Makeup Brush Essentials: Eyes & Lips

This is a post that is hopefully helpful to the beginners out there who cannot decide what type of brushes they should be looking for. Don't get me wrong, my brush collection has taken a loong time to slowly build up, but as long as you start with the basics you can keep adding to it later on. You also don't need to buy the most expensive brushes for a great result.
However today I will not be focusing on the brands, simply on the type of brushes. I hope that makes sense lol.

 Lid brushes

*Apologies for the brushes not being in the same order, D'oh!*
Top: Synthetic Flat brush: This is not absolutely essential, but it is good for applying primer & cream eyeshadows to the eyelids. Synthetic is best for creams as it will not soak up all the product, making it easier to clean.
Middle: Large Stiff Shader brush: This is good for packing a whole lotta colour onto the lid.
Bottom: Small Shader Brush: Simply used for the same method as the larger one, however it is better for precise application of different colours to the lid.
Stiff shader brushes are also good for using the very tip to apply eyeshadow to the lower lash line.

 Eyeliner

Eyeliner brushes come in different shapes depending on the look you want to achieve.
Angled liner brushes: In this picture these are the same type of eyeliner brushes, however I use the top one for eyeliner and the bottom one for my eyebrows. That way I don't have to worry about cleaning them all the time & getting black on my eyebrows, lol. You can use this with Gel Eyeliner but I prefer to use it to pack on eyeshadow on top of my eyeliner for longevity.

The top 2 are thin brushes great for Gel & liquid eyeliner. You can see the only difference to the bottom ones are that the handles are shaped normally.
The bottom 2 are Bent Eyeliner brushes. I simply have 2 for light & dark colours. These are great because you can easily do your eyeliner without worrying about the handle getting in the way. Please note you do not need to own all of these. Whatever your preference is fine. Once again these are good for cream & gel eyeliner. You can even dip it into your liquid eyeliner if you wish.

 Crease Brushes

These are a few different types of brushes which are good for applying colour to the crease & outer v.
Top: Fluffy crease brush: This is good for applying & blending colours to the crease.
2nd: Pencil Brush: Good for precise application to the crease & outer v. Also good for the lower lash line if you have larger eyes or for smudging out eyeliner.
3rd: Pointed crease: (I had washed this the night before so its a bit out of shape). Really good for precise crease work e.g. for cut creases
Bottom: Pointed crease & Outer v: (again lol) Same concept as the one above, but especially good for the outer v because of the size.

Blending

Top & 2nd: Stiff dome blending brushes: TMakeup Geekhese are really versatile for applying a wash of colour over the lid & crease, blending colours on the lid & crease while depositing colours.. I recently purchased a second one because it doesn't take long for them to get dirty lol.
3rd: Soft Dome : This one is slightly pointed however because it's not stiff it's great for blending colours together on the lid or blending out in the crease. You can live without it if you have a stiff blending brush.
4th & 5th: These are just a couple of other different brush shapes good for blending. Once again they are not needed,but I think the more the better, especially if you are doing a look where you need a clean brush to blend out & one with colour to add more colour on at the same time. Hope that makes sense ;)

Other Eye Brushes

Top: Brow & Lash brush: Just any run of the mill brush like this should do, good for combing through your brows & lashes to get rid of clumps.
2nd & 3rd: Highlighting Brushes: These are good for highlighting on the brow bone & tear duct. The 2nd brush is good for blending it out as it's applied & the 3rd, because of the angle & being stiff, is good for precision.

Lips

The top brush is good for applying your lip colour all over, the bottom is good for precise application right around the lip line. If you use a pencil lip liner first you don't exactly need the 2nd brush.

I hope this is helpful & not confusing. All in all you do not have to have everyone of these brushes especially if your starting out, you can use certain brushes for different things. You also don't need to spend the big bucks for great brushes. I'll post some websites for great affordable brushes (all are non affiliated).

Makeup Geek As far as I know these are crown brushes that have been repackaged (Please correct me if I'm wrong) but they are so affordable & offer worldwide shipping.

Sigma They offer a great selection on many different types of brushes, duping the famous MAC 217 brush (Sigma E25, one I bought not too long ago)

Eco Tools The 6 piece brush set is great for starting out (I love the eyeliner brush)

Tip: DO NOT buy MAC brushes (or really MAC anything) on eBay. Most of the stuff on there is fake. You cannot buy a whole set for the price of one brush, haha. Just a warning!