Must Have Vegan Makeup Brushes

Happy Makeup Wars Monday! Today I’m bringing you my Must Have Vegan Makeup Brushes. I broke it down into top 10 eye brushes and top 10 face brushes. I also share my favorite vegan makeup brush brands. All of these brushes are made with synthetic, man-made fibers. Some of them use recycled materials or renewable bamboo for the handles, too.

PR + purchased by me.

Top 10 Vegan Makeup Brush Brands

1. Urban Decay
2. Sigma
3. Real Techniques
4. Kat Von D
5. Nyx
6. EcoTools
7. Makeup Geek
8. Sugarpill
9. Tarte
10. It Cosmetics

When people ask me what vegan makeup brush brands are out there, here are the ones I suggest. EcoTools, Nyx, Real Techniques and Makeup Geek are good for budget buyers. Urban Decay, Kat Von D, Sigma, Sugarpill, Tarte and It Cosmetics are more midrange and higher brands.

You may also be interested in my Best Cruelty Free Makeup Brushes for Gifting guide.

Must Have Vegan Makeup Brushes

My awesome black glitter coffin makeup brush holder is by Life After Death Designs on Etsy. I have 2 of them to  hold all of my makeup brushes. They easily hold my must have vegan makeup brushes with room to spare.

Top 10 Vegan Face Brushes

L to R – ecoTools fan brush – RT multi-tasking brush – RT setting brush – RT expert face brush – RT stippling brush – RT blush brush – Cailyn O brush – KVD concealer brush – KVD foundation brush – M&M blush brush

ecoTools Fan Brush
The ecoTools Fan Brush is my perfect fan brush that I’ve been search for years to find. It’s the perfect density to blend the edges of blush, contour and highlight. You can also use it to highlight the cheek or sweep away fallout.  The handle is made from renewable bamboo, one of the fastest growing plants on the planet.

Real Techniques Multi-tasking Face Brush
The Real Techniques Multi-tasking Face brush is amazing. It’s great for applying bronzer, applying a very light layer of diffused blush, applying a soft subtle contour, blending out contour, and blending out other face products.

Real Techniques Setting Brush
The Real Techniques Setting Brush is great for applying highlighter or using to set powder under the eyes.

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
The Real Techniques Expert Face Brush is great for applying cream or liquid foundation. I sometimes use it for powder as well.

Real Techniques Stippling Brush
The Real Techniques Stippling Brush is good if you want to apply foundation sheerly or stipple on a cream blush.

Real Techniques Bold Metals Tapered Blush Brush
The Real Techniques Bold Metals Tapered Blush Brush is great at applying blush. You can also use it to apply contour. I love the cut of the bristles and the way it blends things out. I also love the shape of the brush handle, as it’s easier to store than the really thick handles of the regular Real Techniques brushes.

Cailyn O Brush
The Cailyn O Brush is excellent at applying foundation. I use it with my most difficult foundations, like the Nyx Total Control Drops, which is hard to blend out otherwise. It works very well with thicker liquids and creams. It can also be used with powders or to apply blush. I thought this brush was gimmicky when I bought it but I’ve been really impressed. It works wonderfully.

Kat Von D Lock-It Edge Foundation Brush
The Kat Von D Lock-It Edge Foundation Brush is amazing for applying full coverage foundation around the face. The dense bristles conform to the shape of your face, making it easy to cover everything. I also like this brush to apply highlighter and blend it out, which I learned from the Kat Von D Masterclass at the Makeup Show Orlando.

Kat Von D Lock-It Edge Concealer Brush
The Kat Von D Lock-It Edge Concealer Brush is excellent for precisely blending out concealer around the eyes and the brows. It goes EXACTLY where you lay it, so you never have to worry about concealer in your eyebrows. I love the Kat Von D brush design. They’re beautiful to look at and perfectly weighted.

Macy and Mia Neon Unicorn Blush Brush
I’ve been loving my Macy and Mia Neon Unicorn Blush Brushes for practicing draping. I use this to pop color below my eyes in an X shape and then blend back towards my hair line. The Unicorn handles are cute, too.

The must have vegan makeup brushes for the face that I picked are the ones I reach for daily. The foundation brush differs based on what foundation I’m wearing, but lately the Expert Face Brush or Cailyn O Brush have been the most used. I’m using both blush brushes to work on sculpting my cheeks. I’ve been using the KVD Foundation brush to apply my highlight. I use the KVD concealer brush around the face and eyes for any concealing that I need, as well as to make sure I don’t get foundation on my brows. I soften the edges of my face with the Multi-tasking brush. I blend together my highlight and contour with the fan brush. I’ve been using the setting brush to set under my eyes when necessary.

Bonus – Beauty Blender
Sometimes a brush just isn’t the right took for my foundation. In that case I rely on my beauty blender to make sure my foundation is fully blended out around my face. It’s also fantastic at blending out my highlight.

Top 10 Vegan Eye Brushes

L to R – Sigma E06 – Sigma E21 – Sigma E36 – Sigma E35 – Sigma E25 – KVD Shade+Light – UD Tapered – UD Iconic – UD Moondust – RT Multi-tasking

Sigma E06 Winged Liner Brush
The Sigma E06 Winged Liner Brush is perfect for drawing the thinnest line possible on hooded eyes. You can use it to tightline, to create a cat eye or whatever you need. It’s seriously the most perfect brush for me for lining. It also works to draw on fine eyebrow hairs.

Sigma E21 Smudge Brush
The Sigma E21 Smudge Brush is fantastic for applying color to the lower lid. It’s good at softly smoking out color too. You can use it with pencil liner to smoke it out.

Sigma E25 Blending Brush
The Sigma E25 Blending Brush is reminiscent of my goss 6 brush. It’s that paddle-shaped brush that’s wider one way and thinner the other way. It’s slightly firm, making it good at applying color to the lid to blend into the smoky dome shape on the hood of the eye. It’s also good at blending out colors in the crease. I can do an entire eye look with just this brush. Love it!

Sigma E35 Tapered Blending Brush
The Sigma E35 Tapered Blending Brush is what I love to use to soften the colors I’ve blended in the crease, to make sure there are no rough edges.

Sigma E36 Blending Brush
The Sigma E36 Blending Brush is a tiny little brush perfect for hooded eyes. You can use it to define your outer V / outer C shape to blend out color in the crease or to blend out the edges of other colors.

Kat Von D Shade+Light Eye Contour Brush
The Kat Von D Shade+Light Eye Contour Brush is an awesome brush. You can use it to create natural looks, to cut the crease, to smoke out liner or whatever you like. I use it to cut the crease on occasion. I use it daily to highlight under my eyebrows and apply highlight at the inner corner. It’s awesome.

Urban Decay Pro Tapered Blending Brush
The Urban Decay Pro Tapered Blending Brush is great at blending out colors in the crease. If you go too heavy with your accent color, this brush can help diffuse it.

Urban Decay Pro Iconic Brush
Urban Decay Pro Iconic Brush is good for applying a diffused wash of color to the lid. It’s great at blending out colors onto the hood/crease of the eye. If you need to soften where two colors meet, it can do that too. You can use it to softly define the outer v, too.

Urban Decay Pro Moondust Brush
The Urban Decay Pro Moondust Brush is what I love to use to pack color onto the lid of my eyes. It’s especially great with things like Colour Pop Super Shock or Makeup Geek Foiled eyeshadows. I love the Urban Decay Pro brush design. The handles look elegant. They’re perfectly weighted and tapered. They make you want to choke back on the brush handle rather than hold the brush too close to the bristles. They’re gorgeous. They’re also made from recycled materials. See my Urban Decay Pro Brushes Review.

Real Techniques Multi-tasking Eye Brush
I like to use the Real Techniques Multi-Tasking Eye Brush for soft blending around the crease / browbone area. It’s good at helping to diffuse color without going muddy.

It was really hard to narrow down my must have vegan makeup brushes for the eyes, but these 10 are the ones I use the most. If I’m doing the smoky dome shape, the E25 or Iconic brushes make it easy to lay color down on the lid and blend it into the dome shape. The E21 is perfect for my lower lid color. If I want to line, and I don’t line daily these days, the E06 makes it quick and thin. The E35 is great for making sure everything is smooth and perfectly blended out. I really do switch between a lot of blending brushes to make my eyeshadow look great.

What are your must have vegan makeup brushes? Which ones do you use daily?

More to See

• What are Hooded Eyes?
• The Guide to Unicorn Makeup & Makeup Brushes
• The Pale Girl’s Guide to Foundations – 49 foundations
• Purple Duochrome Halo Eye Makeup Tutorial

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