A word of advice: we like to pay close attention to the jawline because no one wants a horrid tidemark. If you’re looking to create a dewy, natural finish, where foundation blends seamlessly into your skin, then a fluffy buffing brush such as the M439 from Morphe is certain to be your best friend. While MAC’s duo fibre brush is great for creating a glowing canvas, fans of a matte, full-coverage look should look elsewhere. The MAC 159S works best with dewy formulas – particularly tinted moisturiser, BB and CC creams – to create a sheer-to-medium coverage that looks natural and polished. So, once the warmer weather rolls around, you’ll want a versatile tool that will enhance and not mask your sun-kissed skin.

Comparatively, a flat foundation brush is ideal for precise application, and angled brushes are superb for blending around trickier areas. The Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Brush is one of the best tools for achieving an even and well-blended base.

Choosing the right foundation for your skin is the first step to achieving a flawless complexion, but there’s no disguising a badly applied base. Next, we apply foundation to the whole face, working from the centre of the face outwards, and note the coverage and finish delivered by each brush. Identical to its full-size sibling, but with a smaller handle, this rose-gold buffing brush beautifully builds a custom coverage without caking or creasing your foundation. This super-soft but densely bristled brush from Lady Gaga’s HAUS LABS range has a softly angled shape that mimics your finger, so it’s easy to sweep foundation into tricky corners around the nose or under the eyes. With a beauty community of over five million, Real Techniques ® strives to inspire, educate, and empower our fans to make the most of their favourite products.

Our favourite is the bareMinerals Original Powder Foundation Brush because its unique convex centre and silky soft brush head both help to provide an even and smooth finish. The makeup brush kit includes the 402 Mini Setting Brush, 307 Mini Shading Brush, 407 Mini Multitask Brush, and 200 Mini Expert Face Brush.The brush gives a soft, streak-free finish that’s ideal for layering medium-to-full coverage foundation; it’s easy to build a little more foundation over areas of redness or hyperpigmentation that may need more coverage, and it also effortlessly blends your favourite foundation over concealer or colour corrector. Its angled shape ensures the brush hugs the curves of your face for controlled and precise foundation application, including around the eyes and nose. The vegan-friendly, Taklon bristles are shaped into a dome to amplify blending power for a streak-free finish.

While we love Zoeva’s Rose Golden collection, the Silk Finish Brush is also available in classic Black. As well as assessing how the bristles feel on the skin and any issues with shedding, we consider how balanced and comfortable the brush handle feels in the hand, and how easy it is to achieve precise coverage around tricky areas such as the nose.Use the wrong foundation brush – or worse, your fingers *shudder* – and you run the risk of a patchy finish that won’t last past lunchtime. Using a mix of synthetic and natural bristles of varying length, the duo-fibre foundation brush evenly picks up, deposits and diffuses the product across the skin.