The results of last month's reader poll are now in, so let's see which brand you picked for Favorite Affordable Makeup Brush Brand:
First Place
e.l.f.
(776 votes)
Second Place
EcoTools
(618 votes)
Third Place
Sonia Kashuk
(353 votes)
Honorable Mentions
Real Techniques
(187 votes)
Essence of Beauty - CVS
(128 votes)
Revlon
(113 votes)
It comes as absolutely no surprise to me that e.l.f. and EcoTools came in first and second. I'm also not surprised to see Sonia Kashuk place third! What DID come as a surprise is that Real Techniques only garnered 187 votes (I thought this brand was much more popular with readers). Another surprise was that Revlon came in sixth overall (I don't think I have ever used a Revlon makeup brush before, so now I'm thinking I better go try one out!).
Are you surprised by any of the winners in this poll? How did YOUR favorite brand rank here? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
The NEW reader poll for February is now up and this month we're tackling affordable skincare. My criteria for the brands listed in this poll include:
1) Availability (I didn't include brands that are specific to just one retailer, so Nuance Salma Hayek, etc. didn't make the cut because I want this to be about the most popular and easily accessible products. I also didn't include online-only brands.)
2) Affordability (If most products from a brand retail for over $25 then the brand did not make the cut)
3) Assortment (if a brand only makes one or two skincare products and the products are not easily available to most consumers, the brand did not make the cut)
Please, please take a minute to vote (you can vote for more than one brand!). I really appreciate it--these polls would literally be nothing without you!
I have to agree with the e.l.f , they are the cheapest for the most amazing brushes you will find! I hate Face Secrets from Sally's the most! Those brushes are awful! Nice Poll!
ReplyDeleteSurprised.... the elf brushes i've bought at target shed horribly. even if they were a dollar i've returned them. my votes would be sonia kashuk and real techniques :) soho and studio+ studio 35 are great quality too :)
ReplyDeleteDont get the dollar elf brushes those are crap! lol get the 3 dollar black handle (studio) brushes.
DeleteI have all of the studio brushes and are quite happy with them.
DeleteFor me, the dollar line EYE brushes are fantastic. I've been using the same elf eyeshadow brush for almost 10 years now and that sucker never sheds. I also really like some of the studio brushes.
DeleteI LOVE LOVE eco tools! I thought they would be #1!
ReplyDeleteI love Revlon & Elf :)
ReplyDeleteI probably would've voted for Real techniques if I had an Ulta near me so I could get some, but I don't *Sigh*. Soooooo my vote or votes went to Elf and Ecotools too.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely fell in love with the Real Techniques brushes I bought, I have the powder, blush and stipple brushes. Now I need to pick up some eye brushes.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE my Real Techniques brushes. I think that if more people try them they will love them. My problem with the e.l.f brushes, and I have a bunch, is that they don't last AT ALL. They shred, they fall apart. Especially the eye shadow brush. I have gone through 4 of them already as they fall apart. Now that I have my Real Technique brushes I really will not buy anything else!
ReplyDeleteStory of a Girl, the elf brushes vary a lot in quality. some of the standard ("essentials" line is pretty bad, some of them are pretty good. but, the other lines - the studio and minerals lines - are uniformly pretty good. and some of the good ones are awesome, especially for the price.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen or cared to see a Revlon brush before! I want to try the Real Techniques brush but I don't have any Ultas near me and I want to feel them in person first. Almost all my brushes are from the first 3 brands though, plus a few Studio Tools and a MAC 217.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why the EcoTools brushes are so popular..I recently bought a set of their eye brushes and I find that they are so fluffy that I can't get a good application of shadow and I get way too much fall out. Does the RiteAid cosmetic return policy cover brushes too?
ReplyDeleteSome of the ecotools eye brushes are a bit big for me, but their face brushes rock my world. And yes, you can return rite aid brushes with a receipt. :)
DeleteElf has been hit and miss for me. I like EcoTools - I've been wanting the 4 piece kabuki brush set for months now, but couldn't justify the price - but tonight I found them for about $10.50 at Target. These will be great for travel.
ReplyDeleteI love Ecotools, I have the Coastal Scent 22 piece set which is great. Not a fan of elf because as one person said they fall apart too easily (or least the one had) even the $3 brushes. Which is the only ones I've tried. I just got the Rite Aid brushes this week at the BOGO Free sale. I haven't used them yet but they are sooooo soft and feel really great in my hands. Can't wait to try them.
ReplyDeleteI really like the rite aid brushes I own. :)
DeleteI don't think Nuance should be excluded from the poll because both Sonia Kashuk & ELF brushes are only exclusive to Target. I really think Nuance should be added to the list.
ReplyDeleteSorry about that. One of the reasons I tried to stick with brands that are sold at multiple retailers was because there are SO many skincare brands on the market that if I included the ones that are only sold at one retailer, this list would be as long as this page. So I had to narrow it down.
DeleteI understand that I didn't use this rule for brushes, but that's because there are far less brush brands on the market than skincare.
When I post the results of the skincare poll next month, you'll have an opportunity to share your faves from Nuance. I'd love to hear about them! I reviewed one of the moisturizers a while back and really like it. :)
I understand now. I just recently got into skincare because I had no idea that you had to take care of your skin until recently, so I've tried out some Nuance products and am in love!
DeleteI'm not surprised by e.l.f. being number one. I own quite a few of their brushes and they are fantastic. The taklon stipple brush is awesome for the price you pay - $3. I don't use it for stippling, but for applying HD powder and blush. Better than any expensive blush brush I own!
ReplyDeleteSonia Kashuk makes great brushes, too. Those were the first "nice" makeup brushes I had and 14 years later they still hold up just fine.
I love ELF and SK brushes, but have never ever thought to buy a Revlon one - now I'm curious about trying some. I love these polls you do, they enable me to buy more, lol <3
ReplyDeleteRevlon has a tapered blending brush that reminds me of a MAC 226. I have the older version so I have a LLOONNGG handle.. boo!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe Real Techniques wasn't higher up!! I feel like the elf brushes I own wear out quickly, same with my ecotools (though ecotools lasts MUCH longer than elf). I'll be faithful to my Real Techniques till the end!
ReplyDeleteIt's true...I use my Elf flat top powder brush for foundation over all of my other brushes drugstore or high end. And my Eco-Tools blush brush, large concealer and small concealer gets a lot of love from me. If I have to use another brush I would go to Sonia so yeah...this poll is accurate!
ReplyDeleteIt is also great to note that the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place companies come from proven cruelty-free manufacturers, as well as Real Techniques (Paris Presents - same as EcoTools). I would support all of those before giving any money to support Revlon.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised Palladio (the brand I voted for) didn't have more votes, it's affordable and the quality is good, but I guess that since you guys have more choices (I wish I could buy SK here!) in the US, those are not that popular, I think I've used most of the ones on the poll (the ELF e/s brush is really good, but about the only ELF I like) and Ecotools are really good as well, as for Revlon I totally recommend you buy the "contour shadow brush" I'd say is my absolut favorite brush for eyes and I do a lot of stuff with it (apply color, highlight, crease and blend) and it's SUPER cheap so yeah, go get that one!
ReplyDeleteMy absolute favorite brushes are Sonia Kashuk's. They're so soft & work really well. I especially like the ones with the black squiggly handles. They make it so much easier to work with. Saying that I have the ELF brush (studio), & it works perfectly well for what I need it for. I don't really like to stray away for SK's brushes b/c I'm really happy with the ones I have from her line. :)
ReplyDelete