The brush is an important element of nail enhancement, do you know which one is right for you?

Natural or synthetic bristles ?

Natural bristles are generally more souple and resistant than synthetic ones. In nail enhancement, we can find two main types of natural bristles brushes: Kolinsky and Red Sable. Those brushes are both made with marten hair, a type of red haired weasel.  Red Sable is specially made for gel and Kolinsky is ideal for acrylic.

The synthetic fibers are firmer and less elastic but that does not mean they are less good. On the contrary, synthetic bristles, like nylon, are perfect to work with UV gel and colors of UV gel.

Shape of brush

Squared, oval, angled, liner or fan, the shape of the brush is very important to help you accomplish the technique you want. The size is also an important factor to consider,

• The squared and flat brush is perfect to scult nails when using UV gel.
• The oval and flat brush is multitasking, you can sculpt, fill and shape all types of gel.
• The angled brush is used mainly for the finishing layer when doing a french manicure. It is also used for paint (one stroke) and other decorations.
• The liner brush is mostly used for nail art and detail work.
• The fan brush is a very thin but spread out brush ideal to spread glitter on the nails.

Many sizes of brush exists, often starting at #2 going all the way to #12 for nail enhancement. For nail art, it starts at 0.5 cm up to 2.5 cm.  The bigger your brush is, the bigger the surface you are going to cover. The # 12 is often used for toes and #2 for touch ups on the pinky finger. A good variety of sizes is recommended to cover all possible situations.

Brush prices ?

Liner brushes are usually between 4 to 7$ and gel or acrylic brushes between 10 to 15$.

You can start with a brush kit, it is a good way to get a good price and have all the brushes you need. Often, kits have brushes of different shapes and sizes in them so you can test them out and find out what you prefer. Kits are usually around 20$ for 3 brushes and 30 to 45$ for more complet kits.