My Updated Makeup Brush Collection and Storage for 2012

In 2008, I made a post about my makeup brush collection. At that time, here they were all together:


My 240 makeup brushes in 2008

I haven't made a post about my brush collection again. After almost four years, I think it's time for an update, right? I have given away a lot of brushes, but I have also accumulated a lot. This is why I had to look for a storage system that will hold as many brushes as possible and still make it look nice and organized. I can't do with those cylindrical containers with beads inside, as I have way too many brushes for those.


I know, I only have one face and two eyes, so why so many brushes? I have a lot of brushes for one reason: I could only wash my brushes every week or two, and I had to use CLEAN brushes all the time, especially for the eyeshadows and liners. I didn't want to use my MAC brush cleaner every time, preferring to use honest-to-goodness shampoo and water to clean my brushes. So I would use eye brushes and wash them in big batches every two weeks, ensuring that I would use a clean brush everytime. Since I use eyeshadows everyday, I actually got to use most of these brushes on a regular basis.

So I went to Michael's to look for a new system to store my brushes. I squealed in delight when I found this:



It's a Jetmax Desktop carousel. It's a multi-tiered, rotating desk organizer that most scrapbook enthusiasts use. I thought it was perfect for my face brushes. It fit almost all of them perfectly, and I don't need to line 5 or 6 little buckets on my vanity just to contain my face brushes. All I need to do is put this in a little corner of my vanity, rotate and choose my brush!

It is a little deep so many of my brushes sink too low. I fixed this by putting empty makeup boxes on the bottom so my brushes don't sink.

So here are some of my brushes that I will feature.  Let's start with the face brushes.


I put my MAC Lustre Drops in one of those garter holders

Those little round-head ones are my Kabuki-on-a-stick from Coastal Scents. It has been said to be a dupe of Bare Escentuals' Handy Buki brush.  This is my absolute favorite brush for foundation and cream blush. I've tried a lot of stippling, foundation and other duo-fibre brushes, but I always come back to the kabuki-on-a-stick for liquid foundation. It gives an amazingly even, flawless finish, and it doesn't waste product because I feel it doesn't get absorbed into the fibers. Best of all, it was only $5 each when I got it. Definitely a steal!


the Kabuki-on-a-stick




Those brushes with pink and tan handles are from Real Techniques.  I love these brushes.  Reviews coming soon!







Those flat-top brushes were purchased from my favorite indie mineral makeup companies.

My duo-fiber brushes.  Some of them are MAC, some are from Lumiere Minerals.  I had been participating in their pre-buy brush sales for a while.  I love their angled duo-fiber blush brush.  I mean, have you ever seen one from a large cosmetics company?


my beautiful angled and regular duo-fiber brushes from the Lumiere pre-buy sale.  I am loving the long-handled kabuki brush as well.  I have at least 3 of these for my mineral foundations.






The carousel has little drawers on the bottom where I can store my sharpeners and other small items.





Eye Brushes:






I keep my eye brushes in this acrylic container with most of my everyday foundations.  They are arranged according to type.  To the left are my flat shader and concealer brushes, the center has my blender brushes, the right has the liner and pencil/detail brushes.








I got these from Michael's a long time ago. They are amazing goat-haired brushes that are almost-dupes of the MAC 239. I also have a couple of MAC 239 shader brushes, but I realized that I can have the exact same paddle-shaped eye brush in soft goat hair with the same firmness using the Maxine's Mop art brushes that I could get from Michael's. These Maxine's Mops are difficult to find, especially now after everyone had been raving about it and extolling the virtues of using it as an eyeshadow brush. Because of that, I would buy them in threes or fours whenever I go to Michael's. Lately, however, I don't see them at Michael's anymore. :( Glad I stocked up, though! I think you can still get these online.

This is how the Loew Cornell Maxine's Mop brushes look beside a MAC 239:




my crease-blending brushes

I mostly use Sonia Kashuk blender brush for my crease, then MAC 224, Stila #9 and Sigma E40 as blender brushes. Here are some of my blender brushes:







Other favorites are my Charm Makeup brush set and stippling brushes that are designed by my friend Sophie:











So that's my makeup brush collection and storage!  Hubby is helping me finish my makeup room, so I will be putting up a makeup collection post soon!