How much is too much?

When I was in my bathroom the other day, I glanced my brushes out of the corner of my eye. I'd been joking with my friends the other day that the storage just gets bigger and bigger. I started off with them all in a small brush case, they graduated to a glass tumbler and once there was no more lean room in the glass they found a new home in an ikea vase.



I wonder as the collection expands, do I have too many brushes? Quite a few of my friends are in the the applying shadow with their fingers camp so I know they think I'm potty! I do love brushes to apply make up with, though I admit I've never really got to grips with using a brush for foundation.



These are my MAC eye brushes. I do apologise for the dirty state of some of them! I have a mixture of both full size and special edition size. From left to right: 204, 227, 226, 217, 219, 239, 209, 224SE, 213SE, 266SE. I use all of these on a regular basis and think they are all very good brushes. The only gripe I have is with the 226 brush. It's an excellent crease brush but it is extremely scratchy. I really wish I could find a brush this size and shape minus the scratchy bristles.



My MAC face brushes, left to right: new 168, 168, 188, 109, 165, R+M blush brush. The reason for the 168 duplication is that I had problems with the original shedding. MAC customer services were great and provided a replacement promptly. Like the eye brushes, I use and like all of these brushes. I'm sure I don't need this many blush/contour brushes but I'm not sure which ones I could dispense because I use them for different things. 109 for creams, 168 for powder, 188 for pigmented colours etc., etc.. The rogue Ruby+Millie at the end in nominally a blush brush but I use this for applying face powder to the T-zone.



These are some of my other face brushes. Top to bottom: GOSH powder brush, MAC 129SE, TBS foundation brush, R+M duo fibre. A bit of a mixed bunch pictured here. The GOSH powder brush feels lovely but I'm sometimes at a bit of a loss as to what to use it for. It is useful for blending out the edges of blusher though. The foundation brush is from The body shop. As I mentioned before I'm not a fan of applying foundation with a brush and I really can't recommend this one. It eats so much product (even when used for moisturiser first, a tip I was given by Pixiwoo) and it gives a streaky application. The other two brushes, the MAC 129 and the Ruby+Millie version of the 187 are both nice brushes. I use the 129 for bronzer as well as for setting powder. Since I took the photos I've invested in a MAC 187 and look forward to making the comparison to the R+M version.



In the picture above are my miscellaneous eye brushes and Sigma brushes. Left to right: TBS slanted brush, R+M blending (awful, so scratchy), MAC 242SE, R+M dual ended eye brush, R+M eye definer, TBS eyeshadow brush, SS217, SS224, SS138. Another mixed bag here. The ones I use regularly are the Ruby+Millie dual ended brush, the Sigma SS217 and SS138. After my initial disappointment with the Sigma brushes (see post here) I've warmed a bit to these two. However, the SS224 remains the white elephant of the bunch. I had a go using this to blend and honestly I would have had more success with a mop I'm sure!

I also use The body shop eyeshadow brush to blend my Dirty Greasepaint stick. I once used the 217 for this but it made such a mess of the brush I couldn't bring myself to do it again! The advantage of using this brush with emollient products is that it's synthetic and so it's easier to clean off.

The remaining brushes don't really get any use at all and sit in the the case I originally started with. I keep them on the off chance that I can find a use for them (and also I'm a closet hoarder).



There are still brushes I would love to get. I think I've mentioned before that I like the look of both the Suqqu and Rouge Bunny Rouge brushes. I'd also really like to have a genuine MAC 138. Visionary Beauty and I were discussing the Louise Young LY38 tapered brush and I'd be interested to see if this could be a softer replacement for the 226. The Revlon crease brush is still on my list of things to try too. However, for now, with only one face to use them on, I think I probably have enough for now.

So, my question to you is, does this seem like too many brushes to you? Or for the more seasoned make up enthusiast is this just a drop in the ocean? I'm really interested to know. I've included a poll in the sidebar too.

Jane x