'Nowadays, budget brands have raised their game to the point where their brushes sit happily alongside my investment tools'
I'm very serious about my beauty tools. My brushes are mostly pricey, by Laura Mercier, Stila, Suqqu, Japonesque, Mac and Space NK, but I've had many of them for well over a decade and they continue to perform as well as they did when I bought them. But what has changed noticeably since then is the quality of budget tools, which used to be barely usable. The cheap brushes of yore were either too stiff (scratchy and bad for blending) or too soft (wouldn't deposit makeup, offered no control), or flat-bristled and sloppily glued into underweight handles. They were scarcely an improvement on the useless brushes that came free in the makeup compacts I swiftly threw in the bin.
Nowadays, budget brands have raised their game to the point where their brushes sit happily and usefully in my kit alongside my investment tools. At last, many are now domed in shape, an essential feature for natural-looking blusher and eyeshadow application. Handles are nice and heavy, giving effortless control akin to a good kitchen knife (as with knives, brushes, not your hands, should do most of the work: if you're putting in a lot of elbow grease, your tool is wrong). These six budget brush brands have more than earned a place in my kit.
Topshop Makeup Neon Pink Brushes, from £4, topshop.com
Better than the signature black range. Try the smudger, foundation and brow (called "slanted eyeshadow") brushes.
Crown Brushes, from £1.79, crownbrush.co.uk
Crown makes every shape across a wide price range. They wash well and last for years.
Real Techniques, from £6.99, realtechniques.com
A well-priced range from makeup artist Sam Chapman, with brush kits for about £20.
Jackson's Art Watercolour Brushes, from £2.49, jacksonsart.com
Art shops are a brilliant and affordable place to buy makeup brushes. Jackson's sells every imaginable shape. Avoid anything for acrylics: they're too stiff and scratchy.
Eco Tools, from £4.99, boots.com
An eco-friendly, cruelty-free brand at a fair price. I use the deluxe concealer and bamboo eyeshadow brushes a lot.
Models Own, from £4, modelsownit.com
I love these great-looking bargain brushes. Buy the eyeshadow brushes if nothing else, or get a five-brush set for just £10.