Good brushes are the key to good makeup application. When choosing brushes for yourself or for your makeup kit, quality always beats quantity.
Fortunately good brushes don't have to be expensive brushes.
Real Techniques brushes are well made, synthetic hair brushes with Teflon handles. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are soft to the touch. They are also very inexpensive. For around $18 you can get 4 brushes. An incredible deal for such quality. I also want to mention that customer services is very helpful. One of my Real Techniques brushes broke. When I contacted the website, they answered promptly and replaced not only that brush, but the entire set it came with. These brushes are guaranteed.
Another, slightly more expensive option is Sigma (still significantly less than MAC, Nars, Smashbox and even Sephora brand brushes)Sigma brushes are almost exact dupes of MAC's brushes. They can be bought in sets or individually. Although they are a bit more expensive then Real Techniques, they do offer a bit more variety.
This is a list of brushes I would suggest for you to get. Of course there will be others that you will want, but this list is a good start...
Powder brush
Stipple brush
Foundation brush
Blush brush
Concealer brush (I recommend a thin eyeliner brush, it is perfect for concealing)
Round eyeshadow blending brush
Flat eyeshadow brush
Angled eyebrow brush (also great for applying eyeliner)
Eyeliner brush (I prefer a small flat tip brush for eyeliner application)
Lip brush
xo
