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.

[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. 

[Rayfaceee]

Hi! Has anyone tried swapping the brush in any of the liquids for the OPI Powder Perfection system? The bottles seem to have an extra stopper with a small opening, but I really hate the long skinny brushes and would love to use a paddle brush. I’m likely going to try anyway but wanted to see if anyone had any experience/advice. Thanks! 

[RGbrown]

Added Julep, Mooncat today 🙂

[sabby13]

Thank you!

[Saphye]

Hello! Does anybody know if any remplacement brush and cap fit the mooncat bottles? Thank you in advance!

[WinglessOne]

@Saphye  Try popping a Cupcake brush into your Mooncat cap. From what I’ve seen in Mooncat’s Facebook group, Cupcake’s brush fits. 

Did you get a defective brush in a Mooncat polish? If yes, then email Mooncat about it and they might send you a replacement free of charge. A while back, they had an issue with defective brushes in several bottles… I don’t remember which collection that was, but luckily none of my bottles were affected. 

Also, you’ve probably already seen that Mooncat now sells a 6-pack of replacement brushes + caps for $8 USD. Those are the newest version of Mooncat’s brush (as of the Pretty Prehistoric collection), and I think the new caps are a bit shorter than the originals—and this reminds me to compare one of my older Mooncats to one of the Alice in Wonderland bottles I recently got. Anyway, the fact that they’re selling brushes with caps (no option to buy brushes without caps) tells me the new brushes might not fit the old caps. Or maybe they just wanna sell replacement caps with brushes for aesthetic’s sake, I dunno. 😄 

[sarcazm]

This is one of the most helpful (and thorough) posts I've seen on the internet in weeks.  

The only thing that would make this better would be a bottle/cap replacement too (like with the Cirque info).  Trying to match bottle lengths and neck diameters and grooves would be so much easier sometimes when you have old or empty polish bottles too.  I have some polishes from super tiny indie brands and knowing who uses the same bottle lengths along with who uses the same neck diameter/grooves to match caps as well would be amazeballs.  

[ThesaR]

I'm not familiar with Sassy. Do you know if they ever offer free shipping? I have a few Butter London polishes that I'd love to change to a paddle brush, but I'm not crazy about paying $5 shipping for $1 worth of brushes. Do you know of any other retailers that may sell Sassy replacement brushes? TIA

[RGbrown]

@ThesaR 

With an indie brand, I'd doubt there will be any free shipping other than the $75 threshold they currently offer. 

I don't know of anywhere else to get that particular brush, though you can get similar but slightly shorter brushes at Indigo Bananas or DRK Labs (still no free shipping with small orders though; this is common in the indie world). 

Butter bottles may need new caps; do you have any caps on hand? If not, I'd actually recommend ordering brushes and caps from IB (their mini brush), as they carry both and it would save a shipping fee. 

(Butter is slightly weird, I found lots of different brushes across the bottles I have...some need caps, but some won't. I defaulted to "needs cap" on the list to cover the ones that do, but it may not actually be needed for all of them)

[ThesaR]

@RGbrown  ok thanks! 

[ThesaR]

Does IB have no shipping or a smaller shipping fee if I order both the caps and brush? The only caps I have are the G&G, and those are too big for Butter London. I only have 3 BL polishes, so I wouldn't be buying that many. The brushes are just so tiny. They're kind of like the original Essie brushes, if I remember correctly. 

Thanks again for responding. 

-Theresa

[RGbrown]

@ThesaR 

IB is still going to charge shipping, but it would be one fee for caps and brushes at once instead of ordering brushes from Sassy and then potentially needing to order caps from IB later.

As an aside, you can use @ to tag folks so that they get a notification about your post; I was scrolling through and happened to see your question, but would have missed it otherwise if I hadn't been actively poking around. Once you type @, a list of the most recent users in a thread will pop up, and you can select the name you want to tag, or start typing to tag someone else. 😊

[maggiespin]

Thanks so much for this ! Extremely useful !

would anyone know of a replacement compatibility with Glam Polish ? 
thanks !

[RGbrown]

@maggiespin 

I wound up ordering a couple of polishes from Glam and they arrived today; they take Cupcake brushes and do need a cap.

(Will update the table when I can, but for now I'm having trouble with it and have submitted a query to the mods 😕)

[maggiespin]

that is fantastic news! I will make sure to tell my polish pals 🙂 thanks so much for keeping us up to date! I really appreciate it !😀

[RGbrown]

@maggiespin 

I thought I might have a Glam Polish somewhere in my stash, but if I do, I can't find it 😕

Poking around through bottle shots, they appear to use the same bottle as Cupcake (old), Cadillacquer, Enchanted, and Bear Pawlish. I have a strong suspicion that Cupcake brushes will fit, and a new cap *might* be needed as well. 

[maggiespin]

Thank you so much ! I was asking for a friend so I will relay your response ! 
how fantastic to find someone who knows all the OG indies 🥰 

[RGbrown]

@maggiespin 

Hey, I just did a deep dive on Glam, and it looks like they used a different bottle all the way back in 2013...if your friend's polish is really old and has the logo sideways, I'm having a slightly harder time identifying the bottle, but I *think* it might need a KBS brush instead (and I don't think it'll need a cap)...it kinda looks like the bottle used by EdM, Garden Path, Painted Polish, Turtle Tootsie, CbL and Quixotic, among many others, but it's hard to know for sure based on just pics. 

[maggiespin]

wow, that is so interesting, true that those days, the bottle shapes were kind of limited.. now that you say it, CBL would be a great fit!

thanks so much!! Are you on a nail polish fb page or do you have an IG handle?

[RGbrown]

@maggiespin 

I dislike FB and IG pretty intensely, and don't really use either one. I'll scroll through IG if I'm looking for something in particular, but I don't post stuff there, and I hate that so much polish stuff happens behind private FB groups, so I keep considering starting a nail profile over there, but likely won't do so any time soon lol. I'm pretty active over on Reddit, u/rgbrown4321, but there and here are really my only sources for nail stuff.