WEEK 10: Make up Tools

Hola Dalimoos,

So we have now reached the final week and it is all about make up tools.

I am not going to be showing my collection but take a few brushes from my collection and talk about their uses etc...

The first tool I would mention is your hands, Mary Greenwell has always promoted using your hands to apply make up.  If you are not a germaphobe and like to get stuck in then this is the cheapest option for you!  Every part of your hand has a job when it comes to applying.

Awkward hand picture!!

Use your fingers to warm the foundation up and buff into your face, the warmth of the fingers will melt the make up giving you that natural look; you can use your index finger to blend eyeshadow; you can use your thumb to apply cream blusher; you can use the heel of your hand for contouring pushing and rolling until it is blended well; you can use your middle finger to dab on lipstain; you can use your ring finger for your eye area as this is the most delicate dabbing never rubbing; lastly your little finger could be used to put a dab of highlight in your inner corner.

If using your hands do not appeal to you then you have many different types of brushes to do the job you need:

Face

Top: Foundation brush - GOSH
Bottom:  Real Techniques Buffing Brush

There are differently types of foundation brushes to use, i.e. Real Technique have an array of face brushes to apply foundation.  I personally like the good old flat foundation brush doing downward brushstroke and side way strokes until there are no "paint brush" marks.

Real Technique Powder Brush

If you need to powder or set your make up you can use a powder brush this is usually a biggish brush as it covers the most area.  One I could recommend that works brilliantly is the Real Technique's powder brush.

Top: round blusher brush - ebay
bottom: Real Techniques Blush Brush

There are different types of blusher brushes, you have the small round ones that are the right size for your apples of your cheeks or you have the domed shape ones.  I use the Real Techniques Blush Brush, the blush is put on longer tip of the brush and the shorter bristle act as a blender at the same time, I love the application from these brushes.

Left: Real Techniques Multi-task
Right: Real Techniques Contour brush

When applying bronzer you can use a large powder brush all over your face, this helps give warmth to your face or a smaller brush which is good for contouring and giving dimension to your face.

Left - Real Techniques Setting Brush
Right - Fan brush (ebay)

To highlight the high points of your face (i.e. cheekbones, nose, cupids bow) you could use a small fan brush or the brush I use is the Real Techniques setting brush which I think is a really nice size brush to do the job you want.







Eyes

Top:  Flat shader - ebay
- crown brushes
- Real Technique shader brush
Bottom: unknown

There are different sizes of flat shader brushes and these help pack on the colour on your eye lids.

These brushes help with putting depth into your crease and you normally use a darker shade to your eye lid and to apply you do the window wiper motion.

Top:  GOSH
Bottom:  Crown Brushes

I use these to put a small amount of dark colour to my outter corner of my eye and then I use a clean fluffy brush to blend it all in, This is great for a creating a smokey eye.

Top: No 7 Blending brush
Urban Decay
MAC 217

These brushes blend your eye make up seamlessly so there are no harsh lines.












I don't think you need to go expensive on brushes to get a nice finish on your make up.  No7 do the best blending brushes, they are excellent and I own about 5 of these!  Real Techniques I prefer for face brushes and my favourite eye brushes are mish mash. (GOSH and Ebay).

As long you as you take care of your brushes they will last you for an eternity.  You should spot clean as you go using a spray brush cleanser.  I use Bare Minerals brush cleanser and I spray a flannel and then swirl the brush around until the colour has come off.  It dries your brushes instantly so you can carry on using the same brush for a different colour.

I deep clean my brushes once a month.  This is probably too long to deep clean but I am lazy and it is so time consuming that I tend to do it when I have no clean brushes left!  I am going to do a separate post on how I wash my brushes so look at for that in the next week.

Anyway my lovelies, I hope you enjoyed my 10 weeks of "Starting Out"...

Until next time

Ciao for now xxx