Those who are adding to their makeup bags or buildling to their makeup application repertoire may have a few questions or can run into some puzzling conundrums along the way. A common misconception for not only makeup artists is that just because one brush looks similar to another brush means that it can be used for the same purpose.

Artists brushes have always had the tendency to be a bit confusing because many of them are of the same general length while the bristles are of the same color and shape. While it would be hard for the novice to know the difference between two different brushes while glancing at the makeup artist’s bag there are some differences between certain types of brushes that it is important to note.

The difference between a fluffy blush brush and a brow brush is easily detected because one has a mass amount of fluffy bristles while the other has just about an inch of bristly and stiff bristles. One of the harder discriminations to make at first glance is the difference between an eyeshadow brush and a concealer brush. There are several different types of eyeshadow brushes but an all over shadow brush that is used to swipe shadow over the lid looks quite similar to the concealer brush used to blend concealer into the inner corners of the eye.

Though a concealer brush and an eye shadow brush look similar it is important not to confuse the two. Just as concealer should never be used on the eyelid and eye shadow should not be used underneath the eyes the brushes should also remain in their designated territories. The eye shadow brush will have a fluffier and fuller tip used for dispersing powdery eyeshadows evenly accross the lid. The brush used for concealer will usually have a tip with longer bristles and will look the most similar to a water color brush.

Once the difference between the brushes has been distinguished it may be a good idea to mark the brushes as such so they are not confused inside the makeup case. One way to differentiate between the two brushes is to mark one of the brushes with a piece of fluorescent tape. Another way to keep the brushes separate is to obrain an eye shadow brush and a brush for concealer from two different companies so the designs will not be confused.