Makeup brushes: WTF?

Brusha brusha brusha

Francis Bacon’s Studio, Dublin

by Claire

For a long time I thought that makeup brushes were a scam, that really you could just apply it all with your fingers - and who could blame me? All I knew were the Polly Pocket-esque little sponge wands that came free with your eyeshadow. Good only for stabbing yourself in the eyeball of a hungover morning. There is a whole expensive world of makeup brushes out there, but the good news is that you won’t need all of them, and that many brushes are good at more than one thing.

Think about your makeup brushes like chef’s knives: only a recent culinary school graduate would have a full matching set in a little roll pouch. A home cook only needs a couple of good knives that suit what they like to make. With makeup brushes it’s the same principle: you need a curated selection for the specific makeup you want to apply, and that will depend on how you want to look. Below is what I use for how I want to look: pulled together but overall quite natural, with options for a fun eye or lip if I’m feeling festive. If you want a very complicated smokey eye then this will all be a bit basic, sorry. Onward.