Kabuki Brush

I have been looking at tutorials using the Kabuki brush and was wondering - is there a special face painting Kabuki brush or would any make-up kabuki work just as well?
Thanks so much

I have used them both and they both work great for blending..I have a very soft one that is ment for body and facepaintng, it's also very flat...

the other one i bought in amake-up store and are a little rounded..they are a little less soft, but do the job also!

I ot mine at Wlmart & it works fine for getting into facial hair, but I've never done a lot of blending w/ it....

I loooooovvveeee my kabukis, but I've only used the bodypainting ones.

The popular Vargas-like buki brushes do come in smaller sizes, angled and domes. The small angle is good on faces.

I have really expensive Kabukis, medium price kabukis (Japonesque, MAC), and a very cheap Kabuki from ELF (eyes, lips, face cosmetics) that I got from Target for $3.00. The ELF brush is the hands-down softest and most favourite of all of them. It's not a traditional kabuki, but is marketed as their powder brush: http://www.eyeslipsface.com/studio/brushes/brushes_and_applicators/powder_brush

It would not be sufficient for body painting, but it's great on the face.

How do you clean them between clients if you want to use them instead of sponges?

Cleaning would be very difficult - the way I have to work washing a full brush like a kabuki or blush brush would be way too time consuming, and would not dry out after the alcohol saturation. They have to be completely dry before reusing.

They aren't really all that useful for face painting.

I've been successful cleaning and re-using mine. I just dip it into one of my brush tubs and gently scrub it back and forth on a porcelain ginger grater I keep in the tub. Then I rub in back and forth on dry paper towels...takes less than a minute and I'm good to go. I did buy a cheap kabuki at WalMart and it worked beautifully but it always leaves a few hairs on the client's face that I have to pick off with my fingers... so I bought one for a few dollars more at WalMart that doesn't have that problem. I use them both still.

Thanks miss Ronnie and Shannon. I am new to facepainting and want to make sure my hygiene skills are high, as well as ensuring my client has the best face/ body paint i am capable of, sometimes there is so much information and products it is confusing. One thing is for sure I need to practice practice practice, especially my blending .

https://www.youtube.com/user/FacePaintForum?feature=mhee#p/a/u/1/dQoislCvgbU

for one colour or two colour bases on the face it's so fast and easy!

Julie, thanks for the tip on Target. Got the ELF powder brush and on my way out of the aisle noticed a $3 shimmer body powder complete with a baby kabuki. Shimmer for myself for the holidays and two kabukis for $6!

I bought the kabuki brush from Coastal Scents. They are very soft but right now the wide one is out of stock

http://www.coastalscents.com/brushes/application/kabuki-brushes/br-102.html

http://www.coastalscents.com/brushes/application/blush-powder-brushes/br-110.html

@Martha - I love mine! I use it every day and it doesn't shed bristles like the MAC one does. I figure, even if it didn't last for very long, it's only $3, but so far, I've had it over a year!

I actually used another one in a body painting project this fall and it worked wonderfully - it really helped to blend metallic colors with zero brushstrokes and cut down on the time it would have taken with sponging.

I can't imagine that just washing with water is sanitary enough without using alcohol afterwards...and then the alcohol must dry which would take too long for a quick reuse. I'd love to try them, but I can't see my way around the health impact.

same as for smaller brushes - swish/scrub in 1st water bath, swish in 2nd water bath (and 3rd if you like), blot on towel, immerse/swish in alcohol if you want, blot and air dry.

if all the face paint was rinsed out, it would be as clean as a smaller brush.

you could have half a dozen or so kabukis and rotate using them while the others dry (compare that to how many sponges you would use if you used one per person).

When I do a haunted house at a local school I have one helper & 2-2.5 HRS to do 20-30 "haunts". My Kabuki brushes save me. I use only 3 colors for bases: white, skin tone & green. If I'm lucky, I've got help to apply bases. My first year, I only had 3 expensive Kabuki brushes: one for each color. Now I buy cheaper ones all year for Halloween. Just look on Amazon in Makeup Brushes. I paid $3.00 for a set of 7 brushes, 3 of them different size Kabukis. They work fine for everyday if you are looking to increase your stash of Kabukis for large, fast groups.  
  I keep a few in my kit for year round use for anything I don't use a sponge for (sugar skulls, skulls, zombies, Dino faces). When I need to go really fast, I get paint all over my fingers using a sponge, which slows me down to clean it off! That's when I switch to a Kabuki brush. I also use a $1.00 makeup brush from Dollar General. A big Thank You to Miss Ronnie for teaching me the quickest way to paint many faces at the Discover the Dinosaurs show w/this brush.
~ The 1st pic shows my less expensive brushes from various stores. The pink are the set from Amazon, minus one in my kit. The last brush the right does lose hairs, but not a big deal w/me. When I do private clients for Halloween, I start out w/my best Kabukis & have these & others as backup.
~ 2nd pic shows the $1.00 brushes. They are not good for line work, but if you need to get thru a long line quickly, as in fast faces at a huge gig, these work well for quick coverage.
  ~My "go-to" brushes, available here on the face paint Forum Shop from Metina are three sets of Lowe Cornell, #2 & #4. One set each for White, Black & Colors.

Happy Painting!

Whoops...I need to remember to look at the dates on these posts! Most from 2011, but the recent 2017 question was re: sanitary use of Kubuki brushes. The larger Kabuki's are harder (not impossible) to clean. My pink handled ones from Amazon can be washed & dried while rotating through my collection because they're smaller. Metina has Kabuki brushes here at the face Paint Forum Shop. Look at the top of the page.