A Guide to Brushes: Eye Brushes, Part 3: Blending Brushes 2

Part three of my brush guide is all about crease blending brushes.  These brushes are good for either applying color to the crease, blending color already applied to the crease, or both, and they all have round ferrules.  This post features some of my favorite brushes, and certainly my favorite styles of brushes.  At least one of these styles is a must for anyone's brush collection

Pointed Crease Brushes

From smallest to largest, Hakuhodo 146 (blue squirrel), MAC 226, Hakuhodo 142 (blue squirrel), Bobbi Brown Eye Blender.  The smallest of these brushes is less tapered than the larger ones (but still ends in a point, which is why I included it in this set); it is great for applying color to the crease or for really careful blending of a strong or cut crease.  The medium and large brushes have a fat belly, which tapers to a point.  The medium sized brushes are good for applying a basic crease on small to medium eyes.  The largest of these brushes is probably too big for applying to anyone's crease, but it is a good finishing brush for removing edges, especially since it's soft.  It's also a fantastic powder brush for small areas; it's my go-to undereye powder brush.

The pointed crease brush is really useful because the tip gets into the deepest part of the crease and the surrounding taper blends it as you go.  If you're new to blending eyeshadow or not very good at it, this brush does a lot of the work.  I'd suggest using this brush in a windshield wiper motion, going back and forth in the crease.

Rounded Crease Brushes

MAC 224, MAC 222 (goat), Urban Decay Crease Brush (synthetic), Paula Dorf Sheer Crease, Daniel Sandler Blending Brush.  These brushes are quite similar to the pointed crease brushes, except that, instead of coming to a point, they end in a dome shape.  The Paula Dorf actually was tapered when I first bought it, but a few uses and washes and it fluffs out into a rounder shaper, which is what I wanted from it, so I'm including it here.  These are great crease brushes and work well for applying a wash of color on the lid, too.  I should probably say that I'm not a huge fan of the MAC 224.  I'm willing to give it another try after using a brush guard on it (for this picture), but I still think it's too floppy for applying shadow and not great for blending it either.  A lot of people love it, though, so I'm not excluding it on personal bias.

These brushes are amazing for buffing shadow into the crease, using small circles.  The Paula Dorf and Daniel Sandler brushes are both favorites of makeup artist and YouTube guru Lisa Eldridge, who uses them in a lot of her videos, so I suggest watching to see these babies in action.  Actually, what are you doing reading this garbage; go and watch her videos now, all of them, and learn things I couldn't even start to teach you.

Domed Crease Brushes

RT Deluxe Create Brush, Sonia Kashuk Large Domed Eye Shadow Brush (goat).  These large, fluffy brushes are very round along two axes.  The SK one is nearly spherical in shape.  I really like these for blending the outer corner, but they're good for blending really large creases (either anatomically or application-ally).  When I first bought the SK, I tried to use it as a crease brush, and the results were frightening.  I imagine with a lighter hand it could work, but I still think it's best to stick to it for blending.

These also make for amazing concealer brushes.  The RT, because it's synthetic, is actually one of my go to concealer brushes, as it is for it's creator.  I like it as a concealer brush so much that I'll be including it in that post, too. 

Synthetic Crease Brush

I had no idea what to call this brush, so I just called it what Sonia Kashuk does.  This brush is, obviously, synthetic and is perfect for applying cream eye shadows to the crease.  I think that's something often overlooked by brush manufacturers.  You see, this isn't just a brush made synthetic for people who don't want animal hair (like the UD Crease brush above), it's a brush that's actually great for using cream eyeshadows in the crease.  I also use it to apply cream eyeshadows to the mobile lid.

Smoky Shadow Brushes

This is a great brush style; it's a personal favorite of mine, and the Smashbox 15 on the left is my first department store brush (it's still awesome).  Featured alongside are a Hakuhodo Kokutan T (blue squirrel) and an Essence of Beauty Crease Brush.  This style is a must for small eyes or deep creases.  They are also amazing for blending eyeshadow under the eye, deepening the outer corner, highlighting the inner corner, and they're often marketed to be used to apply a thick, smoky line of shadow around the eye (hence their title).

I could say of a lot of brushes that I would recommend them, but this style, I actually do, all the time.  I don't think there is a thing this style of brush can't do.  Whether you like smoky looks, or really defined looks (or both), this brush can do it.

Pros and Cons

Pros:  The brushes featured here are some of the most useful brushes to have.  There isn't an eye shape or size, whether you have a crease or not, that won't find at least one of these brushes useful.  They are terrific for crease application, crease blending, and some of them are good for outer corner and under the eye.  Because they tend to be softer than the oval blending brush, they are useful if you tend towards a heavy hand when blending.

Cons:  As great as these brushes are for blending the crease, you may need to use another blending brush in tandem when creating a smooth gradiant.  But honestly, if they suit your style, you could likely use any one of these brushes for anything you need to do, they're that versatile and essential.

The brushes featured in this post are: Hakuhodo S146, MAC 226 (LE), Hakuhodo S142, Bobbi Brown Eye Blender brush, MAC 224, MAC 222 (dc'd), Urban Decay Crease Brush (from the Naked 2 Palette, though it is available separately), Paula Dorf Sheer Crease Brush, Daniel Sandler Blending Brush, Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush, Sonia Kashuk Large Domed Eye Shadow Brush, Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Domed Crease Brush, Smashbox 15 Brush, Hakuhodo Kokutan Eye Shadow Brush T, and Essence of Beauty Crease Brush.  All were purchased and I received no compensation for including them in this post.

A Guide to Brushes: Eye Brushes, Part 2: Blending Brushes 1

Part two of my comprehensive brush guide is blending brushes, which will be separated into two posts themselves.  This post features blending brushes with pinched ferrules, while the next post will feature round ferrules.  The pinched ferrule makes this set wider than they are thick, so they have two directions to use.  The pinched ferrule makes them similar to the previously featured flat shader brushes, but they are all fluffier and thicker, which makes them better suited to blending than the shaders are.

Fluffy Blending Brushes

Here we have three very large blending brushes: Hakuhodo Kokutan L, Paula Dorf Eye Blender, and Kokutan MLL.  They're pretty big; the Kokutan L is an inch long, 5/8 inch wide at the ferrule and 1/2 inch thick.  The two Hakuhodos are both blue squirrel, and the Paula Dorf is soft too.  I wish all brush purveyors would list the hair type on their website.  Of course, then they might face the wrath of PETA.  Heh.  I guess you've noticed these brush posts are not for vegans.

These brushes are all super soft and great for applying a soft wash of color over the whole lid area and for all over blending. Since they're so soft, they're great for heavy handed blenders, but since they're huge, they're terrible for detail blending. I like to use them "off-book" for applying cheek highlighter, blush, and powdering small areas.

Oval Blending Brushes

The be-all and end-all of blending brushes for a lot of people, here we have MAC's classic 217, also a Sephora Pro Oval Blending brush 27, Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush, Sephora Classic blending 29, a Paula Dorf eye shadow brush (sorry; it's from a travel set I've had for forever), and a RT Domed Shadow brush.  The two white are goat hair, the two RT's are synthetic and the other two are soft hair of unknown origin.  MAC's 217 is a beloved brush by many people, for blending edges, for applying color to all parts of the mobile lid, and for applying to the crease.  I think they're great for both blending and applying to the lid, but I almost never use one for the crease.  I don't think it suits my own eye shape, but, honestly, I never use it for anyone else's crease either.  The goat is good for light touch blenders, a group to which I belong, but if you're heavy handed, you  might find the synthetics or a soft hair, like squirrel more suited to your technique.  The goat hair also holds up better to cream products.

These blenders are great for applying a smooth gradiant over the lid and into the crease, a feature lacking in flat shader brushes.  That makes these useful for smoky eyes and cat eyes (a cat eye, though often a mislabeled doe eye, which is eyeliner that flicks out at the end, is used here to mean eye shadow that emphasizes the outer corner in a point.  I suppose I could use the internet invention "outer v," but I think that would confuse you, as they're often first added with a detail brush.  Not to mention the fact that the "outer v" as a thing is both nonexistent and silly.).  An overall great blending brush and shadow brush, these are also good for concealer.

Pros and Cons

Pros:  These are  great all around blender brushes, good for both application and blending.  Very good for creating a gradiant; they work well in conjuction with flat shader brushes to create a wide variety of eye makeup styles.  The fluffy brushes will apply a sheer amount, and are good for all over blending on large eyes.  Oval blending brushes are denser and great for both applying and blending, and a lot of people use them for crease brushes too.  Look for hair types that suit your blending style; denser goat for light handed blenders, softer hairs like squirrel for heavy handed blenders.  Both types of blenders are great multi-taskers, being useful for face powder and blush/highlighter or concealer.  It's a good idea to have more than one blending brush in your collection, whether you need an assortment of sizes and shapes has a lot to do with your eye shape and what you want them for.

Cons:  I think oval blenders are ill-suited for creases, and people with small eyes or deep creases will likely agree with me.  When they are used for creases, it often results in a lack of precision.  The fluffy blending brushes are probably also too large for people with small eyes, too.  These sorts of brushes are a hit or miss; if they work for you, they are probably staples, and if you don't, you find yourself frustrated and confused why they seemingly work for everyone but you.

This post featured: Hakuhodo Kokutan Eye L, Paula Dorf Eye Blender (the eye blender currently on the website seems smaller), Hakuhodo Kokutan Eye MLL, MAC 217, Sephora Pro 27, Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush (found in the Starter Set), Sephora Classic 29, Paula Dorf Eye Shadow (from travel set, dc'd), Real Techniques Domed Shadow Brush (from Travel Essentials).  All brushes were purchased and I received no compensation for featuring them.