What’s the minimum number of Brushes You need to Do an entire makeup look From start to Finish?

In a ideal world…but one where you don’t have six dozen different brushes, what’s the bare minimum number of makeup brushes you need to conveniently do an entire makeup look from start to finish?

For me it’s four. Actually, I could probably get away with three, but four is my magic number, and they’d be…

1. An angled eyeliner brush, which I could use to fill in my brows (I’m back on an eyeshadow-as-a-brow-powder kick) and line my upper lash line.
See what I’m doing here? It’s multitasking madness, yo! I like the NARS #47 angled eyeliner brush (it’s a splurge at $28, but DAYUM! — it always does my winged liner right, and I recommend it to beginners all the time). The good ol’ MAC 266 is another terrific one.

2. A tapered blending eyeshadow brush, which I’d use to rapidly get a base color all over the lid. then I’d clean it by running it across a paper towel before using it again to blend my eyeshadow.
And, as long as I’m not working with any dark or bright colors like blues, greens and purples, it could also double as a highlighting face brush.

Right now Laura Mercier makes my favorite version of this type of brush, which she calls a ponytail brush.

3. A domed eyeshadow brush, which I’d use for crease work. LOL! — “crease work.” Makes it sound like I’m building a better mousetrap or something.
I’d also use this one to run shadow along my lower lash lines. MAC makes my standby favorite, the 217. I consider it an absolute vital in a makeup bag.

4. A medium-sized face brush, which I’d use to apply all of my face stuff (powder, highlighter, bronzer and blush) because it doesn’t just take a village, people! It takes a small nation!
I really like the MAC 128 Split Fibre Cheek brush because you get both natural fibers (good for powder products) and synthetic fibers (best for cream products) in the same brush head, but I typically just use one side to apply my products and then blend with the other.