Best Makeup Brush set, ELf vs Real Techniques vs Amazon brushes.

Being the collector of all things pretty that I am, I have several different makeup brush sets. Some I have permanently in my backpack for overnight trips, some are on my makeup counter and some are in a makeup belt that I wear while I create my look for the day.

Here are the brush sets I have:

This is the main makeup brush set I use every day. It started out with the E.L.F. 25-Piece Studio Brush Set (that came with the makeup artist brush belt) and grew into a brush village.

This is some miscellaneous brushes, since I have so many duplicates I throw the extras in here. This also includes my 10-piece E.L.F. Essentials set. (Ignore the eyeliners, I don't have anywhere else to put them.)

These are two Real Techniques sets, which actually reside in my makeup brush belt. It is the 'Real Techniques Core Collection Set' and the 'Real Techniques Starter Set.' These are fantastic brushes and if you watch them on Amazon you can get them for $10.50 - $15.50 for each set.

These are some brushes I picked up off Amazon, they were ridiculously cheap, like $11 for 22 brushes. I couldn't resist the white bristles with pink tips. Aren't they cute?

This is the first "real" brush set I ever purchased, it is a Tony & Tina basics set. I have no idea of the name or if they still sell this set. I bought these at Sephora in Seattle and paid about $60.

Now onto my travel sets:

This is the E.L.F. Studio 11 piece brush set. I keep this in my backpack since I have all these brushes in my makeup belt. You can buy these on the E.L.F. website for $30 or wait for a 50% off Studio sale and get them for $15.

I got these off Amazon too, they were about the same price as the pink ones (about $11) but there are only 15 brushes. I got these to throw in my backpack to supplement the E.L.F. Studio brushes.

The last set is one I picked up during a 50% off sitewide E.L.F. sale, the crystal travel brush set. These things are tiny! I paid $5 for them and I keep them in my purse for touch ups.

VERDICT:

If you are only going to get one set I'd recommend the 11-piece E.L.F. Studio set ($15-$30) or the two Real Techniques sets ($21-$31). They are both pretty complete and have a wide range of tools for basic makeup needs. You could do pretty much everything with either of these. If you want to step it up get the 25-Piece E.L.F. Studio set ($75 or $37.50 during a 50% off Studio sale). If you are looking for supplemental sets the two sets from Amazon (the purple and pink-tipped brushes) are great, but in my opinion neither of these has all the brushes you need.

Next Up,

What are these brushes for?