There are so many different types of eye brushes and so many brands to choose from it’s easy to get confused, so how do you know which is best? Never fear we went and did some digging and have come up with a list that will help you! We have brands that range from drugstore to high end, so no matter the size of your budget, you can still get a really nice set of brushes!
There are a ton of eye brushes out there, but you don’t need them all! There are really only a few brushes that are an absolute necessity to create beautiful makeup looks. A great trick to remember is that the bigger the brush the more surface area it will cover, so as you start to transition into the crease and outer corner colors the brushes get smaller and smaller.
Transitional Blending Brushes
It’s all about blending! The best blending brushes that we have found, and have used the most to blend out our transition colors are the MAC 224, Morphe M505, and Sigma E40.
MAC 224-The great thing about this brush is that it is tapered at the tip which makes it really easy to get deep into the crease to blend.
Morphe M505- It’s a little wider at the tip than the MAC 224, but according to professional makeup artist Stephine Paige Rogers, “It blends out eyeshadow like butter!”
Sigma E40: This brush is similar to the MAC 224, but it doesn’t have as fine a point. Bonus, it is a lot cheaper making it a great dupe!
Precision Blending Brushes
Precision blending brushes are great to use when you start to move into the lower crease and outer corner, both areas in which you need more precision since we often use darker colors in these areas. Often times these brushes are made of natural fibers such as goat hair, so they pick up excess product. This ultimately helps with preventing over application. In this category, the MAC 217, Sigma E25, and Morphe M433 are ahead of the pack!
MAC 217-This is smaller than the 224 and allows for amazing precision when blending in the outer corner and lower crease. The hair is soft and this brush is versatile in that it can actually be used to blend in the upper crease as well.
Sigma E25-Probably one of our favorites is this guy! It’s similar to the MAC 217, but is a little stiffer making it easier to really get into that lower crease and outer corner.
Morphe M433- This brush is denser than both the MAC and Morphe versions making it ideal for packing on and blending color in the outer corners. Just don’t use it in the upper crease unless you really want to pack on color there!
Packing/Lid Brushes
MAC 242-This is a small synthetic brush ideal for packing shadow on the lid. Bonus, it is a really great brush for also applying glitter and pigments!
MAC 239-This brush is versatile in that not only can you pack shadow on the lid you can actually use it to stamp shadow in the outer corner, then use a blending brush to blend it out of course!
Morphe E15-This is an oval shadow brush great for packing on lid colors. It is bigger than the MAC 242 and 239 brushes so it covers more area. In addition, it has an oval shape to it, so it allows you to easily get the shadow right up against the crease without it going all over the place!
Elf C- This brush is similar to the Morphe E15, but at only $3 it’s a steal!
MAC swept this category with two brushes, they’re that good!
Eyeliner Brushes
There are two types of brushes that you can use for eyeliner to get those sharp-as-knives wings: an angle or pointed liner brush. Both are great for eyeliner; it really is down to personal preference on which one you want to use.
Angled
MAC 266 and Morphe B11-The only difference between these two brushes is that the Morphe brush is smaller and a little stiffer than the MAC brush. Both are still great brushes, but we prefer the Morphe brush for making those sharp wings!
Pointed
Our winners in this category are the Sigma E11 and the Laura Mercier Pointed Brush. Both of these brushes are great and really make it easy to create a sharp line. However, the Sigma brush has a tiny little angle to the point so it really helps to make a great wing!
Smudger Brushes
These brushes are great for smudging out eyeliner! Our favorites were the Sigma E21 and the Elf Small Smudge Brush.
Pencil Brushes
These brushes are awesome for applying and blending shadows on your lower lash line! Our favorites are the MAC 219 and the Sigma E30.
Inner Corner Highlight Brushes
Morphe E36-Out of all the brushes we tried we only fell in love with this bad boy for highlighting the inner corner! It’s tiny with a little dome shape to it, making easy to get right into that inner corner giving you the perfect highlight!
