A Guide to Makeup Brush Construction

Last Updated on 4 January 2024

A look at what makeup brushes are made of and the differences between animal hair and synthetic fibres.

Makeup Brush Construction

Makeup brush construction

A makeup brush consists of three main parts: bristles, ferrule and handle.

The bristles are the action end of a brush. The “toe” is at the top and the “heel” is the end of the bristles that are secured into the ferrule. The length, softness, shape and amount of hairs in the brush are dictated by what makeup application and products the brush has been designed for.

The ferrule is usually made of metal (e.g. nickel-plated brass; aluminium) and less commonly from plastic. The bristles are held in place by the top of the ferrule, which is sometimes pinched flat, and a good dollop of glue. The bottom of the ferrule is glued to the handle too, so don’t leave your brushes in water or let the ferrule get water in it.

Handles are made from wood (coated in either varnish or paint), resin or plastic. Some handles are made from recycled or sustainable materials. The brand logo and other information about the brush (like it’s purpose or size) is printed on the handle.

TIP: If you work as a makeup artist, mark your brush handles with your name or a symbol (use a coloured nail varnish) so you know they are yours!

What Bristles Are Made Of

The bristles of a makeup brush can be made from animal hair or synthetic hair (or a mix of the two). Here is a look at both types of material.

Animal Hair

What is animal hair? Animal hair (sometimes referred to as “natural”) comes from animals, including goats, badgers, squirrels, weasels (“sable”) and horses (“pony”). Camel hair brushes are not actually made from camel hair, but a combination of several types of animal hair (including horse, goat and squirrel), depending on the desired softness and cost.

Why is animal hair used? Simply because it has been traditionally used in brushes for a long time and there was no other suitable material until synthetics came along. The hair has a cuticle, a layered outer coating on the hair shaft, which picks up and distributes powder products well. The cuticle also means that animal hair is not so good for cream, gel or liquid products, as it picks up too much product and can lead to clogging, blobs or streaking.

Each type of hair comes with its own unique strengths and advantages. For example, sable hair is soft, flexible and goes to a fine point, which is good for precision work. Badger hair is stiff and is used in brushes that work to define and shape, like brow brushes. Squirrel and goat hair is very soft.

How is the hair made? A commonly asked question and the answer is simple: the hair is not given willingly – it is obtained from animals by hunting, farming and slaughter. Animal welfare standards are generally very poor. It is not pretty business.

Synthetic Hair

What is synthetic hair? Synthetic bristles are made from 100% manufactured fibres, like nylon and polyester.

Why is synthetic hair used? Synthetic bristles do not have a cuticle, so are very smooth and trap less product in the bristles than animal hair brushes. Therefore, they are great for creams, gels and liquids. Powder can also be applied with synthetics designed specifically for this purpose, e.g. Taklon and Natrafil were created specifically to mimic the different properties of animal hair, making them good substitutes for using with powder cosmetics.

How is the hair made?It is manufactured in factories. The hair can be dyed, often to mimic animal hair, like cream or brown.

Types of synthetic fibres used in makeup brushes:

Taklon is a soft, smooth polyester derivative, originally developed by DuPont to mimic the qualities of natural sable Therefore, it is flexible and soft with a good point. It is an incredibly versatile material and can be used in all types and sizes of makeup brushes.

Nylon has smooth fibers and is used in makeup brushes that need a degree of firmness to the bristles, like concealer, brow and mascara brushes.

Natrafil® is another DuPont creation. It was initially designed to replace animal hair for use in powder brushes, where being able to pick up the product and release it evenly onto the skin is important. Natrafil® is a polyester-based composite and is made with a textured surface, allowing the hair to grab the powder. The commonly-held belief that synthetics are no good for powder makeup is no longer so with these type of bristles.

Summary of the Differences

	Synthetic Hair	Animal Hair
Hygiene and Cleaning	Smooth fibres used lack a cuticle, making it easier to clean thoroughly.	Has an irregular surface (due to cuticles) which traps powders, dead skin cells, bacteria and chemicals. Cleaning may not necessarily remove all these particles.
Best Uses	Cream, gel and liquid. Powders can also be applied with the textured synthetic bristles.	Powder makeup products.
Feel on Skin	Bristles tend to be firmer, though more flexible versions are available.	Bristles can vary from very soft and fluffy to firmer, depending on type of hair used.
Durability	Stands up to solvents and doesn’t dry out. Keeps shape well. Dries quicker than animal hair after washing.	Over time with washing and cleaning, hair is prone to breakage, drying out and can lose its shape. Hair can shed.
Ethos	Cruelty free. No protein element, so vegan friendly.	Animal treatment issues.
Bristles Made From	Man-made materials like nylon, polyester	Animal hair from squirrels, goats, horses, badgers and weasels

What Do We Prefer?

As professional makeup artists, we use every type of makeup that there is, in all situations, and on all sorts of faces – and we have 100% synthetic brushes in our kit.

As well as the other advantages we feel that today’s synthetic brushes have over animal hair in terms of reliability, durability and hygiene, we simply cannot ignore the cruelty involved in obtaining hair from animals just to make makeup brushes. Yes we are biased towards synthetics and don’t like cruelty.

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11 Responses to "A Guide to Makeup Brush Construction"

MiRa says:
31 July 2023 at 5:25 AM
An amazing written article and a great resource for everyone in search of answers to makeup brushes. I was doing some research on synthetic hair brushes and found your info very useful. I’ll make sure to save and share your page. Thanks!
Reply
SD7 says:
15 April 2023 at 10:43 AM
Thank you for the wealth of information. I couldn’t find anything related to the reason why almost every brush handle is sized differently based on the bristles. I can understand why there’s a large difference inbetween the thicker bristles compared to the really small ones. However within the small category of bristles, almost every handle has a slight size variation in thickeness. Does this make a huge difference when applying makeup? For example pencils have different lead sizes but the handle is the same size. I’m asking because I’m interested in designing my own brushes and would like to make one uniform brush thickness.
Reply
1. H&MUA Team says:
  15 April 2023 at 11:32 AM
  For us, makeup brushes are about being able to do the makeup application you want to do easily, quickly and accurately. Brushes need to be balanced so they handle well – so the weight of the bristles needs to be balanced with the weight of the handle. But we see no reason why, as you say, those brushes that have bristles of a similar size/weight couldn’t have more uniform handles. However, one uniform brush thickness wouldn’t work for a full range of brushes, as the variation in bristle size/weight is too much (from the thinnest pencil liner to the largest powder brushes) – this would mean some brushes are more difficult to handle as they would be unbalanced in the hand. ?
  Reply
D Sanders says:
23 January 2024 at 4:49 PM
Hello,
I loved all the great information you provided on the construction of makeup brushes. It’s very informative and helpful. I’m trying to construct my own brushes, so do you have any information regarding suppliers of the bristles already set in the ferrules without the handles? Any recommendations and information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
D. Sanders
Reply
1. H&MUA Team says:
  24 January 2024 at 9:45 AM
  Hi there – thanks for getting in touch. Sadly we’ve no idea who supplies the various parts that go into makeup brushes. We only ever get the finished product! Good luck in your search.
  Reply
Sally says:
25 September 2023 at 5:44 PM
Thank you for your information! I would like your permission to use the photo of the makeup brush construction picture. I am writing a professional makeup artistry curriculum for Southern Calif. cosmetology schools. Please let me know asap. I would be glad to give photo credits if you would like.
Thank you, Sally You can find me on Linked in Sally Eggleton/Henshaw
Reply
1. H&MUA Team says:
  29 September 2023 at 4:36 PM
  Hi Sally – you can use the picture no problem. A credit to our website would be lovely, thank you ?
  Reply
Elly says:
14 December 2023 at 7:30 AM
How do I know what type of bristles I have!? It’s not written anywhere ? I want to make sure I’m using synthetic for ethical reasons.
Reply
1. H&MUA Team says:
  14 December 2023 at 3:45 PM
  Brands should (but they don’t always) tell you what they are made off – online stores should state the materials used; shop staff should be able to answer this when buying in-store. Some brands only sell synthetic brushes e.g. Urban Decay, Aveda, Body Shop. So look at the brands you have bought! Foundation brushes (whatever the brand) tend to be synthetic. Well-made synthetics used in fluffy brushes can be hard to distinguish from animal hair, as they are designed to mimic animal hair, but generally synthetics tend to be smoother in feel and look, as they don’t have a cuticle.
  Reply
Beautymee says:
9 March 2023 at 6:22 AM
I suppose there must be some mistaken on how to obtain animal hair, most of the goat hair was cut down from goat, but no animals was harmed, except for some bad guys hunt the animals but get the hair is not their goal, hunt animals is their goal, they sell animal hairs to other just in order to get more profit and make everything become profitable. Hope my opinion could correct some opinion in your mind.
Reply
1. handbook says:
  10 March 2023 at 5:20 PM
  Thanks Beautymee for your comment. Our opinion is not going to change! We like cruelty-free.
  Reply