Nail Polish Brush Replacement Guide

[RGbrown]

Love a polish, but hate the brush? Maybe you can fix that!

Lots of the ones on this list are ones I've found in various places around the 'net, including an older Reddit thread, commenters on my current Reddit thread, and some are ones I've tested myself and can personally confirm. Big thanks to u/quaintwicket for hosting the old reddit thread that sparked my original interest, and u/Snazzy_L has been a big help on my new thread over there 💕

First things first, where to get brushes, and the differences between them:

• Glisten & Glow  (skinny and paddle options; black caps available) $0.25-$0.55

• KBshimmer  (flat/square and paddle options; black caps available) $0.15-$0.33

• Night Owl Lacquer  (paddle brush, no caps) $0.24

• Cupcake  (skinny and paddle options; white caps available) $0.20-$0.50

• Sassy Sauce  (paddle brush, no caps) $0.25 each

• Indigo Bananas  (skinny, flat, and paddle options in both Full and Mini lengths, black caps, plus mixing beads and bottles too) $0.25-$0.45

• DRK Nails  39mm (30pk, $6.90) and 49mm (30pk, $7) The 39mm is a little shorter than Sassy but a little longer than IB Mini; 49mm is the same length as IB Full. Shop is only open a few days a month; also carries bottles (though not individual caps) and polish making supplies (suspension base and a massive range of pigments).

Y'all know the BIC rules, I can't post links, so lemme know if you need help locating any of these! 

G&G, KBS, and NOL paddle brushes are all exactly the same and fully interchangeable...it doesn't matter which one you buy, go with whichever one suits your ordering preference best. They are all the same length, and have the same "knob" at the top, and will fit all the same caps/necks.

Ironically, even though Night Owl sells a replacement brush, they disclose right on their listing that it may be too long for their bottle. I have tested one in the past, and indeed, after leaving it in the polish for roughly 3 weeks, the brush was warped. Any brand that uses the same bottle will be subject to the same caveat (and there are several!).

Cupcake, Sassy Sauce, DRK, and Indigo Bananas (IB) have the same "knob" at the top (different from the KBS knob) which means they'll all fit the same caps, but they all have different lengths. If something is marked below as Sassy and also marked as needing a cap, you'll have to get caps from Cupcake or IB since Sassy doesn't sell them (yep, let's make this complicated lol!)...or you can go with the IB Mini brush and cap, since it's just a smidge shorter. 

Some comparison pics might be helpful, yes? Can do!

Glisten & Glow, KBshimmer, Night Owl

Example of a warped KBS brush after sitting in a Night Owl bottle for three weeks. Application was difficult with that gap in the middle.

L to R: KBS, IB mini, DRK 39mm, Sassy, Cupcake, IB full, DRK 49mm. Note the knob at the top is different on KBS, but all the rest are the same. Also note that Sassy Sauce is a good bit fluffier than the rest.

For the below table, KBS means any of the KBshimmer, Glisten & Glow, or Night Owl brushes; they're all the same! If it needs a cap, caps from either KBS or G&G are fine.

If the brush is noted as IB Full, DRK 49mm is the same, or you can also use any of the shorter ones with the same knob (Cupcake, Sassy, DRK 39mm, IB Mini) as long as you don't mind a shorter brush. For Cupcake, same deal, you can always go shorter (Sassy, DRK 39mm, or IB Mini), and for Sassy, DRK 39mm or IB Mini would work as well. If it needs a cap, caps from either IB or Cupcake are fine.

I found DRK brushes long after composing most of this, and have not tested the 39mm for length compatibility in bottles that take IB Mini...it may actually work for some, but it may be too long for others. Same for Indigo Bananas Long and DRK 49mm; I knew about Cupcake long before I knew of either of these, and I haven't checked every single Cupcake-compatible polish to see if they would fit as well, so they might be an additional option for a few of those.

Polish Brand	Brush Brand
Baroness X	Cupcake
Bear Pawlish	Cupcake*
Black Dahlia (8mL)	IB Full
Black Dahlia (14mL)	KBS (shorter than OG)
Bluebird Lacquer (old round, ?-Aug 2018)	KBS
Bluebird Lacquer (old square, ~Jan 2019-July 2020)	Cupcake
Bluebird Lacquer (new square, ~Aug 2020-current)	KBS
Bow Polish	IB Mini
Butter London (11mL)	Sassy***
Butter London (6mL mini)	IB Mini***
Cadillacquer	Cupcake
Cameo Colors	KBS
Chanel	KBS*
China Glaze	KBS
Cirque Colors	KBS*
Clionadh	Sassy
CND Creative Play	KBS
CND Vinylux (old brush)	KBS
Color Club	KBS*
Colores de Carol	KBS
Colors by Llarowe	KBS
Cote	IB Mini
Cupcake (old bottle)	Cupcake*
Cupcake (new bottle)	IB Full
Cuticula	KBS
Death Valley Nails	Cupcake
Different Dimension	KBS
Dollish Polish	KBS
Dreamland Lacquer	Cupcake
Ella+Mila (old skinny brush)	Sassy*
Emily de Molly	KBS
Enchanted	Cupcake
Essie (regular line)	KBS
Essie (regular line minis)	Sassy*
Ethereal Lacquer	KBS**
Femme Fatale	Sassy
Finger Paints	KBS
Garden Path Lacquer	KBS
Geekish Glitter	KBS
Girly Bits Cosmetics	KBS
Glam Polish	Cupcake*
Glisten & Glow	KBS
Great Lakes Lacquer	KBS
Heather's Hues	KBS
Holo Taco	KBS
ILNP	Cupcake
Indigo Bananas 15mL	IB Full
Indigo Bananas 8mL	IB Mini
Jinsoon	Cupcake
Jior Couture	KBS
Julep	IB Full* (or Zoya will take the Julep overcap)
Katheen & Co	KBS**
KBshimmer	KBS
Kiss Gel Shine	Cupcake
Kokie	KBS*
LA Colors	KBS* or Cupcake
LBK	KBS
Lemming Lacquer (square bottle)	KBS**
Lilypad Lacquer	KBS
Live Live Polish	IB Mini
Lollipop Posse	KBS
Londontown (old brush)	Cupcake*
LynB Designs	KBS
Maniology (full size)	Cupcake
Mooncat	Cupcake
Moon Shine Mani	IB Full
Morgan Taylor	KBS
MTK Designs	Cupcake
My Indie Polish	KBS
Native War Paints	KBS
NCLA	Sassy
Nevermind	Cupcake
Night Owl Lacquer	KBS**
Nine Zero	KBS
Noodles	KBS
NuColor	IB Long
OPI	KBS
Orly	KBS
Orosa Beauty	KBS**
Pacifica (old bottles)	KBS
Pacifica (new bottles)	KBS**
Pahlish	KBS
Painted Polish	KBS
Peachtree Polish	KBS
People of Color	KBS**
Picture Polish	Sassy
Polish M	KBS
Polished for Days	KBS
Potion Polish	KBS
Pure Ice	KBS
Quixotic Polish	KBS
Revlon (classics)	KBS*
Sally Hansen Extreme Wear	IB Full (shorter than OG)
Salon Perfect	KBS
Sassy Cats	KBS
Sassy Pants	KBS
Scofflaw	KBS
Seche Vite/Vive	KBS
Shleee Polish	Cupcake*
Sinful Colors	KBS
Spellbound Nails	KBS
Starrily	KBS
Superchic	KBS
Turtle Tootsie	KBS
Twisting Nether	Cupcake
Uber Chic	KBS
Ulta (full size)	Cupcake
Ulta (Steffi Lynn minis)	Sassy
Vibrant Vinyls	KBS
Wildflower Lacquer	KBS
Zoya	IB Full*

* will require a new cap as well

** may be a bit too long, causing warping in the bristles over time

*** I found multiple versions of caps/brushes on Butter bottles in my collection; some won't need a cap, but some will, so it's not a bad idea to have a few on hand just in case.

Some brands change bottles over the years (see the Bluebird listing above lol), and that's tough info to keep up with. If you've got a brush that isn't working even though the chart says it should, lemme know and we'll see if we can't figure out what's what!

Cirque sells their own replacement brush + cap combo, but at $6.50 for 5, they're expensive compared to the alternatives above. But...if you hardcore want to keep the white-cap aesthetic, that's the route to go, as the KBS/G&G tops are black. And from Vice 2023 forward, Cirque has said all collections will come with their new wide brush.

Zoya has their own replacement brush as well; it will fit any bottle an IB Full brush will fit (perhaps some Cupcakes too, but like I said above, I haven't cross-referenced all of those). You will need the Zoya cap as well, but that comes with the brush anyway. They are expensive at $2 each, but the multipacks (6/12/24pks) are more reasonably priced and a decent enough deal with a really nice sale. (pm me if you want links to the multipacks...Zoya has them hidden last I looked, but they are available).

Replacement instructions (from KBS):

• To replace brush only: Open polish bottle and wipe excess polish from the brush. With a paper towel, firmly grasp the brush in one hand and cap in the other, then pull until brush releases from the cap. Insert new brush in the polish bottle, place cap on brush and bottle, twisting cap completely closed. Twist cap off and brush will be attached.
• To replace brush and cap: Open polish bottle, discard old cap and brush. Insert new brush in the polish bottle, place cap on brush and bottle, twisting cap completely closed. Twist cap off and brush will be attached.
• Brushes have lacquered bristles for protection, this is how they arrive from the manufacturer. This may appear to be a white or waxy coating. After placing in the polish, this coating naturally dissolves over a period of 12-24 hours. To shorten this time, gently rub bristles between fingers before placing in polish. Not recommended for water based polishes, nor have we tested these in gel.

[Justdoit130]

Does anyone know what brush and cap might replace the Pretty Serious ones? They're that soft matte that goes sooooo sticky! I just got some super old ones and they're so sticky it's practically unusable

[Titian06]

Hi, @RGbrown !  In case you're still keeping up with brushes, Color Club now sells replacement wide brushes:  6 brushes with caps for $12.00 🤑  Yea, $2.00/brush!

Some of my Color Club still have the skinny brushes with the flat/square tip.  I was looking at your list for replacement suggestions and then the company's website.

Do you know if Cirque Colors or Zoya brushes would fit?

[RedJayyy]

Does anyone know a place to buy the soft matte caps akin to Holo Taco and ILNP? I’m looking for some that will fit ILNP. I need to replace just the caps, and it’s a large number so I don’t want to ask their CS about it.

[Superbelle11]

Do you know which brushes to replace iscreamnails with? 

[RedzMystery]

Does anyone know of a brush replacement for the revlon parfumarie bottles?

[RGbrown]

@RedzMystery 

Oh wow, that's a fun memory! I did some digging through a box of older polishes and found one for testing, and KBS works (but it will require a new cap as well, which is a bit disappointing...that tiny knob was a bit of a pain to hold, but it's so cute lol).

[epglam]

This is SO helpful! I want to add a replacement for the Color Spectrum polish skinny brush is the Zoya Z Wide. I swapped the whole thing with cap, and it's great. 

[RGbrown]

For folks that don't want to order Zoya brushes for whatever reason or if you have a stash of brushes from one of the other brands already, this means that IB long (or Cupcake or DRK or Sassy) will fit as well. I am unsure if a new cap will be needed for those as I don't have one test myself, so have one handy just in case!

[QueenOfStorms]

Does anybody know if ILNP can take the Indigo Bananas brush? Every other one listed is sold out and I cannot stand the skinny brushes!

[mrpage]

I just tried an IB full and it’s too long. Also just realized I hate the INLP brushes after being spoiled by wide paddle brushes so I looked on Cupcake, and they were in stock so I ordered enough to change over all my INLP. 

I did try a Sassy Sauce after the IB, and it worked. It’s just a tad shorter than the Cupcake one. You could also try a KBS if you have a new cap.  

[RGbrown]

@QueenOfStorms 

Sadly, IB full is too long and gets smooshed into the bottom of the bottle. If the IB short is in stock, you could go with it though, it'll just be a little shorter than the original. 

Cupcake says on their listing that they hope to have more brushes sometime early this month, so hopefully they'll have them soon! 

[mrpage]

Do you know if IB mini brushes will work for Cirque mini bottles?

[RGbrown]

@mrpage 

Got my Cirque order today, and while I need to be getting ready for work, I couldn't resist tearing into it to check out the brush situation instead, and sadly, nope, the IB Mini won't fit the Cirque mini bottles; it is way too long 😣 

[mrpage]

Just checked and sassy has the brushes back in stock so I I grabbed 30 (don’t wanna have to order again for a looooooong time), two polishes, and a mega magnet. 

[mrpage]

I placed an IB order and  ordered some full size bottles I’m going to decant my Cirque minis into. I ended up with 4 sets of minis. Gonna keep two and gift 2. Now I’m just waiting on Sassy to get their brushes back in stock so I can use my Butter full size polishes again. 

[RGbrown]

@mrpage 

I came thiiiiiiis close to ordering during the BF sale *just* so I could get the gwp with mini bottles and see what brushes they had and what I could replace them with if needed 😆 My wallet won that debate though, so I don't have any on the way that I could test soon, unfortunately. If you are interested in figuring this out though, here's how:

Get a bottle of polish from your stash that is compatible with the IB/Cupcake/Sassy/DRK brush (one that does NOT need a cap). While length matters, it's not of utmost importance quite yet, so if all you have is something longer, like ILNP or a new Cupcake, that'll do for starters.

Wipe the brush of your IB-compatible polish on a paper towel or other scrap paper, then separate the brush from the cap by gently pulling it out. Also separate your mini Cirque brush/cap.

Take the now-empty IB-compatible cap and try to screw it onto the open Cirque bottle. Does it fit? If yes, drop your Cirque brush into the bottle and try to screw on the IB-compatible cap. Does it fit? If yes, Cirque will take an IB-style brush, and no new cap will be needed.

If the IB-compatible cap fits the Cirque bottle, but the Cirque brush won't fit in the IB cap, IB is still the right brush, but it will require a new cap as well.

If the IB cap does not fit the Cirque mini bottle to begin with, try the above with a KBS-compatible brush instead, again one that does not require a new cap...a full size Cirque that has the new wide brush would be ideal as that will test length as well, but any off the above list will do. 

If the IB-style fits, now we have to determine length since there are several options available. If you have any polishes in your stash that we already know take an IB mini brush (like Butter 6mL or Live Love Polish), you can eyeball the length of that brush next to the Cirque bottle...if it looks obviously short, try something else a bit longer. Or stick a toothpick straight down in your cirque mini, then mark the top of the neck and use that mark to measure some other brushes in your collection to get an idea of how long or short you should go with it.

I can't believe it's never dawned on me to list measurements of all the brushes, but I'll try and do that soon as well!

If these instructions are unclear or you get stuck on any point in particular, I'm happy to help further! You can use the @ to tag me so that I get a notification...otherwise I might not see a reply for a while. 😊

[mrpage]

I ended up doing three orders. Which is insane to even type out. But I got some full size for gifts and one mini set for me and two more for gifts. So I was somehow able to justify it.

I already need to order a few of the IB minis for a Butter mini set that has amazing colors, but such janky brushes. 

Also gotta hit up Sassy for some for the full size Butter bottles. I have no clue how I used to use those brushes.

[RGbrown]

@mrpage 

I caved on Cirque last night (the BF gwp is still adding to cart even though the sale is over) and hopefully have the mini set on the way now, so unless it gets cancelled, I should have it shortly to confirm which brush those bottles take 😊

[RGbrown]

@mrpage 

Three orders is not crazy at all, been there done that lol 😆 I was looking through some of my purchase history at Zoya and found I made five orders during a particularly nice promo last year 🤭

Oh man, Butter and their awful brushes, I have no idea how I loved the brand for so long before discovering paddle brushes...I guess I didn't know they were awful at the time but the formula more than made up for it lol

[mrpage]

They did have a line with wide brushes near the end of them being in Ulta. ‘3x mirror shine’ was the name of the line I think. But they never changed the OG line over. Though I don’t think they make the OG line anymore so I guess it’s a moot point.