My Favorite Makeup Brushes

I've done my Top Brushes-but I figured I would do a post taking about my favorite brushes. Makeup brushes are my favorite aspect of makeup. Well, brushes and eyeshadow. I want all the brushes. But I've been slowing down on purchasing them. Most of my favorite brushes are MAC. Mostly because I really want all the MAC brushes. Here and there I've brought from other brands but I'm kind of loyal to MAC. I have a large brush wishlist but I've slowed down buying them- only because I want to make sure I am using what I'm buying instead of it collecting dust. But let me stop rambling and share my faves with you!

Face Brushes 

Real Techniques Buffing Brush, MAC 134, MAC 168, MA 182, MAC 138, MAC 187

MAC 134- I bought this for $25 off. Which made the price a little easier to swallow. Actually most of my more expensive brushes I got for $25 off. Yay, credit card rewards! Anyway, I love this for bronzing. It's not a great multi-tasking brush. I pretty much use it exclusively for bronzer. I get a naturally bronzed look as opposed to stripes on my face. Love it! Note-Bronzer not contour!

Real Techniques Buffing Brush- To be honest this is interchangeable with the Expert Face Brush. I use this mostly to apply foundation. I usually like just using my fingers but every now and again I like to mix it up. I have a couple different foundation brushes and this is the one I reach for most often. It really buffs foundation in. I don't recommend it for dry skin though!

MAC 168- Best blush brush ever! I don't know what it is about this brush but I always like the way my blush comes out with this brush. It also is good for contouring but since I'm not too much into contour it gets used for blush! 

MAC 182- Love it for powder and buffing out blush if I go a little overboard. It's super soft and just overall one of my faves. I don't travel with it for fear of losing it. It's another one that's insanely expensive but I bought it $25 off. 

MAC 187- This is the very first MAC brush I purchased for myself. It's a great one for multi-tasking. It does an amazing job applying powder, pigmented blushes, and foundation. I've had mine for six years and it still looks new. 

MAC 138- Another one I bought for $25 off. I love it for powder, blush, and bronzer. I do travel with it, but I'm very careful to make sure I'm not leaving it anywhere! 

Eye Brushes

MAC 217- If I could only have one eye brush it would be this. It's great for applying shadow to the lid and blending it out too! And it's ultra soft. If I lost this brush I would replace it immediately. 

NARS #14 Brush- I like to use a pencil brush to blend color into my lower lash line. This one is very soft and yet does an excellent job blending it all out. I have the MAC 219 but I prefer the NARS one. The one I have is a bit older but it looks like the #44 is the exact same brush.

MAC 239- This works perfectly to pack color on the lid. I wasn't sure whether I would pick this or the 242 but I picked this one. The 242 is better with glitter shadows and pigments and this one does everything else better. I love them both but I would pick this one if I could only have one of them!

NARS #42 Blending Brush- It's perfect for blending. A clean blending brush is a must sometimes. I bought the MAC 224 for that but found it too scratchy and thin. So I got this one and love it! 

MAC 221- A smaller 217 basically. It keeps everything a bit more controlled and I love it! I wasn't sure about buying something so similar to the 217 but I LOVE this brush.

MAC 266- I thought all angled brushes were the same, but that's not true. This is much thinner than the ones I've found in the drugstores and it works great for liner and even better for brows. I've had it for years and its kept its shape and works just as well as the day I got it!

And no lip brushes. I find the ones I have do the job about the same. So I couldn't name one a fave over the other.

Now I have other brushes that I love- but these are just my favorite! Unfortunately, most of them are expensive which is kind of good because at least I know I spent my money on brushes I love. But if you are looking for some much less expensive brushes- E.L.F and Real Techniques have some excellent ones! I think I might do a drugstore brush faves....

Have you seen the new Urban Decay Alice palette?  Some of those colors look great and I can't wait to see swatches! I'm kind of wishing I needed some eyeshadows....but on the other hand there are too many light neutral shades for me. What do you think?