Brush Week: Best Kept Secret

The most beautiful makeup of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.

-Yves Saint-Laurent

Craft stores: The mecca of inexpensive professional brushes.

I took a trip to Michael's this past weekend and lo and behold... I came across the mecca of affordable professional brushes! A huge aisle, full of every type of brush you can imagine. The best part, 99% of the brushes were under $10. A girl could save some serious cash shopping like this!

Art brushes are one of the best kept secrets in makeup. A $25 eye shadow brush can easily be swapped for a high quality $4 'art' brush. I promise - you or your makeup won't know the difference. And geez - check out the selection!! I found a dupe for nearly all of my brushes except for a foundation brush. This is amazing news for beginners who want to experiment with application tools but don't want to drop $150 in the process. It's also amazing for junkies like me who can never get enough. 

I picked up a Grumbacher 4620 brush identical to a professional gel/powder eyeliner brush I had my eye on, and for a tenth of the cost ($4.) The only con - lots of the brushes have really long handles, but we can handle that. ;)

Brush Week: Cleaning & Care

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures. 

-Henry Ward Beecher

Yesterday was the dreaded brush cleaning day.  Keep reading to learn the easiest way to make them last for last years. 

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how-to: clean your brushes.

Routine brush cleaning keeps your tools performing top notch and decreases the chance for bacteria-caused breakouts. You don't need to go out and buy expensive brush cleaner, you have everything you need at home. Here's an easy how to!

1. Lay out a paper towel where you'll be drying your brushes (next to a sink.) Create a small elevation with the towel by folding about 3 inches together. You'll set your brushes on a downward slope after cleaning to keep water from entering the brush handle. Too much water inside the base can ruin your brushes. See picture for an idea of how to fold. 
2. Grab a basic hand soap and push a half pump (about pea sized) onto your palm. Slightly dampen your first dirty brush with warm/hot water and swirl the bristles into the soap to create a small lather. 
3. Once lathered, continue the swirling motion on your hand under the facet. Keep swirling until the water runs clear. For really dirty brushes, I apply soap twice. 
4. After your brush is clean, squeeze any excess water from the bristles and lay on the towel. Make sure the bristles are on the low end of the towel so any excess water drains downwards.
5. Leave to dry over night, turning over once if your are a little OCD like me. :)

favorite lipsticks: drugstore dupes

Hi. Do you love lipstick? Do you love saving money? Perfect - read on.

A "dupe" is a cheaper alternative, or duplicate, to a higher end luxury product.  There are many self proclaimed dupes out there, but you never really know till you try.  For example - think GT Cola VS Coca-Cola, or Mountain Mist VS Mountain Dew. A lot of times, the cheaper version just seems off.

Revlon Berry Haute

Once I dabbled in high end lipstick, I realized for a fraction of the price, you really don't have to compromise on quality. Best part: they are nearly identical to popular high end lipsticks. Here are my faves. You can purchase all my favorite drugstore lipsticks at any drugstore (walmart, walgreens, CVS, target, ect ) or Ulta. You're about to notice an annoying trend, but whatever. 

Revlon Berry Haute
Dupe for: MAC Up the Amp
This gorgeous plum purple is so versatile and looks great on everyone. It's dark enough to look festive for the winter months, but it's got a bright toned purple to it that justifies wearing it in the spring and summer months too. It's super creamy and moisturizing.

Revlon Really Red

Revlon Primrose
Dupe for: MAC Snob
Ugh - this color! It's the perfect light pink that makes blondes look like barbie; and makes brunettes look like they are out for blood. Other than it's delicious hue, it's so light and smooth that you don't feel like you're wearing lipstick. I've repurchased this twice and will continue to do so! 

Revlon Really Red (I buy the matte finish)
Dupe for: MAC Russian Red
This is some Marilyn Monroe shixxx right here. I'm not a huge red lipstick wear-er, but when I am, this is my go-to. I also love blending this one with my next favorite to tone it down a bit. This color looks good on everyone, but I think it's best on blondes. 

NYX Circe 

NYX Circe
Dupe for: MAC Viva Glam Gaga II
It was a sad, sad day when the Gaga II lipstick stock was finally out, those pesky limited editions. So I was ecstatic to find something that would at least fill the void. Fortunately the color match is almost identical, but the formulation is sub par. Oh well - it's still one of my faves. The color is a nude with an orange tint. Sounds weird, but goes amazing with a smokey eye and a night out. And for $4, I love it!