It’s almost impossible to do makeup without makeup tools, am I right? Not only are they kind of important but there are hundreds of types, price ranges, and preferences.
As I was content planning the other day, I realized I have never done a post dedicated solely to my essential makeup and beauty tools. When you’re a beauty blogger your posts tend to mesh together sometimes; when you’re sharing favorite products monthly you tend to not want to overshare the same products over and over. So I often share my favorite tools in hauls or monthly favorites but I don’t have a post dedicated to makeup tools. Well, now I will! Everyone has their own preferences on tools so these are just what works best for my budget and preferences.
Please ignore the slightly dirty makeup tools, just think of it as real life! Lord knows your tools aren’t always clean! When I clean them, I use warm water, baby shampoo, and the Real Techniques brush cleansing palette.
Morphe M439 Deluxe Buffer Brush $14
I haven’t had this brush long but it has quickly become one of my top favorites. Morphe is an awesome company that gives high-quality products at really affordable prices. I love their palette’s so I hoped I would enjoy their brushes and I do! This foundation brush is soft but dense which helps cream or liquid foundation just melt into my skin. If you are looking for a good foundation brush, I highly recommend this one. I haven’t used a brush for my foundation in months but now that I found this one, it’s almost all I use. The name says it all, it really does just buff your foundation right into your skin flawlessly.
L’Oreal Infallible Blend Artist Foundation Sponge $7.99
When I do use a sponge, this is one of my favorite go-to’s It’s a drugstore sponge that has been so good that I have never felt the need to buy an actual original Beauty Blender. This sponge expands to a great size when its damp that allows my foundation to glide on beautifully. I love that this sponge has a more pointed end for under the eye but a nice flat side to apply the foundation to the rest of my face. I always, always use my sponges damp. If I don’t, the sponge tends to soak up all the foundation and doesn’t really apply well at all. I always find that this sponge damp smoothes out my foundation to look like real skin.
Real Techniques Brush Crush 300 Powder Brush $12.99
The more I do makeup, the pickier I get about brushes. I used to be a fan of any kind of powder brush but now I prefer a very specific shape and feel. This Brush Crush brush is perfect! It is lightly packed, soft bristles, and is slightly tapered at the top. Not only does this brush feel great on my skin but it is so stinkin’ cute! I do wish there was a little more taper to the top for setting your under eyes, but all around this is a great, soft powder brush.
BH Cosmetics 124 Tapered Blending Brush
BH Cosmetics make some great brush sets. All the ones in this post at are 120 something are from one set! It is a great set because it has a great variety of eye and face brushes. This 124 brush is another favorite of mine for powder. The tapered element is perfect for setting under the eyes and while it looks dense, it really is very fluffy. It’s a pretty small brush to be considered a powder brush but I personally think it works great. It really sets the powder into my foundation and allows me to get around my nose and eyes well. 
BH Cosmetics 125 Tapered Contour Brush
I used to use a bigger brush for blush but once I started using bronzer I switched to using a smaller blush brush. I’m not sure why, but this is by far my favorite blush brush I have used. You could really use it for many things: undereye setting, contour, blush, etc. For some reason, I just started trying it for blush and now I am hooked. That’s one great thing about brushes, there’s nothing stopping you from using one however you want. Just like all of BH Cosmetics brushes, they’re soft and have yet to shed. They’re also easy to clean!
EcoTools Total Perfecting Blender $4.99
If I’m not using my L’Oreal sponge I am using this EcoTools sponge. I love them both probably equally. The EcoTools is a little better for applying undereye concealer because of the straight edge it has on it. I also use this sponge damp and the size definitely increases. The feel of the sponge is light and once it’s damp it isn’t hard or too dense. They also sell a smaller version of this sponge that is even more perfect for the eyes. It is also another affordable makeup tool!
Wet n Wild Crease Brush $.99
They might be only one dollar, but these Wet n Wild brushes are some of my favorites. This crease brush is the perfect size for buffing in color to your crease and outer corners. The bristles are soft but strong enough it can really pack on the color. And don’t be fooled by the price, these brushes have lasted me a long time and are still working really well. I love having these around, they’re perfect for eyeshadow and obviously affordable!
Wet n Wild Large Eyeshadow Brush $.99
Just like the crease brush, this large eyeshadow brush is amazing and affordable. I use this brush to apply color all over the lid or to even pack on a color on the middle or inner corner. These are super soft and feel good on the eye. I use this almost every time I do eyeshadow to put down a cream color to set my eyeshadow primer. I keep a couple of these at a time because they are so cheap but I love them! I have seen them at Walgreens, Walmart, Target, and online. I highly suggest going and grabbing a couple!
Wet n Wild Blush Brush $2.99
I hope you’re seeing a pattern here, BH Cosmetics and Wet n Wild are some of my favorite brushes out there. This is technically a blush brush but I prefer to use it for bronzer. I’m a firm believer you can use a brush however you want despite its “function.”
Anyway, this brush is soft and not dense at all which is what I prefer for bronzer. I find this light and fluffy brush works great for getting some bronze all over the face without looking harsh or adding to much color at one time.
BH Cosmetics 126 Precision Blush Brush
Even though this is deemed at a blush brush, I prefer it for contour. It’s hard to capture in a picture but this brush is more rectangle shaped than circular, hopefully, that makes sense. The bristles are longer in width than height so I feel like it fits right into my cheekbones for contouring perfectly. I consider this another multi-use brush so it is definitely a great one to purchase!
BH Cosmetics 18 Pro Tapered Highlight Brush
The picture is deceptively small on showing the size of this brush. I was extremely confused on the use of this brush until I realized it was perfect for highlight. The brush is literally an eye crease brush just bigger. The size makes it easy to sweep a little shimmer across the tops of your cheekbones or other high points. I would have never thought a small brush like this would work but It makes it for very precise application and that way you don’t get too thick of highlight line.
BH Cosmetics 128 Small Deluxe Blending Brush
This awesome eye brush is perfect for blending in a crease color or blending any color all over the lid. It is fairly dense but I actually like that sometimes depending on the look I am going for at the moment. I use this a lot when I’m doing a quick natural eye where I just want to add a bit of color to the eyes. There are many brushes like this, but so far, this is a favorite one of mine and I knew it had to be in my makeup tools post!
What are your go-to makeup tools? Do you prefer a sponge or a brush for foundation? I like to go back and forth personally! I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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