What are the different kinds of make up brushes and what are each of them used for?

Hello,





There are all KINDS of brushes. Many of them are unnecessary. Use what works for YOU. I will tell you briefly what works for me:





1. Foundation Brush. This is typically the most expensive brush in a set because it looks like a tiny paint brush and is very smooth. Don't spend more than $20. It is better than sponges in application of liquid makeup and gives a very smooth finish and good coverage control.





2. Blush brush. This is roughly 1.5 inches wide, round and tapering, with very very soft bristles.





3. Powder brush. For contouring and highlighting, I use two different shades of powder, so I have at least two brushes. It's best if the brushes are angled with one slim end for the creases on your face. This should be about 1.5-2 inches wide.





4. Finishing brush: This is often used to dust loose powder and stuff off the finished canvas. It's the largest of all brushes, about 2.5 inches wide and round in shape and profile. Very soft bristles.





5. Eyeliner brush: very short, tight bristles and square shaped. very very slim and angled, and about 1/4 inch wide. This brush is used to wet and dip into dark powders for lining the eye...works great.





6. Shadow contour brush. This is also 1/4 inch wide, but is round and very soft and pliable, at least twice the length of an eyeliner brush.





7. Lip brush. Very important for blending the lipliner/lipstick without creating lines. It's very thin and tapers to just a few bristles at the end. Alternately, the shape of an eyeliner brush is also workable. It is very very stiff and fairly short. A good lip brush has no stray bristles, is very stiff, and appears like one smooth tapering form. I like the retractable ones.





8. Eyebrow/marscara brush: any old full shaped mascara brushes work for this. You can get them for free at a MAC counter.





Finally, I do not think you need to spend hundreds of dollars on a good brush set. I have several brands and the cheapest one I own is sephora and it works great as long as I wash them routinely.