Brushes: My Inventory and Clearout (Text Heavvvy!)

I have been working on this for the past week, and I know there's no way I can review or even photograph every brush I own- I keep recounting but it's somewhere about 170 brushes. I don't even know if that's a normal amount- or too many, too few??? I have no idea.  I've gotten rid of at least 20 in the past year or so, but I've purchased a lot as well. I'm just going to list them, it's not like I expect anybody to read all of this but maybe a search by name will help if anyone is interested in something specific, I can do a more thorough post on it.

Nars:
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 28
Botan, Yachiyo, Lip Yachiyo

Bdellium Tools:
365, 540, 731, 763, 777, 787, 955, 957

Sigma:
E05, E10, E20, E45, F80, F82, and some in a set

MAC:
128, 159, 179, 187
217, 219, 226, 228, 234, 235, 239, 266, 272, 286

Trish McEvoy:
29, 48, 50, 65, 66

Sonia Kashuk (none of mine have names or numbers!):
Blush
Lash comb
Stippling
XL eyeliner
Retractable dual eye
Angled contour
Bent eyeliner
Pointed
Tiny smudge
Eyeshadow
Wood handle large eyeshadow
Concealer
Brow
Pointed eyeliner
Angled eyeshadow
Flat top synthetic

Chanel: 2, 11, 12

Laura Mercier:
Cheek
Smudge
Fan Powder
Brow/Spoolie

Hakuhodo:
210
Kokutan SG
B162BkSL
B214BkSL
G545
G5520BkSL
G5521
G5554
J214
J214R
J242H
J5523
J5529
K002
K007
K019
S113
S133
S142
601

Koyudo:
Fu-pa 10
Fu-pa 11
C003
BP014
BP023

Hourglass: 2, 3, 5, Ambient powder brush - these are my favorite synthetic brushes so far! Made and perform extremely well.

Napoleon Perdis: br8, 8a, 19b

Illamasqua: Blush-up, Highlighter, eyeshadow shader, blender

That's it for the brands I have a few of, the rest of them I only have one or two of each brand. Some I'm not listing cause either they're small (lips, brow) or else ones I think I'm just going to get rid of anyway. The worst offender is the Guerlain Meteorites brush, quite possibly the worst brush I've ever owned, a real tragedy that does not reflect on Meteorites product at all.

Inglot: 13P, 80 HP

Le Métier de Beaute Powder
Too Faced Retractable Kabuki
Shu Uemura 18r
Shiseido 131
Body Shop Blusher
MUFE 132
Dior eyes, lips, concealer
Mirabella flat foundation, face blender
Chantecaille eyeshadow
Royal & Langnickel "Smudger"- why its called this I don't know, it's a large crease/blending
Smashbox 30, 32 (undecided if I will keep)
Posh crease, larger crease (sentiment- two of the first non-branded brushes I loved a lot!)

These are the ones I immediately decided to get rid of- they're all either old, crappy, or I just don't use them. Some of them I never used, actually.  Maybe somebody would like to have these, but I'm not sure who.  I will probably get rid of more, but this is a good first step, about 20.

The brushes I use the most are MAC 187 and all the dupes of it- The Bdellium one was really nice, but the wood cracked a little bit and it's not got much life left.  I like the Sonia Kashuk one a lot, and I don't think I have another high end brush of that type.  The next most used for me is eyeshadow, just a basic one like a 239, I have tons of those thankfully so not one gets used up all the time.  There are other brushes I 'need' and use a lot, but those are my top two most used. 

I do have a (kinda) small brush wishlist still, but I've learned (the hard way, obviously!) that its much better to be selective, since good brushes will last a lot longer as well. I have a few that I want based on type, others based on brand. Some brands I've had a really hard time tracking down, and I'm not too keen on spending $80 plus shipping on a brush I've never seen from a company I've never tried.

The other piece of advice I wish I wouldn't have listed to, is painting clear varnish on MAC brush numbers.  1, it looks really tacky, and 2, it doesn't even work because eventually it will chip off too, and when it does, the lettering goes right along with it.