Makeup Brushes Review: Best to Worst Brands

• Zoeva: Hands down the best brushes I own! They are very soft, high quality, and have very minimal (if no) shedding / color bleeding. The price is very reasonable, if not cheap for the quality you receive. The brushes are hand made and hand cut. They have a nice balance to them, the handles tend to run a bit shorter than your average brush. Review: here /here
• Fav Brushes: 288, 317, 231, 225, 126, 105, 237, 127, 234, 233
• Not so Fav Brushes: 142 // Zoeva face synthetic brushes are not my fav. They don’t clean the best, leave stains. They are not terrible, but not my favorite synthetic brushes. The synthetic brushes for the eyes are great, I don’t run into the same issue. 
• Price Range: 5.71 - 24.37 EUR / ~6.39 - 27.28 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? Yes
• Overall Rating? 10/10
• Mikasa Beauty: I really enjoy Mikasa brushes. I find them to be on par with MAC and Sigma but at a fraction of the cost. The brand is also based in Canada which is great for those looking for great brushes without the major price increase most brands do for orders outside of the US. Review: here
• Fav Brushes: E300, F100, F200, F110, E210
• Not so Fav Brushes: E200 // I just don’t use it, this isn’t my fav type of brush in general. 
• Price Range: 6 - 18 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? Yes
• Discount Code: LIPSTICK15
• Overall Rating? 9/10
• MAC: MAC is a cult classic. When you first get into makeup almost everyone goes through the stage of only buying MAC! The brushes are price-y but well worth it. I’ve had my brushes for years and they show no sign of falling apart. Brushes are hand made (last time I checked).
• Fav Brushes: 266, 217, 168, 239, 109
• Not so Fav Brushes: Holiday Sets // The holiday sets are very low quality. They are made by machines at a low cost. I don’t recommend the sets, after about 1-2 years they feel like they are going to fall apart. They don’t keep their shape either.
• Price Range: 15 - 53 USD (doesn’t include sets / LE brushes)
• Have I repurchased? Yes
• Overall Rating? 9/10
• Esum: I received these brushes with a purchase of Viseart palettes. They are currently sold at Muse Beauty.Pro! The brushes are platinum bowed brass (as the price reflects). The actual brushes are very soft. I have 3 eye brushes. The brushes are targeted for Pro MUAs as well as beauty lovers. The brushes are handmade. 
• Fav Brushes: G29, G27, G09
• Not so Fav Brushes: n/a 
• Price Range: 12 - 80 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? No
• Overall Rating? 9/10 (bc platinum bowed)
• Sigma Beauty: Sigma has some of my favorite synthetic brushes (Sigmax collection)! The other brushes are nice. I have noticed over the years they haven’t stayed as soft as I would of hoped (goat hair brushes). As I said before Sigma, MAC, and Mikasa are very similar in quality. Mikasa is the cheapest, MAC is the easiest to find (stores/other online retailers), and Sigma has the largest brush range. If I remember correctly Sigma is no longer handmade (lmk if this is incorrect).
• Fav Brushes: F82, F80, E45, E55
• Not so Fav Brushes: E20 // I find their black dyed goat hair brushes to be a bit scratchy. 
• Price Range: 14 - 33 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? No
• Overall Rating? 8.5/10
• Cozzette: All Cozzette brushes are synthetic/vegan. By far these are the most realistic feeling synthetic brushes. When I first received them I went onto their site to re-read their FAQ. I though I had received natural hair brushes! 
• Fav Brushes: S185, D240
• Not so Fav Brushes: (D240 is not as pointed as the site makes it seem)
• Price Range: 15 - 30 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? No 
  Overall Rating? 8/10
• Real Techniques Bold Metals: This line is specifically made for pro artist in a easy access buying location. The PixiWoo sisters have two lines. This is their luxury line that is sold in the drugstore. All their brushes are synthetic, compared to the original line the synthetic is much higher quality and much softer. Obviously anyone can buy these brushes, the PixiWoo sisters just made a few things very clear in their video about these brushes. They are higher quality (that’s why they are more expensive), the shapes are for more precision application (like a MUA would need for detailed work), the handles have flat edges (so when you’re working on clients the brushes do not role off the table), and the ferrule is weight (it will rest in the hand comfortably while doing others makeup).
• Fav Brushes: 300, 203
• Not so Fav Brushes: 200 // I find it’s too big for the eyes unless I’m using it to set my primer. It’s not bad at all, I just think it’s not marketed right. It works better as a face brush.
• Price Range: 16 - 26 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? Yes
• Overall Rating? 8/10
• Real Techniques Original Line: The original line has some great brushes for the price. If you’re looking for some synthetic brushes at a low cost, buy these! The brushes are great for beginners. My only con with Real Techniques as an entire brand is they lack eye brushes. 
• Fav Brushes: Setting Brush, Shading Brush, Complexion Sponge, Contour Brush, Detailer Brush (why don’t they sell this individually?)
• Not so Fav Brushes: Pointed Foundation Brush 
• Price Range: 6 - 13 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? Yes
• Overall Rating? 7/10
• Anastasia Beverly Hills: The number 7 brush has been one of my favorite brushes for a few years now. I use it on my brows almost every single day. The rating is only so low because the brush falls apart after 2~ years. After about 4-5 years I finally bought a new one. I’ve had brushes that have lasted longer. You can always re-glue the brush. While I love love love the brush the rating reflects that it does fall apart fairly quickly for the price. Note: the brush fell apart on the spoolie side, which is better than the actual angled brush. The double ended palette brushes are not good.
• Fav Brushes: 7
• Not so Fav Brushes: double ended palette brush // I’d rather have a lower price with no brush.
• Price Range: 17 - 25 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? Yes
• Overall Rating? 6.5/10
• Crown Brush: I love Crown Brushes for the price!!! I always get them onhautelook for three to eight dollars. I probably wouldn’t pay full price for these brushes, but for the hautelook prices…. I can’t help myself. They are decent quality. I find some are better than others. Crown is a private label brand, so some are hit or miss. Sometimes the brushes don’t have anything on them at all when you get them which is annoying. I found out about this brand from KJB! They have a few lines. I’ve only have products from the Infinity Series, Studio Pro, Studio, Duo Fibre, and Italian Badger. I recommend the Infinity Series and Studio Pro for the most consistency. 
• Fav Brushes: C460, C441
• Not so Fav Brushes: C330, IB109
• Price Range: 3 - 25 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? Yes
• Overall Rating? 6.5/10 (bc of the hit or miss between lines)
• Sonia Kashuk: Found at Target, these brushes are a bit over priced when you start to look at the black ferrule line. I only own from a old set and the white ferrule line (the cheaper line). The set brushes have lasted very well (better than some more expensive ones *cough* sedona lace). The individuals are a bit higher quality than the sets. My biggest con with the brushes are they aren’t super soft to begin with so they get scratchy fast. I currently only own eye brushes, the blending ones tend to be the scratchiest. The flat shaders are my favorite. 
• Fav Brushes: 106, random set short shader
• Not so Fav Brushes: 116, random set blending brush
• Price Range: 1.99 - 19.19 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? Yes // I bought a set, then individuals. 
• Overall Rating? 5/10
• Sedona Lace: I have brushes from two different collections. With each collection I had completely different experiences. The synthetic brushes that fade pink to black are great. I do think they are over priced though. The regular line is crap! I bought a set (12 Piece Professional Makeup Brushes - Black) and it didn’t last. One brush fell apart after 2 washes, all the goat hair brushes (I still have) are turning green at the ferrule & the goat hair is practically yellow, and the other brushes are just bad quality.
• Fav Brushes: 217
• Not so Fav Brushes: 376 (fell apart), 813 (v scratchy), 850 (turning green, brush is practically yellow), 727 // I basically don’t use any of the Sedona Lace brushes except the 217.
• Price Range: 13.95 - 21.95 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? No
• Overall Rating? 4/10 (the 217 is the only reason)
• ELF Cosmetics: ELF has two ranges the Essentials and Studio line. My biggest complaint wasn’t that they were cheaply made. It was how they performed. I think for the price they weren’t cheaply made. I washed them multiple times with no shedding, color running, or falling apart. What I ran into was while using them they didn’t pick up product. I tried face and eye brushes and ran into that problem over and over again.
• Fav Brushes: n/a // I threw them away.
• Not so Fav Brushes: elf concealer brush, elf blush brush
• Price Range: 1 - 10 USD (doesn’t include sets)
• Have I repurchased? Yes // I only bought the essentials line at first, I went back to see if the studio line was better. Unfortunately I didn’t like them either.
• Overall Rating? 1/10
• BH Cosmetics: BH Cosmetics makes the worst brushes. When I opened up my brush roll….. the brushes were already falling apart. My entire class received these brushes and we all ran into the problem of them falling apart before we even used them. I do not recommend them at all.
• Fav Brushes: n/a // I threw them away.
• Not so Fav Brushes: I own the all black brushes. 
• Price Range: 10 - 30 USD (sets)
• Have I repurchased? No
• Overall Rating? 0/10

Save Money $$$:

• I always use eBates to get cash back! (Yes it works, I’ve gotten checks)
• Sites that use eBates: Macy’s/Nordstrom/etc (MAC), Sigma, Ulta (Real Techniques, ABH), Sephora (ABH), Amazon (occasionally), Target (ELF, Sonia), and Bh Cosmetics.
• Hautelook! A Nordstrom owned company that sells products at a major discount. (Crown Brush)
• Zoeva: lowers prices of brushes for USA because of shipping cost.
• Mikasa has offered me a discount code. Save with LIPSTICK15 

*The list only contains brush brands I own and/or have used*