6 beginner tips to buy a makeup brush

You’ve just come across Tanya Burr on YouTube and it’s ignited a fire within you to give the arts and crafts of makeovers a go. Good for you! But wait! What’s that? You have no idea where to begin? You’ve seen them use a bunch of brushes but you literally have no idea about them? Don’t worry because I got you covered! Here are 6 tips to help you decide on what makeup brush to buy:

1. KNOW ALL THE BRUSHES. I cannot, CANNOT, stress this enough. Before you go buying a makeup brush, actually do some research and find out what each brush is meant to do. So many people I know bought their first brush based on what their favorite makeup artist was using for a particular makeover without knowing what purposes they are particularly useful for. There is a boatload of brushes to choose from and they are used for different things. There are specific brushes for applying foundation, blush, eyeshadow, etc. So buying the right brushes to have coverage of the entire face is the first important consideration to make. I know studying isn’t your thing but at least if it’s a passion, it’ll be more interesting!
2. Choose your fiber wisely. Natural fibers are organic, softer and work much better than synthetic, artificial ones. Budget considerations are important but if you have the dough to splash on high quality brushes, make sure you get natural fiber bristles for that extra bit of quality in your looks. However, do note that synthetic brushes do have certain advantages. They are easier to clean than their natural counterparts and are slightly better to use certain types of liquid makeup. Natural hair bristles have a tendency of soaking up wet products and to prevent this, it’s better to use synthetic hair. If animal cruelty is an issue for you, you might want to investigate a bit further as some natural hair bristles may not meet your ethical and moral standards.
3. Do some research on how the shape and characteristics of the bristles of the brush impact the application of makeup products. Brush heads can come in many shapes, including dome-shaped, narrow, pencil-like shape, bell-shaped, fan-shaped and even flat, rectangular shape, all depending on the use case of the brush. Certain shapes will help attain certain effects more than others. For example, the fan shape allows the user to diffuse a small serving or a product over a large area, creating a very soft, diffused look, the kind that is desirable for highlighters, for example. For eyeliners, on the other hand, using narrow, flat brushes are best suited because the area of application is over a narrow area and needs high precision for proper, accurate application. If the point hasn’t been made yet, just ask yourself if you’d drop a paint of color all over your face. If the answer is no, you just got the point!
4. Before you buy a brush, test the brush against your skin. Quality is a very subjective matter and beyond features, it is something that is hard to gauge purely based on characteristics and facts. However, one way to gauge quality according to experts is to rub the brush against your skin. As a general rule of thumb, good quality brushes tend to feel very soft and comfortable on the skin. Poorer quality brushes will tend to feel more rough and coarse on the skin in comparison, and needless to say, if rubbing any brush on your face causes irritation and discomfort, you are most certainly better off not using that product at all. What good is a pretty face it it’s killing you to wear it, eh?!
5. Consider all the use cases for your brushes. You will obviously have your favorites but note the fact that you won’t be able to use them all the time. Say, for instance, that you are out traveling. You obviously aren’t going to carry your entire cupboard along with you I hope! So obviously, whatever you intend to carry will have to be of a limited size. If you’re travelling a lot or on the move constantly, instead of outright going for the best brushes, you also need to consider ease of carrying said brush set as well. Similarly, if you’re use case is almost always casual parties and meetups with friends, you probably won’t need a vast collection of the most high-end brushes either. Sure, you can keep your options open by opting to keep all types of brushes if you’re drowning in cash but like most people, if you’re on a tight budget, it’s certainly something you should consider!
6. Read this part slowly, word to word. CLEAN. YOUR. BRUSHES. I cannot emphasize the importance of keeping your brushes clean. For real, I have lost count of how many people I know who don’t value their hygiene and sanitary habits enough and completely forget the importance of keeping them clean! If you had any idea of how much excretion and waste is produced by our skin, you wouldn’t want to use the same brush more than once, let me tell you! That would certainly be a very expensive hobby to maintain but at the very least, you have the option of cleaning your brushes at regular intervals, to ensure a greater degree of hygiene. So before you take the initiative of buying a brush, make the commitment to keeping them clean. The internet is full of ways to clean your brushes and what to use to clean them so no excuses! KEEP. THEM. CLEAN.

With these tips, you’re on your way to becoming the next great makeup artist for sure! Jokes aside though, keep these in mind and you should hopefully be on your way to get some proper hands-on experience in doing makeup. Everything is life is a gradual process and I’m sure that after getting started, you won’t be looking back on it anytime soon!