Best Affordable Makeup Brushes

See the updated version here!

Note: I considered breaking this down into a Tip Tuesday and Recommendation Thursday, but ultimately decided it would be more trouble than it was worth to try and separate them in a way that still made them make sense.  As a result, this post is really long (and it took me so many hours to write, I don't even want to think about it), but I've tried to organize it in such a way that you can find specific parts easily and skip what doesn't interest you.  I'll be including reviews for the brushes in my collection under their respective categories, so keep an eye out for those.

My makeup brush collection is frighteningly large.  They all fit in a coffee mug (because I'm too cheap to buy an actual brush holder, duh), but only barely!  I've been amassing my collection over the past few years, and have finally decided to post about them so you can hopefully learn from my experience (and I from yours!).  This brush is dedicated to L, whose prompting inspired me to actually get around to a) washing and b) photographing my brushes, neither of which is very labor-intensive, but I'm just so lazy I'd never gotten around to it.

Okay, crash course on why makeup brushes matter: Using quality tools to apply your makeup will ensure you get the most out of your products, or, put more accurately, using bad brushes will make even the nicest makeup look and behave like crap.  Regardless of whether you use high- or low-end cosmetics, you want to get the most out of your collection, and good brushes are a vital part of that.

So, what makes a brush good?

Sonia Kashuk Nail Colour in Blank Slate Review and Swatches

A few weeks ago, Target had a mobile coupon for $2 off any Sonia Kashuk cosmetics purchase, so I decided to pick up one of her nail polishes, Blank Slate, a dark blue-grey creme, normally $4.99.

Blank Slate

Local Produce and Target Goodies

Summer has officially arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and today I went on a little excursion with Nana and Papa to some local farms to stock up on produce (something they do at least once a week, but I haven't been in ages).  Some of the yummies we came home with:

Clockwise from top left: corn, lambert cherries, cantaloupe, string beans, pea pods, apricots, tomatoes, kiwis, bing cherries

Add this to the blueberries, marionberries, plums, and nectarines we already had, and you can get an idea of the wealth of riches available in the summertime in Oregon :)

I also jaunted over to Target while I was out with the intention of getting some canvas sneakers (on sale this week for $8), and ended up buying three things––none of which were the sneakers.  My no-buy ended with my birthday, and I went to Freddy's yesterday to pick up a couple of things from Essence that I'll be reviewing later this week, and then I got distracted by the makeup section at Target today...methinks I need to instate another no-buy!

Clockwise from top: e.l.f. primer set, Sonia Kashuk makeup bag, Sonia Kashuk contour brush

A lot of stuff in the makeup section is on clearance sale for half-off, so I grabbed a couple things from Sonia Kashuk.  I loved the pattern of the makeup bag, and thought it would come in very handy when I start school again this fall and have to be away from home for a few hours/don't have time to apply in the morning.  Here it is opened up (it has two clear pockets, which you can't really see, since they're transparent and all):

The makeup brush is similar to my E.L.F. powder brush (both flat-topped) but I intend to use it as my bronzer brush (currently using the same brush for foundation and bronzer, which is not ideal for me).  There was also a small E.L.F. display with several back-to-school palettes and such, including a set of eyeshadow primers!  I've been worrying what I'll do when my current tube of primer runs out, since I use it more often now with swatching, and was thrilled to get to try 3 for $3.  I'll test them for wear and to see how they differ and write a post about them later this week, yay!  I'm hoping I love them so that I can go back to Target and get another set or two, and while there maybe actually get those shoes...

Dinner tonight is steelhead trout, caught by my neighbor, topped with a lemon-ginger puree, with wild rice, fresh salad, corn (the corn pictured above, in fact!), and wine, eaten outside in the shade.  I'll be missing this when winter comes and the sun hides for a few months!

What did you have for dinner?  How's the produce sitch where you live?  What do you think of the goodies from Target?