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Makeup brushes can, in our experience, incite unnecessary levels of panic and anxiety. Why are there so many? Do I need all of them? Have I been doing my makeup all wrong? Maybe this sea of brush options for a single product application is exactly the reason why the ever so simple makeup sponge became popular. And although we are indeed fans of the mighty sponge, it’s a foundation brush we turn to when we want precise, even, and blendable coverage.
Trouble is, foundation is not a forgiving friend and choosing the wrong brush to apply it only leads to chaos. Further complicating matters, foundation brushes are not cheap, and no one wants to go buy a bunch of brushes just to discover that they don’t work for you.
We’re here to help: We spoke to three celebrity makeup artists to help us cut through the noise. With their guidance, we curated a list of the 24 most popular foundation brushes, and we tested every single one on our own skin with our own makeup. We evaluated each brush for its design and durability, along with the bristle quality, including how easily and smoothly it blended our foundation on our skin without over-absorbing the product and wasting it, and lastly, the quality of the overall final look after each application.
Saie The Base Brush – Best Overall
We become gleeful whenever we spy Saie’s trademark lavender-hued logo and lithe typeface, and once again the editor-loved and Real Housewife-approved brand didn’t leave us wanting. It was easy to wrap our fingers around the chubby handle as we stamped and stippled out our liquid foundation with the densely packed bristles, which picked up product with ease and deposited every last drop onto our skin — no clumpy bristles from left-behind product here. Despite using our favorite semi-sheer foundation for no makeup-makeup days, we were excited to see that the bristles picked up enough foundation to hide things that the it normally wouldn’t, like our brightest acne scars, taking the coverage up a notch from light to a more moderate base with just a few swipes.
Moreover, the slightly rounded brush head seemed to move with our skin and blended the light liquid foundation evenly across the curves of our forehead, cheeks, and chin, rather than simply slathering the product in one flat layer across our face. Occasionally, we did see some stripy marks when we got lazy and didn’t take time to fully blend the product into our skin with the brush, but we mainly have ourselves to blame for that bit.
And though it was small, the brush was quite mighty — we did everything but stomp on it with steel-toed boots, and still it remained intact. Considering this alongside its compact size, we’d say the brush will make an ace of a travel partner as well.
Head Shape: Round | Brush Material: Synthetic | Designed for: Buildable coverage
e.l.f. Cosmetics Ultimate Blending Brush – Best Budget
We’ll admit that the E.l.f blending brush was a bit of a sleeper hit until we learned that the large round head and thick handle made the perfect buffing brush for sheer to light coverage. These design features allowed us to expertly make those small circles required when you want to blend the product into the skin for a diffused finish, rather than smearing the product across it. Finally, no longer did our foundation look like a bowl of Moose Tracks.
Although not everyone will love the lush round brush head or the airy feel of the bristles (versus a firm touch), we were surprised by how much we enjoyed using it, especially when we wanted coverage that made our complexion look utterly flawless. Plus, it did the job faster than any other brush we tested, since the large brush head was able to cover a lot of real estate at once. This brush is now the first one we’ll pick up when we’re rushing to get out the door.
One thing to keep in mind is that this brush is here for a good time, not a long time. After one use we already noticed it lost a few bristles and saw chips of paint flaking off the handle, but hey we’re always down to have an affordable option that gets the job done in our arsenal.
Head Shape: Dome, tapered | Brush Material: Synthetic | Designed for: Buildable coverage
Real Techniques Expert Face Makeup Brush – Best For Large Pores
Those of us with large pores are all too familiar with the dread that comes with applying foundation and just hoping for the best with crossed fingers. Large pores dot our T-zone and the area surrounding our nose, and sometimes trying to cover them feels like a losing battle as we watch our foundation slip into the abyss of our pores. After chatting with a few pros for this story, we learned the proper technique to blur their appearance for a more refined-looking texture — starting with the right brush, like this large, fluffy brush from Real Techniques that was designed specifically with uneven texture in mind.
To make pores disappear, we used this round top brush to lightly buff product onto our skin and into our pores — it sounds counter-intuitive, but by “filling” them, you’re reducing the amount that will slide into the crevice, ensuring your base looks good for longer. Choosing the right brush is crucial to cover (and not accentuate) large pores and by using a light hand to make small circular buffing motions, the wide, round-shaped brush delivered a seamless, diffused finish.
We found that the bristles were spaced far enough apart to deposit just the right amount of liquid foundation over our textured skin (too much foundation is the kiss of death), yet there wasn’t so much air between them that they absorbed the product. It’s a good thing, too, considering that bristles clumped together when we cleaned it, meaning if there were mountains of foundations in the bristles, it would’ve been hard to scrub out.
Similar to the TikTok-adored concealer brush, it also featured a stunning rose gold finish we couldn’t stop admiring. For such an affordable price, it holds up against some more luxe options in looks and efficacy.
Head Shape: Dome | Brush Material: Synthetic | Designed for: Medium to full coverage
Clé de Peau Beauté Foundation Brush – Best for Mature Skin
Cle de Peau knows how to take a seemingly simple product, like our favorite makeup remover wipes, and breathe an air of luxury into it. Limber like a ballerina, the gold-accented, sleek tapered brush handle lent it an artistic appearance that simply felt more grown-up and we loved using it each morning. Featuring an old-school tapered brush head, the pointed tip allowed us to easily reach tight corners of our face, particularly the inner corners of our eyes and creases around our nose.
Although the bristles were densely packed, giving the brush a full, lush appearance, they were very soft and just flexible enough while still providing the moderately firm-feeling application we needed to get the lighter coverage we wanted. What’s more, thanks to these bendy bristles, they move in the direction of our creases and crepey areas of skin, instead of catching on these textured areas and emphasizing their appearance. We were also happy that the full brush head prevented too much of our liquid foundation from sinking down into the base.
Since Clé de Peau worked alongside highly esteemed Kumano brush artisans to design the brush, we aren’t surprised it was difficult for us to find fault in it, except for that some of the bristles clumped after cleaning it. However, a top-notch brush deserves an equally excellent cleaner, so next time we’ll consider treating it to a rinsing from one of our favorite electric brush cleaners.
Head Shape: Angled | Brush Material: Synthetic | Designed for: Full coverage
It Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Buffing Foundation Brush #6 – Best Flat-Top Foundation Brush
In our never-ending quest to banish flakes from our skin forever, we try to set ourselves up for cake-free success by slathering the richest moisturizers onto our skin before using foundation (we love this one from Ilia), but it wasn’t until we tried the It Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Flat Top that we finally got the natural-looking finish of dreams.
Although flat-topped brushes can be intimidating to beginners due to their unique design, this one was a cinch to use. We only needed a few swipes to cover our whole face so evenly and fully that we didn’t even need to go back over any streaky spots (because there were none) or add another layer of coverage. Additionally, the flexible, lightweight bristles maneuvered easily around our nose and cheeks and felt so lovely on our skin that we even buffed the foundation over our eyelids — which we never do — to get a good base for eyeshadow. Not once did it aggravate our irritation-prone skin
As a bonus, we could comfortably hold onto the hourglass-shaped handle and perform the same kind of quick, dynamic gestures as a well-trained orchestra conductor when applying our makeup to achieve our gorgeous finish that much faster.
Although the brush head held a little more of the foundation than we would have liked, it wasn’t too extreme to cause concern or make us think twice about using it again since enough product was still being applied — and looked so good.
Head Shape: Flat | Brush Material: Synthetic | Designed for: Buildable coverage