Best Brushes for Smudgy Liner

Hey everyone!

Hope you had a great weekend. I wanted to share some great smudge brushes with you! I love using these small, precise (but not too precise) brushes to get a soft or smokey liner look. While they're all rather small, they won't give you the precision of an angled liner brush. Most often I use them to smudge a deep-colored shadow on the lower lashline (I love how this technique makes the eyes look defined, but not overdone) but they could also be used for soft liner all around the eye, or to smudge out a creamy liner. 

Here are my favorites from left to right: Sigma E21 Smudge Brush (part of the Performance Eyes kit), Real Techniques Accent Brush (part of the eyes Starter Set), Sonia Kashuk Smudge brush ($4.99 at Target), and Sigma E30 Pencil Brush ($10.00, sigmabeauty.com)

 Here I swatched the Cover Girl eyeshadow in Brown Smolder with each of the brushes, in the same order that they're shown above. Here are some notes & observations...

• The Sigma E21 is what I've been using the most lately. It's the most stiff out of all of the brushes, and while it gives me a smudgy line, it's great about picking up a lot of color as well. The bristles never loose their tight shape, even after multiple cleanings. 
• The Real Techniques Accent Brush is very similar in similar in size to the Sigma E21, but the bristles aren't as tightly or densely packed, resulting in a softer line. The synthetic taklon bristles are extremely soft, as with all brushes from this brand.
• The Sonia Kashuk Smudge brush gives a similar amount of intensity to the Sigma E21, but not quite as clean of a line. This is partially because the bristles on this brush started to fray slightly from their original shape, but I still don't see it as problematic, and if I continue to use my Brush Guards in the cleaning process, it should help the brush keep its shape.  
• The Sigma E30 pencil brush gives the most diffused line of all. Sometimes if I want a nice amount of depth right at the base of the lashes, I'll first use an angled brush, and then soften the line with this pencil brush. Used alone, this brush gives the eyes wonderfully soft liner. This is another brush that can start to fray out a bit, but after its next cleaning with the Brush Guard, it should get back to its original shape. 

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While I mentioned how nicely these brushes can line, you can definitely be creative with these and use them in any way you can imagine! They're also great for precise highlighting around the tear duct. I hope you get a chance to check out one (or several) of these brushes! :)

Daily Nuggets...

• Thanks to my new Wallflowers, my bedroom smells like pear and the attached bathroom smells like peaches. It's a fruit salad up in here!!
• Was told to check out an app called "Tiny Tower". My life will never be the same!
• My Saturday evening involved the couch, pizza, and basketball. After basketball we transitioned to Aziz Ansari stand-up comedy. And yes, I was referred to as "couch glam" more than once. (This is Tyler's term for when I'm chillin' on the couch not actually looking glam at all.)
•  In case you missed my tweet or facebook post, here are our Easter eggs! Looks like I'll be making some of my self-proclaimed "award winning" egg salad soon!