Nail Art Brushes and Their Uses: A Beginner’s Guide

Doing your own nail art is such a rewarding and fun experience. Plus, it’s a great way to express yourself and your creativity.

However, creating nail art isn’t that easy. Without the right tools, you’ll have a hard time creating the design you want. And when you fail to do the art you’re aiming for, you may end up feeling frustrated.

To help avoid that, below is a guide to understanding nail art brushes and their uses so you’ll know exactly which tool to grab when doing your nails.

Quick Navigation

• What Types of Brushes Are Best for Nail Art?
  • 1. Round Brush
  • 2. Striper Brush
  • 3. Stripette Brush
  • 4. Flat Brush
  • 5. Angled Brush
  • 6. Fan Brush
  • 7. Detailing Brush
  • 8. Dotter Brush
  • 9. Grass Comb Brush
  • 10. Angular Brush
• Why Is It Important to Use the Right Nail Art Brush? 
• The Take-Away

What Types of Brushes Are Best for Nail Art?

A nail art brush set commonly contains 15 pieces of varying kinds of brushes. Bristles of nail brushes are either made from natural hair or silicone. Some may have synthetic bristles. You have the option to buy nail brushes individually or in pieces. 

Here are the different types of nail art brushes:

1. Round Brush

A round brush is the most commonly used nail art brush and the easiest one to use. 

Round brushes are used when applying nail polish. They’re also useful in making excellent 3D nail art and large designs.       

2. Striper Brush

A striper brush is also called a liner brush because it has long bristles with short, rounded, and pointed tip. 

Because it’s thin, it’s a great tool when making straight lines. With it, you can also create stripes, and plaid art or checks. If you want to have nail art with animal patterns such as zebra or tiger prints, this is the brush you should pick.

Aside from making lines, this nail art brush can also be used to make other intricate designs and patterns such as geometric designs. It’s generally available in various lengths and sizes, but most sets of nail art brushes contain three pieces of liner brushes.

3. Stripette Brush

The stripette brush is smaller than a striper brush which makes it handy when creating shorter vertical and horizontal lines. It’s perfect for netting designs on nails.

4. Flat Brush

The flat brush is also referred to as a shader brush or gel brush. With short bristles and square endpoints, it can help in making striping stroke patterns or creating long fluid strokes on your nails.

The flat brush is called a gel brush because it’s often used when working on gel on nails. In a set of nail brushes, you can get 2 to 3 pieces of this brush.

5. Angled Brush

Double loading a nail brush with two colors is easy with an angled brush. If you are making nail art flowers, this nail art brush can efficiently make a one-stroke on your nail.

6. Fan Brush

The fan brush is a multi-functional and medium-length brush. It can be used for shading, creating swirls, as well as sprinkling glitter on nails. You can make ombre effects and stroked patterns with it as well.

Plus, you can also use a fan brush to remove excess glitter or flock powder from the nails. Here are some glitter nail designs that you may want to check out.

7. Detailing Brush

Nail art is about details and having a detailer brush in your nail brush set is a must! 

It may be the smallest brush in your collection, but the detailer brush provides a very good precision effect on your nails. You can easily make several nail art masterpieces with the detailing brush.

You may want to keep on hand a crooked detailer brush. This is a short-length round brush with a flat composition. It has an angular tip and angled shaft which helps make fine nail art details. This is best used for complex angle designs.   

8. Dotter Brush

A dotter brush or the marbler brush has a very small head tip at one endpoint that helps you make small dots patterns on your nails. The other endpoint of the brush has a round shape and a thick point which helps in blending colors together.

Every set of nail art brushes contains at least one dotter brush. If you want to make bigger dot patterns for nail designs, there are bigger dotting tools that you can purchase.

9. Grass Comb Brush

The grass comb brush is a short-length brush with flat and uneven length bristles. The grass comb brush is used when you want to create airbrush effects or when you want feather-like designs.

10. Angular Brush

Cut at a 45-degree angle, the angular brush is the perfect tool to help you with slanted designs. The angular can help you with drawing delicate flowers or flower petals.

Why Is It Important to Use the Right Nail Art Brush?

Every single nail art brush has its particular use. There is a brush that is ideal for shading or sprinkling, while there is a brush for blending. Understanding how each of these nail brushes works may take some time, but doing so is definitely worth it.

For instance, acrylic brushes are ideal to be used for acrylic nails. An acrylic brush has a pointed tip for precision application, excellent brush control, and a smooth finish. It is important to use the appropriate nail art brush for your manicure to last longer.

The Take-Away

You need the right nail art brush to create the perfect nail art. Nail art brushes come in varying sizes, bristle lengths, and materials. When you use the right brush, you can achieve your nail goals quicker and with better results.

To be a professional nail artist, you need to invest in quality nail brushes. Nail art procedure becomes faster and designs are easily achievable when you use the right brush. If you are a beginner, learning how to maximize the use of these different brushes can take some time, but definitely worth it when you see your masterpiece.