How The Right Makeup Brushes Can Completely Change Your Look

We’ve all been there - we’ve found our perfect foundation, dream blush, a foolproof eyeliner or expert-recommended eye shadow, but despite our best efforts we just can’t get the products to sit quite right on the skin. More often than not, the secret to the perfect finish comes down to your toolkit. If you’re using the incorrect brushes for the products you’re applying and the look you’re trying to achieve, you’ll find yourself fighting an uphill battle.

We’ll take you through our perfect companions – the perfect makeup brush for every product to ensure you get the most from your mineral makeup!

Makeup brushes for a flawless complexion

Complexion perfection comes down to the right tools – these are our top five brushes for complexion and foundation products.

The Handi Brush will allow for flawless application of powder foundations, specifically, our PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation. The flat design of the brush gives you a beautiful application of powder every time, by dispersing the powder evenly and avoiding a powdery build-up.

Our tips: Swirl the brush across the pressed powder, tap off the excess and gently sweep in straight lines down the face, building the coverage as needed. Avoid buffing our minerals into the skin – this will only result in a “muddy” finish. This brush is also great for helping to reduce shine in specific areas, by spot applying your PurePressed Base, or PureMatte Finish Powder to areas that tend to get shiny, like the T-Zone.

Our Foundation Brush is your go-to for applying primer or a lightweight liquid foundation, like our HydroPure Tinted Serum or HydroPure Color Correcting Serum, without relying on utilising your fingers.

This flat, dense brush with medium-to-short bristles is also great for applying and smoothing concealer around the eyes. The firmness of the brush helps to press the product into your skin.

The Blending Brush is great for cream/liquid products such as our Dream Tint Tinted Moisturiser, or HydroPure Tinted Serum. The bristles in the Blending Brush are designed for buildable coverage.

This brush can also be used for powder products, such as PurePressed Blush or PureBronze Shimmer Bronzer, best applied in a sweeping motion.

Master your base with our multitalented Blending/Contouring Brush to blend out any brush strokes and subtly sculpt the face. Our most versatile brush, it has the same amazing application abilities for both powder and liquid foundations, helping to blend any product beautifully, leaving a soft, almost airbrushed finish.

Your foundation companions for our Blending/Contouring Brush? Glow Time Pro BB Cream and Beyond Matte Liquid Foundation. The soft, but dense bristles allow product to blend seamlessly and it’s the perfect brush for beginners, thanks to the natural slant of the bristles. Low-maintenance, easy to use, easy to clean, tick, tick, tick!

The Chisel Powder Brush is your must-have for our OG Amazing Base Loose Mineral Powder. This brush is designed for controlled application of loose powder foundations and setting powders. It’s a luxuriously soft and plush brush that makes loose powder application easy and leaves a natural-looking finish on the skin.

Makeup brushes for glowing skin and sculpted cheeks

Our collection of blush and bronzer makeup brushes are designed to enhance and sculpt your features, allowing you to contour and highlight like a professional makeup artist.

Use the Contour Brush to seriously define your cheekbones with our PureBronze Matte Bronzing Powder, or Glow Time Bronzer Sticks.

The Dome Brush is perfect for a more subtle powder contour, and especially good for applying a pop of subtle colour to the cheeks with our PurePressed Blush. Apply your blush to the apples of the cheeks then blend slightly upwards to lift the face.

For those new to contouring and highlighting, the White Fan Brush will be your best friend! This brush will give a soft result and help to build confidence in your application. The fan-shaped design encourages precise application but the amount of product you pick up can be easily controlled.

Our tips: Pinch the bristles and swirl through your PureBronze Shimmer Bronzer for optimal pigment and coverage. Use the lighter shades in the shimmer bronzer for highlighting key points on the cheekbones, bridge of the nose and under the eyebrows.

Our Blending/Contouring Brush, as mentioned above, is our most versatile brush, perfect for creating your base, but also for the finishing touches like bronzer, blush, and highlighter. You’ll want a couple of these brushes in your makeup bag!

Makeup brushes for precision liner and enviable brows 

Mastering eyeliner and eyebrow product application is a common source of beauty anxiety, but our makeup brushes make the process foolproof.

The Bent Liner Brush allows for the finest application of liquid and gel liners, like our Mystikol Powder Eyeliner, while the Angle Liner / Brow Brush allows you to work as close as possible to the lash line for eyeliner application and to create natural-looking, feather light strokes along the eyebrows with a brow powder.

The Eyeliner/Brow Brush is another failsafe eye lining tool, with one end lending itself to precision liner application and the other working to smudge your products for a worn-in, sultry look. The Detail Brush is perfect for creating a slightly thicker line and the Smudge Brush is your essential tool for a classic smokey eye. Complete your look using the Deluxe Spoolie to brush the brows up and out to give your face a youthful finish.

Makeup brushes for professionally blended eye shadow

The eye area is delicate, so to really get the most out of your eye shadows and work within the constraints of the eyelid, you need the right set of tools!

The Large Shader Brush allows you to apply a base colour of eye shadow to the entire lid and pick up the most pigment possible for added intensity. The slightly smaller Eye Shader Brush is perfect for applying eye shadow below the crease of the eyelid, while the Deluxe Shader Brush allows for even more precise application and soft shading - we love using this to add depth to the outer third of the eyes, as this brush is perfect for clean, precise application of our PurePressed Eye Shadows.

The Chisel Shader Brush is a must-have for seriously packing on the pigment (the firm, dense bristles make this perfect for picking up shimmer pigments without fallout), and the Eye Contour Brush will make the seemingly difficult “cut crease” seem like a walk in the park. Blending is the most important step in any eye shadow look, be it smokey or natural, so spend some time blending your look together with the Crease Brush, which has a bulbous mid-section and tapered tip making it perfect to blend back and forth through the crease of the eyelid. A touch of eyeliner can tie your entire look together, so opt for the Smudge Brush to blend your liner into your lash line for the perfect smokey eye.

View our entire vegan brush collection here.

Words and images by Gemma Watts @gemkwatts

Editor's Note: This post was initially published in March 2018 and has recently been updated for accuracy, freshness, and comprehensiveness by Jane Iredale Australia in February 2024.