Do Makeup Brushes Make A Difference

A guide to makeup brushes construction, including the parts of a brush and what the bristles are fabricated from.

Makeup Castor Construction

Bristles

The toe is the bristle tips – the bit that goes on the skin.
The heel is the lesser end of the bristles. Here, the bristles are tied and then glued in the ferrule. Some ferrules are also clamped tightly around the bristle heel.
The length, softness, shape, and amount of hairs used in a brush are dictated by what makeup products the castor has been designed for.

Ferrule

The bristles are held in place by the ferrule, which is sometimes pinched apartment.
The ferrule is usually metal, such as nickel-plated brass or aluminium. The ferrule tin can also be plastic.
The bottom of the ferrule is glued to the handle to brand it secure. It is all-time to not go out brushes in h2o or let water get into the ferrule.

Handle

Handles are made from solid materials, such as wood (coated in either varnish or paint), resin or plastic.
Recycled or sustainable materials (like bamboo) can too exist used to brand brush handles. They are growing in availability and popularity due to having less impact on the surround.
Printed on the handle can be diverse information, including the brand logo and the brush'due south purpose or size. It varies from brand to make.

TIP: If yous work equally a makeup artist, mark your castor handles with your name or a symbol. Use coloured nail varnish, that fashion you will know they are yours!

What Bristles Are Made Of

The bristles are from either creature hair or constructed fibres – or a mix of the two. Here is a look at both types of material.

Brute Hair

What is creature pilus? Fauna hair (sometimes referred to as natural) comes from animals, including goats, badgers, squirrels, weasels ("sable"), and horses ("pony"). Camel hair brushes are not camel hair but a combination of several types of animal hair (including horse, goat and squirrel) – it depends on the desired softness and cost.
Why is beast hair used? Just because it has been used traditionally for a long time. At that place was no other suitable material until synthetics came along.
How is hair synthetic? The hair has a cuticle, a layered outer coating on the hair shaft, which picks up and distributes pulverization products well. The cuticle also means that animal hair is not and then good for cream, gel or liquid products, every bit it picks upwardly too much product and tin lead to clogging, blobs or streaking.
Each type of pilus comes with unique strengths and advantages. For case, sable hair is soft, flexible and goes to a fine point – suitable for precision piece of work. Badger hair is stiff and used in brushes that work to define and shape, similar forehead brushes. Squirrel and goat hair is very soft.
How is the hair made? A unremarkably asked question and the answer is simple: the hair is non given willingly – and is obtained from animals past hunting, farming and slaughter. Animal welfare standards are by and large poor. It is non a pretty business.

Constructed Hair

What is synthetic hair? Synthetic hair is 100% manufactured fibres, similar nylon and polyester.
Why is synthetic hair used? Synthetic hair does not take a cuticle, so it is very smooth and traps less product in the hair than creature pilus brushes. Therefore, they are great for creams, gels and liquids. Powders can also be practical with synthetics designed simply for this purpose. For instance, Taklon and Natrafil were designed to mimic the different backdrop of creature pilus, making them suitable substitutes for powder cosmetics.
How is the hair fabricated? In factories – and can be cutting to any length and dyed to any colour.

Types of constructed fibres used in makeup brushes:

Taklon – is a soft, smooth polyester derivative – developed past DuPont to mimic the qualities of natural sable. Therefore, information technology is soft and flexible with a good indicate. It is an incredibly versatile cloth and can create bristles in all types and sizes of makeup brushes.
Nylon – has smooth fibres and is used in makeup brushes that demand a degree of firmness to the beard, similar concealer, brow and mascara brushes.
Natrafil® – is another DuPont creation, initially designed to replace brute hair for utilise in powder brushes. Hither, it is essential to selection upwardly the pulverisation production and release it evenly over the skin. Natrafil® is a polyester-based composite made with a textured surface, allowing the hair to grab the pulverisation. The normally held belief that synthetics are no good for pulverisation makeup is no longer so with this blazon of bristles.

Summary of the Differences

	Synthetic Hair	Creature Hair
Hygiene and Cleaning	Smooth fibres used lack a cuticle, making it easier to clean thoroughly, when done properly that is.	Has an irregular surface (due to cuticles) which traps powders, dead pare cells, leaner and chemicals. Cleaning may not necessarily remove all these particles.
Best Uses	Cream, gel and liquid. Powders can also be practical with the textured synthetic beard.	Powder makeup products.
Feel on Skin	Bristles tend to exist firmer, though more flexible versions are available.	Bristles can vary from very soft and fluffy to firmer, depending on type of pilus used.
Immovability	Stands up to solvents and doesn't dry out. Keeps shape well. Dries quicker than animal hair after washing.	Over time with washing and cleaning, pilus is prone to breakage, drying out and can lose its shape. Hair can shed.
Ethos	Cruelty free. No protein element, so vegan friendly.	Beast handling bug.
Bristles Made From	Man-made materials similar nylon and polyester.	Animate being hair from squirrels, goats, horses, badgers and weasels.

What Do Nosotros Prefer?

As professional makeup artists, we employ every type of makeup that in that location is, in all situations, and on all sorts of faces – and nosotros have 100% synthetic brushes in our kit.

Equally well as the other advantages we experience that today's constructed brushes accept over animal hair in terms of reliability, immovability and hygiene, nosotros cannot ignore the cruelty involved in obtaining hair from animals – simply to make makeup brushes. Aye, nosotros are biased towards synthetics and don't like cruelty.

Notice Out More

A Guide to Makeup Brushes for the Eyes, Brows & Lips.
A Guide to Makeup Brushes for the Confront.