit that the Studio Contour Brush makes THE PERFECT crease blending brush ever. I have two because I'm too lazy to wash them often enough. Once i apply my crease color with my MAC 213 or smaller of the Lancome brushes, I take the elf brush and blend, lend, blend until I have something resembling a put together look. And for only $3 each i can buy more if I need to. My only complaint, they are kinda scratchy.
My Travel Brushes:
They all have short handles, so they fit in a makeup bag perfectly. They don't take up a lot of space, and there are a number of them that are fairly good quality. I have a few by Japonesque, Eco Tools, Essence of Beauty and so on.
The Brushes I Should Throw In The Trash:
When I was washing the multitude of brushes I own I noticed that there were four of them that were relatively clean. They were clean because I had not used them since the last time I washed my brushes. They suck. That's the honest truth. They are either scratchy, or floppy or shed too much or just overall awful. I don't know why they are still in my collection. They need to go!
So now you all know my shame. I am a brush hoarder. I don't think I need an intervention so much as I need a purging. So you tell me. Which ones should I toss and which ones should I keep? How many eyeshadow brushes do you own? (For the record, I have 31)
