In Part I of “Lauren’s Favorite Brushes,” I told y’all all about my favorite face brushes. Now we are onto eye brushes, and I have a LOT of them, so narrowing down favorites was difficult. I keep a mug of brushes on my vanity which contains many more than I’m showing here, but these are the ones I dig for and use the most.
Real Techniques #200 Oval Shadow ($13): I can’t exactly remember where I got this brush – I am pretty sure I got it through Influenster though, I know I didn’t pay for it. I essentially use this brush to powder down my eyeshadow base with either a loose powder or a bone-colored shadow in a palette.
BH Cosmetics Marble Luxe Brush Set #7 Diffusing Eye Brush ($26.60/set): The next few brushes really all do the same thing for me – I will use them to pop on a transition color and to really blend out the edges. The BH Cosmetics, Morphe, and Colourpop brushes are pretty much the same, but the Moda brush is a bit more tapered. I use most of these interchangably, just depends on my mood/brush cleanliness.
Morphe E27 Pro Round Blender ($7)
Colourpop E2 Tapered Blending Brush ($6)
Moda BMX-430 Pro Crease ($5.99)
Here’s a slightly closer look at the brush heads. L to R: Real Techniques #200, BH Cosmetics Marble #7, Morphe E27, Colourpop E2, Moda BMX-430
BH Cosmetics Marble Luxe Brush Set #9 Tapered Blending Eye Brush ($26.60/set): If I’m working towards a gradient (which I normally am), I will start with a lighter, transition shade using one of the brushes I just described. Then I will come in with one of these brushes with a slightly darker color. These brushes are a bit smaller and will intensify the colors a bit more. This is essentially a smaller version of the BH Cosmetics version above
Morphe E28 Round Blender ($7): This is very much like the Morphe brush I described above except this one is very tapered. I typically use this to blend out shadow I’ve already put down, versus putting on shadow with this brush. I think the tapered bristles help it to really do the blending for you.
Smith Cosmetics 230 Quill Crease Brush Small ($27): This is great for putting color down in the crease. The color is more intense with this brush than with one of the fluffier blending brushes, but sometimes I’ll use this to put down color and use the Morphe Round Blender to actually blend it out.
Cozzette S175 Eye Contour Brush ($17): I recently saw a YouTuber do a one-color eye look with just this brush and it looked so good so I’m bringing this into my favorites. The tapered head makes it great for blending, but it’s also pointy enough to do work on the lower lash line as well. (I think I got this as a press sample at The Makeup Show Dallas.)
BH Cosmetics Marble Luxe Brush Set #8 Classic Eye Blending Brush ($26.60/set): I like using this flat brush to pack on color onto the lid. The shape of this brush is really nice for doing that, and it’s also really soft. I also cannot find it at the moment and it’s driving me nuts. I need it, it’s so good!
Smith Cosmetics 253 Arrowhead Laydown Eyeshadow Brush Small ($22): I will often use this arrowhead-shaped brush wet to foil metallic shades and apply to the lid. This is one of the most unique brushes in my collection because the shape is so interesting. It’s very easy to get color on the inner corner of my eye with that pointed tip.
Morphe E36 Detail Crease ($5): This looks like a tiny brush but it’s honestly one of my favorites. I have like 5 of these, literally. My favorite use for this is for inner corner highlight. This tiny brush makes it so easy to just pop a little highlight in there and brighten up the eyes. But it’s also great for applying shadow on the lower lash line, deepening out the crease, etc.
e.l.f. 202 Cosmetics Beautifully Precise Smudge Brush ($5): This is a nice little pencil brush that is really affordable (and widely available, since it’s e.l.f.). I like this for applying shadow to the bottom lash line, or even filling in color in the inner corner of my eye that bigger brushes can’t get to.
BH Cosmetics Marble #8, Smith 253, Morphe E36, e.l.f. 202
Sigma E20 Short Shader Brush ($15): This is a great brush for applying shadow to the lower lash line.
Zoeva 223 Petit Eye Blender ($11.50): My particular brush was from a set but they do sell this as a single, it just looks a little different. I like to use this to smoke out the lower lash line, similar to the Morphe E18 below.
Morphe E17 Crease Precision Blender (Sold out but I think around $5): This is my favorite brush for the lower lash line. It looks bigger than the others but I tend to bring my shadow down pretty far. I have incredibly long lower lashes and if I don’t bring my shadow down really far, it totally gets lost in my lashes. I use this to get a really soft blend.
Morphe E18 Round Crease (Sold out but I think around $4 or $5): Similarly, I use this on my lower lash line as well, but when I want a bit more intense color.
And that’s it, y’all. Those are my all-time favorite brushes. What are some of the brushes you can’t live without. Do I need them, too? Convince me.
xo,
Lauren
Unless otherwise stated, I purchased these brushes myself. All opinions are my own.
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laurenelectro
A self-proclaimed beauty junkie/hoarder with a serious Sephora problem. This blog is a total rationalization of that problem. Everything is TOTALLY fine. Her free time is a mixed combination of making fun of reality TV with her husband, hanging out with cats and finally trying to figure out how to do her hair.