Makeup brushes - How many do we really need?

After my last post on my favourite makeup brushes (here), I started thinking about how many makeup brushes does a girl really need? I've collected my brushes over the years, some bought on a whim, some I'd coveted for a while before I bought. If I was to lose them all, how many would I repurchase?

My Makeup Brushes!

There is a dazzling array of makeup brushes available these days for the prosumer makeup crowd (a word I came across when reading about lower-end DSLR cameras – referring to items that are in between ‘professional’ and ‘consumer’), and it’s really easy to get caught up in the latest ‘best brush in the world’ hype (MAC #187 anyone? It’s a good brush, but hardly the ‘can apply ANYTHING’ brush – as I found out after I bought it!)

So, if you’re not a professional makeup artist and don’t have an hour each morning to do your makeup (and an hour every week to wash your brushes) – what brushes do you really need?

I got by in my very first few years with makeup by just using the applicators that came with the product (tiny blush brushes!) and my fingers! But then my brush collection grew, and grew...

So of all my brushes, the ones I use on a daily basis and cannot go without are...

• Bobbi Brown Face Brush for a light dusting of my powder foundation (if I’m wearing liquid, I tend to use my fingers or a damp non-latex sponge, I just can’t be bothered stippling everyday)
• Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow Brush - 8 years and still looks like the day I bought it!
• MAC blush brush or angled contour brush – for my pop of colour on my cheeks 
• Napoleon Perdis 2h brush for eyeliner and for filling in my brows

For everything else…there’s fingers!