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The Large Powder Brush,
Contour Brush, Blush Brush, Bronzer Brush ...

The term "powder brush" usually refers to larger, facial zone makeup application brushes.

On this page you will find helpful descriptions of design qualities you should look for when choosing brushes for loose powder, translucent and mineral, pressed, setting and foundation, powder bronzer, and powder blush makeup.

The shape of a brushes head, along with the coarseness and length of the bristle hair, combine to play a role in how the makeup product is distributed on your face and whether or not it meets your desired objectives. Softer bristles will create a lighter weight distribution, and conversely, more sheer or coarse bristles will pick up more product and place more pigment on your skin.

The 3 Typical Brush Heads For Powder Application

powder brush The three brush head shapes shown on the left are the most typical for powder applications. A dome shape creates the most even placement of product. A blunt end will place more focused concentrations of product. And finally, a slant shape will place product for heightened dimension.

The Top 5 "Must Have" Powder Brushes...

1. The large powder brush is typically a big and fluffy dome shaped brush with a long handle and dense, soft, natural bristles. This brush is the ideal choice when using loose and pressed translucent powders where the objective is a light weight even distribution over the face. It helps "set" the foundation in order to create a good base to apply further makeup to and reduce shine. You can also use a large powder brush to apply pressed pressed powder foundations, but keep in mind the coverage will be fairly sheer (which may or may not suit your needs).

*Sephora Professionnel Platinum Natural Rounded Powder Brush #40

What it is:
This brush dusts and blends powder products across your face for an airbrushed finish.

What it does:
While the super-soft, high-grade goat hair bristles pick up and dispense color all over, the oversized head ensures even application with its large, soothing sweeps and strokes. This top-seller has extra poof, making it as therapeutic as it is effective." *Sephora Information

2. The Kabuki brush is a more recent brush style that has origins in Japanese theatre with an ability to pick up and distribute greater amounts of pigment (theatre makeup is of coarse more dramatic since its effects have to be seen by an audience from some distance). It has been most notably paired with pure mineral powder makeup. It too has a very large dome shaped fluffy head but its natural bristles tend to be more coarse and therefore pick up and place more pigment/ product.

The benefit? Greater, quicker coverage with a product than a regular large powder brush and since mineral makeup is all loose powders, you can create quick color coverage from foundation to blush and bronzer.

Also, the short stubby handle style provides more control and is complimentary to the way mineral makeup is 'buffed' on.

*"Bare Escentuals Full Coverage Kabuki Brush (shown above)
Bare Escentuals' top-selling brush. With a full head of the luxuriously soft, goat hair, the Kabuki Brush provides a medium to full application for both the face and body." *Bare Escentuals Information at Sephora.

Note: If you are interested in a Kabuki brush, make sure you read the reviews available... the many reviews available on this one shown above will help round out your buy decision. You may find their Full Flawless Face Brush a better match to your mineral powder needs.

3. The contour brush is usually a blunt end round brush with slightly more coarse bristles, used for creating dimension like sculpting cheekbones or shading jaw lines etcetera... This brush can place a lot of pigment so precise measure of product, placement and blending are key (think 80's extreme cheekbones).

Sephora Brand Professionnel Contour Blush/Bronzer Brush #43

*"Professionnel Contour Blush/Bronzer Brush #43
What it is:
This brush buffs on blush and bronzer for a fully contoured finish.

What it does:
The flat, blunt edge picks up product very easily for extra accentuation. If you ever apply too much makeup, this brush is great for buffing off the excess." *Sephora Information

4. The blush brush is a slightly smaller less fluffy version of the large powder brush. The bristles are still long, soft, natural and dense for even sheer natural looking applications of blush. There are two shapes to the head of the brush; dome creates a more even placement and slant (or angled) will place more pigment along the curves of the cheekbone for a more dramatic sculpting effect.

Sephora Brand Professionnel Angled Blush Brush #40

*"Professionnel Angled Blush Brush #40
What it is:
This angled brush defines cheekbones to the max.

What it does:
The slanted shape offers precision, so you can fill in contours and make cheeks especially pronounced. Because it picks up more product than a normal blush brush, it adds an extra pop, resulting in a truly sculpted appeal." * Sephora Information

5. The bronzer brush is almost a replica of the large powder brush with a slightly flatter dome. The bristle softness will create a natural looking placement but the brush head will place a little more pigment on the curves of the face mimicking that sun kissed look (where the sun's effects are more dramatic tops cheek bones, mid nose etc. ) or sculpting the sides of the cheekbones, depending on the desired finish.

Sephora Brand Professionnel Bronzer Brush #44

*"Professionnel Bronzer Brush #44
What it is:
This brush blends bronzer—or any other powder makeup—flawlessly into the skin for an even, airbrushed complexion.

What it does:
The rounded, tapered shape of the head fits perfectly into the cheekbone, which results in a sexy, sculpted look. This Best of Sephora 2007 winner boasts super-soft goat hair that blends beautifully and feels amazing on your features." * Sephora Information

Top of Page : Powder Brush

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The Large Powder Brush, Contour Brush, Blush Brush, Bronzer Brush ...

The 3 Typical Brush Heads For Powder Application

The Top 5 "Must Have" Powder Brushes...

The Large Powder Brush,
Contour Brush, Blush Brush, Bronzer Brush ...