Upgrading My Eye Makeup Brushes

I feel like makeup brushes are so often forgotten when I talk about my favorite cosmetics. The last time I did a dedicated post about my favorite eye makeup brushes was in 2018, but so much has changed over the last year so I thought I would circle back on this topic.

I’ve always relied on affordable eye makeup brushes (think EcoTools, ColourPop and Real Techniques). I’m also a firm believer that you should invest in the brushes you’ll use often and save for everything else.

I’ve been using EcoTools eye makeup brushes for years but I recently decided to upgrade and splurge on a few essentials from MAC Cosmetics. To be clear, I still love and use a few EcoTools brushes but I noticed some of the bristles were falling out and I decided it was time buy some new brushes.

I very much still enjoy using my Sigma Beauty brushes; specifically the E40 Tapered Blending Brush. Because it’s a big fluffy brush head, I like to use this at the very end to help diffuse color and perfect my look. I also love the E20 Short Shader Brush to help pack metallic and glitter eye makeup on my lid.

Another long-time trusted eye makeup brush—Sephora Pro Blending Brush #27. I’ve had it for years and still use it every day to apply a transition shade/crease color.

I’ve watched enough beauty vloggers on YouTube to know the popularity of MAC Cosmetics eye makeup brushes and decided to upgrade a few core essentials. I picked a good time to do it too. Nordstrom was offering double the points for cardholders on beauty and fragrance purchases, plus I received a special MAC GWP (a full-size lipstick in the shade Lady Bug).

Here are the eye makeup brushes I splurged on from MAC:

217 Blending Brush ($26.50)

I feel like this is a holy grail eye blending brush, a multitasking domed brush head that isn’t too big or too small and perfectly blends your eye makeup in the crease, outer V and inner corners. I’ve been using this every day now and I’m already noticing a huge difference in how beautifully blended my crease color looks.

219 Pencil Brush ($26.50)

I don’t wear eyeliner often and usually opt to use dark eyeshadows to line my upper and lower lash line. This smudges colors along the lash line. Before this, I was using a smudge brush from EcoTools and while it worked, it doesn’t blend as seamlessly as this one.

221 Mini Tapered Blending Brush ($26.50)

It’s like the smaller version of the 224 Tapered Blending Brush. I have small, almond shaped eyes and so this is perfect for blending shadows in the crease and diffusing color in a specific area. If you have hooded eyes or don’t have a lot of lid space from your lash line to your brow bone, this brush is perfect for you.

Do you prefer to splurge or save on eye makeup brushes?  Let me know in the comments!