The best full coverage brush for mineral makeup

I purchased the Bare Escentuals Full Coverage Kabuki Brush as part of the Bare Minerals Get Started kit. The kit included 2 foundations, Mineral Veil finishing powder, Warmth All-Over-Color, BareVitamins Skin Rev-er Upper lotion, the Flawless Application Face Brush, the Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush and the Full Coverage Kabuki Brush - all for just $60 at Sephora.

Obviously the kit is a great deal, considering the Bare Escentuals Full Coverage Kabuki Brush normally retails for about $28. However, I would be willing to pay full price because of the great job this brush does! Let me explain....

The basic specs
The Bare Escentuals Full Coverage Kabuki Brush is about 2 inches high by 2 inches wide. It's a squat little brush with brown goat hair bristles and a silver metal base. It's designed to provide medium to full coverage for the face and body.

How you use it
This brush is extremely simple to use. You just tap a small amount of mineral foundation into the lid of the container, swirl the brush around in it, tap off any excess and then buff the brush all over your face. When you swirl the brush in the mineral foundation, it gets pushed up into the bristles. Then when you buff it onto your skin, the powder gets distributed all over your face.

To care for the brush, you should wash it regularly using a mild soap. I usually wet the brush, put a small amount of hand soap in my palm, swirl the brush around and then rinse thoroughly. I gently squeeze out the excess water and lightly rub the brush over a paper towel to get out any leftover water (or powder). I then place the brush on its side to dry. (Tip: don't dry makeup brushes standing up. The water can get down into the base and loosen the adhesive that holds the bristles on.)

Why I'm in love with this brush
I have struggled with acne for over 15 years. While I mostly have it under control now (thanks in part to mineral makeup), I have some red spots on my face that are scars left from bad bouts of acne as a teen. As I've gotten older, I've also started to get some light brown spots on my forehead from sun exposure, along with a few crows feet.

But you'd never know that if you saw me because the Bare Escentuals Full Coverage Kabuki Brush helps me hide it all. It gives me great, even, buildable coverage for natural, yet nearly flawless skin. It never leaves blotches of color or other signs that I'm obviously wearing foundation. Compared to other brushes, including the Bare Escentuals Flawless Application Face Brush, I feel the Full Coverage Kabuki Brush also does a better job of making my pores look smaller and my face less shiny as the day goes on.

As I noted, you can build your coverage with this brush. I usually use just 1 application for every day wear and find that to give me nearly full coverage. If I want ultimate coverage, such as if I have a little extra skin redness one day, I'll use 2 applications.

I must admit that I have 1 small gripe about this brush. It sometimes sheds bristles on my face and/or clothing. It's not every day, but at least once a week I'll find a stray bristle or two (often after I'm already out and about, which is a bit embarrassing).

Given the shedding, about 6 months ago, I decided to go in search of a different kabuki brush. I tried 2 kinds (one from CVS and one from Everyday Minerals), but neither could live up to the expectations set by the Bare Escentuals Full Coverage Kabuki Brush. Neither brush gave me the same full coverage and the Everyday Minerals brush actually left splotches of color on my face.

So now I'm back to my Bare Escentuals Full Coverage Kabuki Brush and have vowed never to stray again. This brush works great with every mineral makeup I've tried, from the Bare Minerals foundations and Mineral Veil to other brands, such as the Everyday Minerals foundations (which are less expensive and offer more color and coverage options).

I've been using this brush every day for over a year and its still going strong. If it ever fails, there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be replacing it with another. I'll take a little shedding in return for incredible looking skin!