There’s an art to flawless foundation—and the best foundation brushes can take your skills from beginner to pro. A high-quality tool makes all the difference between a streaky base and a seamless, blurred finish. Plus, with a little TLC (read: regular cleaning), a great brush can last for years. And, after finally finding that perfect shade match, you deserve a brush that blends it beautifully—not one that soaks up all your product or leaves lines behind.
So, what makes for a good foundation brush? According to Donni Davy, the head makeup artist on Euphoria and co-founder of Half Magic, “It totally depends on your method, but if you want to stamp-buff like I do, the buffing brush has to be super soft, dense, and preferably have a rounded or semi-round shape.” To help you better understand your options and equip you on your journey toward makeup perfection, we’ve rounded up the best foundation brushes below.
Our Top Foundation Brushes
Best Overall: Hourglass Ambient Soft Glow Foundation Brush
Why it’s worth it: In 2022, Allure awarded the Hourglass Ambient Soft Glow Foundation Brush the ultimate crown: the best foundation brush. And it’s held onto its title since. That’s because it’s designed to mimic the control of your fingertips for a natural finish, and the vegan fiber technology ensures your base never goes on streaky. The bristles have a slight angle so you can get into those hard-to-reach nooks and crannies, like the undereyes and inner corners, for precise application that looks smooth as butter. Even when we forget to wash it regularly (guilty!), it still delivers solid results.
“I was never a brush person for foundation or concealer (loyal makeup sponge girl over here), but that changed the second I tried this one. It’s small enough to get into every corner but still glides across your face effortlessly, unlike other tiny brushes that take forever. I use it for both foundation and concealer, so it kills two birds with one stone.” —Lily Wohlner, commerce writer
- Bristle type: synthetic
- Best for: liquids and creams
Best for Liquid Foundations: Saie The Base Foundation Brush
Why it’s worth it: Saie’s The Base Foundation Brush gives you both flexibility and precision for flawless blending, especially in tricky spots like around the nose and under the eyes. The dome-shaped brush is packed with ultra-soft bristles that evenly diffuse liquid formulas without soaking them up (a rare feat, we know). We’ve even used it with cream bronzers, and it buffs color into the skin seamlessly—no streaks, no harsh lines, just an effortless, skin-like finish.
Tester feedback from Allure contributing commerce editor Deanna Pai
- Bristle type: synthetic and vegan fibers
- Best for: liquids and creams
Best Drugstore: Real Techniques Expert Face Makeup Brush
Why it’s worth it: Real Techniques has won Allure Best of Beauty Awards for their tools, which is proof that solid brushes don’t have to cost an arm and a leg. The ultra-soft, tightly packed bristles pick up just the right amount of product and buff it into skin, leaving behind a silky, seamless finish. No matter how many washes it goes through, the bristles always spring back without looking frayed or feeling dry. And because it moves so fluidly with your foundation (unlike denser kabuki brushes), it doubles beautifully as a brush for cream bronzer, blush, or even highlighter.
Tester feedback from Wohlner
“This is one of my all-time favorite foundation brushes—and that says a lot coming from someone who loves a full-coverage base. I use it to apply foundation, of course, but I also love it for buffing all my base products together. After layering bronzer, blush, and highlighter, I swipe the leftover foundation on this brush over everything to create that perfect your-skin-but-better finish I prefer over anything matte or cakey.”—Lily Wohlner, commerce writer
- Bristle type: synthetic
- Best for: liquids and creams
Best Kabuki: Danessa Myricks Beauty Yummy Face 2.0 Teardrop Kabuki Complexion Brush
Why it’s worth it: For the uninitiated, a kabuki brush has dense, rounded bristles that expertly buff liquid, cream, and powder (yup!) products into skin for a seamless finish. Unlike most brushes, this one blends powder like a liquid, leaving skin smooth, never cakey. One standout we can’t stop raving about? The Danessa Myricks Yummy Face 2.0 Teardrop Kabuki Brush. True to its name, this teardrop-shaped tool is designed to hug every curve and contour of your face (yes, even those tricky under-eye areas). Its ultra-soft, tightly packed bristles deliver an airbrushed, skin-like finish without guzzling up your foundation or concealer. And, for the lazy ones out there, this covers larger areas in just a few swoops for a flawlessly even base in record time.
Tester feedback from Allure commerce editor Sarah Han
“My brushes are usually all smushed into a plastic container so I love how much Danessa Myrick’s stands out—literally, with its adorable stand. Thanks to its generously sized head, Yummy Face 2.0 helps cuts down my foundation application time, majorly. Personally, I like to dabble on my liquid foundation with my fingers first before buffing it all in with the brush. I get super smooth, even coverage in just a few swipes across the cheekbones, jawlines, and forehead.” —Sarah Han
- Bristle type: synthetic
- Best for: liquid, creams, balms, and powders
Best Dual-Ended: Makeup by Mario F4 Dual-Ended Foundation and Face Brush
Why it’s worth it: Once you get your hands on the Best of Beauty-winning Makeup by Mario F4 Dual-Ended Foundation and Face Brush, there’s no going back. (Some of our editors even keep multiples on hand—it’s that good.) The magic lies in its dual sloped ends that glide seamlessly over every curve of your face, leaving behind a flawless, streak-free finish. Whether you’re working with cream, powder, or liquid formulas (foundation, blush, or bronzer—take your pick), the fluffier side is great for blending, buffing, and applying big sweeps of product, while the smaller side is nice for applying cream products (hi concealer, blush, or highlighter) to smaller areas like under the eyes or tops of the cheeks.
“Spending over $30 on a foundation brush can feel a steep, but the F4 dual-ended brush from Makeup by Mario is the jack-of-all-trades brush in my makeup bag, making it worth every penny. One side has a large angular brush that can give me a smooth even coat of foundation in under a minute, and the other compact brush end is perfect for blending up against my hairline, since it has a more precise application and lets me get close without getting product in my hair. When I’m short on space or time, I’ll use the compact end for contour, creamy bronzers, liquid blush, you name it. It has never failed me for a seamless application.” —Kassidy Silva, social director
Tester feedback from Allure beauty closet associate Edward Horgan
“This brush is so versatile that it’s slowly replacing three different brushes in my collection. I use it for pretty much any cream or liquid base product, and it always gives me an effortless blend. The smaller side is more precise for a sharp contour or perfectly placed blush; the larger side smoothly diffuses foundation and bronzer into the skin with a few taps.” —Edward Horgan, beauty closet associate
- Bristle type: synthetic and vegan fibers
- Best for: liquids, creams, and powders
Best Domed: Laura Mercier Real Flawless Foundation Brush
Laura Mercier
Real Flawless Foundation Brush
Why it’s worth it: Laura Mercier’s Real Flawless Foundation Brush has a teardrop shape we consider pretty genius: Use the domed surface to buff your favorite foundation into the skin, then use the tapered tip to reach the contours of the face, and finish with a stippling technique to get your desired coverage. The soft and gentle bristles buff away streaks or cakeyness around smaller bits of the face that tend to get forgotten, like the nose, jaw, and hairline. The handle is also super sturdy and comfortable to hold.
- Bristle type: synthetic bristles
- Best for: liquids and creams
Best Buffing: MAC 130S Short Duo Fibre Brush
MAC
130S Short Duo Fibre Brush
Why it’s worth it: Tobi Henney, a bi-coastal makeup artist, says her brush lineup wouldn’t be complete without the MAC 130 Short Duo Fibre Brush, which she calls a “true overachiever” in her kit. She swears by it for buffing liquid foundation to that perfectly natural, skin-but-better finish. The short, flat-top bristles make it ideal for swirling product seamlessly around tricky spots like the nose and mouth, and it doubles as a dream tool for creamy blushes or highlighters. Basically, it’s the multitasker you’ll wonder how you ever lived without.
- Bristle type: synthetic bristles
- Best for: liquids and creams
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