For today’s Clueless Beauty, we’re going to be exploring the world of makeup brushes. I remember simpler times when makeup brushes were relegated mostly to the realms of eye-shadow and blush. Today, there’s a brush for just about everything! There are brushes specifically for foundation, contour, eyebrows, eyelashes, lid line, lips. There are blending brushes and smudging brushes. There are big fat brushes and tiny little thin brushes. But, do you really need allllll the brushes? Which ones are you even supposed to use for what?! We’re here to help.

The Pros Of Having A Healthy Brushes Arsenal

Confession time: up until pretty darn recently, I poo-pooed owning more than a couple brushes. I just didn’t think they were that necessary. But, brushes are a game changer I’m kicking myself for not checking out sooner. For starters, using brushes makes for a much more even and flawless application. Yes, you do have to be careful of streaks and obvious brush marks, but a blending sponge can help with that. Brushes also help you use less makeup, quantity wise. Furthermore, they will help keep your makeup cleaner, since you’re not introducing your fingers and hands to it constantly, it minimizes bacteria getting into your products.

Assess Your Needs Before You Buy

So many choices out there! So, where do you even start? Well, first things first. What sort of types of makeup do you use most often, and how involved is your application? If you keep things pretty simple, a small amount of brushes will do you just fine. Here’s a little secret: most brushes can be multi-purpose brushes. Of course, if you’re a full on glamazon, you might want a more substantial amount of brushes.

Let’s Talk Money

Okay, if you’ve spent any time at all watching any beauty bloggers/vloggers, you’ve likely heard something like this: “Hey guys, so I’m using the ISpentWayTooMuchOnThisBrush by Lewker, it retails for AED 1300, and it is the BEST thing ever!”. Umm, really? Okay, if you make your living by doing makeup, I guess it makes sense to buy yourself some Ferrari level brushes. But for us mere mortals who are just trying to not look hideous, those sort of things are well beyond our reach. Brushes come in all sorts of price ranges, As humans and consumers, we kind of tend to think, well expensive must mean better. Not always the case. The main difference between luxury brushes, and more affordable ones (besides a brand name), basically comes down to if a brush is made with synthetic hair or natural hair. If you use “natural” brushes, chances are your bristles came from a living animal, like a goat, mink, or squirrel. Let’s just say they’re not “cruelty free”. Personally, I’ll save the money and the animals and stick with synthetic. As long as your synthetic brushes are soft, and don’t cause your face irritation, you’re good to go.

Keep It Clean

No matter what brushes you go with, it’s important to keep them clean and properly stored. Brushes should be kept somewhere they are not all clumped together, as being packed in too tightly can actually distort your bristles. You also want to avoid keeping them in your beauty bag, where bacteria can easily get to them. When it comes to cleaning, ideally you should wash them once a week. But, you can get away with going as long as a month, as long as you don’t notice yourself suffering from sudden breakouts. To clean your brushes, just wash them with a very mild soap or shampoo. Baby shampoos are perfect for this. Gently scrub the bristles in your hand and run them under the water until the stream turns clear. From there, it’s a simple matter of letting them sit out on a paper towel overnight to properly dry.

Keep or Yeet?

There are some types of makeup brushes you should own because they will make your makeup game stronger, and your life much easier. Others, you might actually have no use for. For instance, I have no need for a lip brush. I don’t do lip liner and I’m more a gloss or tinted gloss kinda gal. You gotta pick what works for you. So, what do you need?

When deciding, I used this page and this one. Then, I went to Amazon and looked for some sets that had plenty of high star ratings. I went with this set. Honestly, there’s likely more than I actually need in it, but the brushes are soft and you can’t beat the price. Like so many other beauty essentials, part of discovering what works for you is totally trial and error. But, if you’ve been shying away from brushes in the past, hopefully you’ve been inspired to give them a shot. You’ll be glad you did.