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7 of the best foundation brushes for a flawless finish

Silky smooth skin, every time

By Briar Clark

BEAUTYcrew Beauty Editor / November 26 2021

As far as makeup tools go, there is no greater multitasker than a quality foundation brush.

Do your research, play your cards right, and you’ll find that a simple complexion-perfecting tool suddenly becomes a magic wand.

You can always invest in a best-selling makeup brush set (and don’t forget a decent makeup brush cleaner while you’re at it), but a foundation brush can make light work of cream formulated products like nobody’s business.

So grab your go-to foundation, concealer, cream bronzer, cream blush and cream and liquid highlighters too, because these big-dog foundation brushes are about to show you the meaning of a full-beat with their blending skills.

These are seven of the best foundation brushes money can buy.

TARTE The Buffer™ Foundation Brush

To say this buffing brush delivers a smooth blend would be an understatement. Our go-to foundation brush for almost undetectable base makeup, we love the way this pick effortlessly delivers excellent colour payoff from our favourite cream products, without looking patchy or heavy on the skin. Is it too much to say this foundation brush gives a photoshop-level finish? Perhaps, but if this is the hill we have to die on, so be it.

$48 at Sephora

IT Cosmetics Complexion Perfection Brush #7

This brush has a habit of making people wait. No, seriously. A regular on Sephora’s waitlist, this double-ended foundation and concealer brush is a cult-favourite amongst beauty lovers and even a few celebs too. In fact, in a Rose Inc tutorial alongside Summer Friday’s co-founder Marianna Hewitt, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley professed her love for this pick: “This is my favourite – everybody dies about this brush.” While Hewitt also gushed that it’s “so good” especially for “blending out contours and cream blushes and even after I put my foundation on with my beautyblender, I kind of just buff everything together with this”.

$68 at Adore Beauty

HOURGLASS Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Brush

Another go-to for Hourglass ambassador Rosie Hungtington-Whitely, this densely-packed foundation brush pairs excellently with multipurpose makeup sticks, making it a no-brainer for overseas or interstate excursions. As the name might suggest, you’re looking at a seamless blend every time thanks to the uber-soft brush bristles that diffuse even the creamiest of concealers to absolute perfection with ease.

$66 at MECCA

Naked Sundays SPF BFF Brush

Intended to support Naked Sundays primer formula (which made our list best primer BTW), this lightweight, seamless blender tackles thicker formulations with ease. After you’ve buffed in your SPF-inclusive primer, you can use this lilac-hued number for your full face beat too. Plus, thanks to some crafty product development, this foundation brush has been designed to handle daily washing. So you can keep your makeup routine hygienic without threatening the lifespan of those precious makeup-blending brush hairs.

$19.95 at MECCA

SIGMA BEAUTY F80 Flat Kabuki™ Brush

We all love a good kabuki brush for effortless blending, buffing and stippling on makeup products, but this pick from Sigma is a little bit extra spesh. The secret to its undeniably speedy application technique? An exclusive brush-bristle technology known as Sigmax® fibers, which help to provide that airbrush finish without trapping product in the brush itself – great news for the budget-conscious among us.

$42 at Sephora

ZOEVA 104 Buffer Face Brush

If you’ve never had the delight of picking up a Zoeva brush set, then do yourself a favour and snag their limited edition Christmas offering over at our beauty Christmas gift guide (while stocks last). After you’ve indulged, it’s down to business, which is exactly what this sharp-looker is all about. No seriously, we’re talking about an efficient blend of cream and liquid foundation formulas in less than a minute. Of course, you can tack on a few extra if you’re a perfectionist, but we promise all the fuss isn’t necessary when you have this pro-level pick on-hand.

$39 at Sephora

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

Over here at Team BEAUTYcrew we love a budget beauty find (hello, why do you think we refuse to shut up about drugstore foundations?). That's why we love this wallet-friendly fellow, which also just so happens to be on sale at Adore Beauty right now. Achieve the same level of flawless finish as an exxier investment without having to hand over half your paycheck. We’re obsessed.

was $22.99 now $17.24 at Adore Beauty

When it comes to perfecting our foundation we’ll take all the help we can get. Cue: Margot Robbie’s surprising hack for flawless foundation.

Main image credit: @hourglasscosmetics

Briar Clark

Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).