I have only a couple of brushes and have just used my fingers. Was overwhelmed by sheer amount of brushes, when I looked it up. Send help!
ELF has some good packs of brushes. My first set was a cheap box from Walmart. Any kind are great for beginners. Don’t splurge on high end ones until you learn techniques and get better at them.
Quo
The Sephora Collection Professional Set is a great starter, it’s on sale, and the quality is really good.
IT Cosmetics - great quality, on the expensive side. I get them on Ulta’s 50% off sale.
Real Techniques - the best for this price point. Comes in lots of set combinations.
Colourpop - super cheap, everything you need set. Very good quality.
Rephr - superior quality, investment brushes. They run 40% off sales a few times a year.
Tarte - there are some unique, beautiful and surprisingly good quality. Tarte is always running sales. I own and love this cream bronzer brush.
Real Techniques brushes are really good, they also have a bunch of brush sets for different purposes like base or eye makeup which I think is very helpful.
Zoeva is a good brand, a little pricey though for me. I recently bought a bunch of Morphe eyeshadow brushes and so far so good!
Not makeup geek, so scratchy but they were expensive so you bet your ass I still use them
Elf
Specifically:
Real techniques and Japonesque are my go to brands.
You can find them at TJ Maxx and Marshall on sale.
Highly recommended getting the basic stuff first.
Foundation brush, blush, bronzer, concealer, a few eyeshadow brushes, highlighter, powder, mini powder for under the eyes and touch ups brushes.
Real Techniques has some nice ones. Morphe sets are hit and miss for me. If you have money to spend you could get a set from Sigma??? They have a warranty on their brushes. I’ve had mine forever
Sigma is great, and they have 40% off at the moment.
Buy a high quality blending brush for eyeshadow. Sigma e45 or MyKitCo. Can be as low as €5 with sales.
Get liner, flat shaded, and lip brushes from wet n wild. Usually €1 ~ .
Then for other brushes that are affordable: elfs black concealer brush, real techniques powder brushes.
Mykitco and sigma are best tho and worth the money if you wait for a sale
Don’t get anything expensive. Ulta, morphe, ELF, real techniques all have great beginner friendly brush sets. Just make sure there’s a mix of eye and face brushes and at least 6 in the set. Cheaper brushes are fine to use and more expensive ones don’t make that much of a difference in terms of quality. Just make sure the handle has a good counter weight and the bristles won’t fall out. Also this is a personal preference but I’m not a fan of brushes with a wooden handle because I can’t wash them without the wood cracking. I prefer plastic for that reason.
My favorites are from Sonia G, Rephr and BK Beauty. But for I would suggest starting with Real Techniques as they are inexpensive, easy to find, and tell you exactly what each brush is for. They are good quality and will last a few years. There are also some by elf and morphe that are pretty good. Synthetic fiber brushes are easier to take care of as well, so something else to keep in mind.
Can’t go wrong with real techniques beauty tools.