Five Essential e.l.f. Make-Up Brushes

e.l.f. (that’s really fiddly to type so I might start calling them ELF from now on) have extended their free shipping offer to cover this weekend for UK and EU shoppers. This means that until Sunday night, we’ll all be able to get free shipping on £10 or over spends using the code TBES123 (TBES123EU for EU-ers). To celebrate this and to acknowledge my slightly irrational obsession with make-up brushes and my love for e.l.f. blushes in particular, here’s a list of what I believe are the best brushes e.l.f. (ELF!) have to offer:

1. Eye Crease Brush

Whilst the intended purpose for this brush is to apply colour into the crease of the eye, I really like using this as a finishing brush. When my eye make-up is applied, I use this to blend and soften the whole look, thus bringing it all together beautifully. It’s one of those brushes that I take for granted (well, it only comes into use after all the hard work has been done) but really miss when I can’t find it! Which is often as I have so. many. brushes.

2. Studio Blush Brush

I reviewed this here and mentioned how effective it is at applying highly pigmented blush colours in layers, which for me is so important as it’s really easy to over-apply blush which then results in a very tricky process of toning down the colour. With this, I can turn my blushers into more versatile colours as you can achieve such a sheer cover with this, but you can also build it up brilliantly. The fact that it’s also smaller than the average blush brush makes it great for contouring too.

3. Studio Concealer Brush

This is my go-to brush when I’m in a hurry but also looking less than perky and in need of under-eye help. Whilst there are certainly better brushes for applying under eye concealer (as I believe a layering process is needed to achieve a natural effect) this one is great when you’re in the hurry because, for want of a better way of putting it, it does exactly as it says on the tin. You can use this to pick up the concealer and smoosh it under the eye and then also to blend it in and considering this process for me usually involves several brushes, I like that when I’m in a hurry, this can all be achieved with one brush.

4. Blending Eye Brush

For covering the eyelid in a sheer wash of colour, you can’t beat the convenience of this brush. The bristles are nicely spaced so that you’d struggle to pick up too much product and I use this when I’m going for a natural look and just looking to apply a shimmery nude. It’s soft, gentle and effective and consequently gets used regularly.

5. Angled Contour Brush

This is the brush I use for applying eye make-up into the crease of my eye. As with the Blending Eye Brush, the spacing of the bristles mean it’s easy to apply a sheer wash of colour to fill the often tricky to master crease, but the difference with this brush is that it’s easy to build-up the colour without it looking harsh or overdone. This is also useful if you like to take colour from the outer crease onto the eyelid (I’m personally a really big fan of this look as I feel it really opens the eyes up) as you can use it flat to apply an extra hit of colour.

Wildcard Entry: Angled Foundation Brush

I will happily state that I feel there are many foundation brushes that are much better than this one, but this could just be a personal preference as it has a lot going for it; it’s angled, making it easier to get into nooks and crannies and it’s of fairly decent density. However, the reason it’s getting a mention is because Mother Geek – who refuses to acknowledge the need for any kind of make-up brush uses this. I’ve tried her on various foundation brushes, waxing lyrically about how much better they are, but she won’t budge. So for this reason alone I think the brush deserves a mention.

Do you have any favourite e.l.f. brushes that you think deserve a place on this list?