The Great Debate: Brush vs. Applicator

Hi loves!  I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  I had a few hours of down time today, so I thought I would conduct a little experiment - using brushes vs. an applicator.  Honestly, I just want to justify the amount of brushes I own and see if they really do live up to the hype.  So, this is what I used:

In the middle we have the Rimmel Quad Eye Shadow in "Smokey Purple" (only $3.99 btw!).  On the left side we have a Mac 239 (for the lid), Mac 224 (blending/crease) and 219 (outer corner & under eye).  And on the right side we have the applicator that came with Rimmel quad.  Here was the outcome:

Applicator eye

Brush eye

Brush / Applicator

Brush / Applicator

I know these pictures don't really do it justice, but I believe you can tell (especially in the last picture) that the brush is much better at applying the color and blending it out.  When I used the applicator on the lid, I had to pick up shadow about 8 times in order to get the same color pay-off.  With the brush, it took only 2 times.  And as you can see, the left-eye's crease color isn't well blended and you can see the lines it creates.  However, I will admit the skinny applicator did a good job getting the color underneath the eye which is sometimes hard to do with a brush.  Also, the applicator created a lot more fall-out than the brushes.  All-in-all, I think brushes are a good investment, but obviously applicators are a fine substitute.  I just wouldn't recommend them if you were trying for a darker, smokier look.  I think you really need good brushes for that since it requires a lot of blending.

And here's my final look!  I just added some black eyeliner on the top lid and green eyeliner on my waterline.  And of course, black mascara!  I hope you like this little experiment and let me know what you think about applicators vs. brushes!!

Have a great rest of your weekend!!!  xoxoxo