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. ;)

MAKEUP MISTAKES

It's a bit much.

We all make them.  Remember: only YOU can prevent makeup mishaps! Keep reading to see if you’re a repeat offender.

Overindulgence. A little this, a little that, and suddenly it looks like a unicorn exploded all over your face. Instead of trying to play up each and every one of your features, just pick one to go all out on and keep the rest simple. Translation: For days that you want to sport heavier eye makeup, keep your lips natural. And vice versa – if you’re want bright red lips, keep the eyes more neutral and simple. Once you get the hang of balance and colors, you can start messing with the formula.

Major case of color denial.

Color Denial.  We’ve all met her … she starts talking and all you notice is how her face and neck are two distinctly different colors. Tell her to get to a mirror and fess up to her true colors! Now, awkward question… Is this you? Sometimes you can’t help it – lighting in retail stores can be very different than those in the office/house. Your best bet is to test foundation before you take it home. Still, the easiest way to avoid the detached-face-look is blending. Your foundation shouldn’t stop at your face, but instead blend into your neck so there are no harsh lines. Just take any excess product left on your brush after application and brush from chin to neck. It’s a small trick that can save you some embarrassment!

Miley aces our test. Gorg!

Cakeface. Oh, cakeface. This is when you can actually see the layers of powder just hanging out on someone’s face instead of blending into the skin. And usually, everything looks okay until you get up close. I had a friend in high school, gorgeous girl, who had minor breakouts along her chin. To compensate, she ALWAYS had caked up powder and blotchy makeup was extremely unfortunate. It turned the very flaws she was trying to hide into the only thing people saw. People don’t usually notice their own cakeface, because to them, they’ve concealed imperfections and don’t pay any mind afterwards. Cakeface is caused by applying to much product, but it’s also about application. The round sponges that often come with drugstore products are fine at piling makeup on, but it doesn’t do a darn thing to blend into the skin. To combat, take a fluffy brush before you’re ready to go and sweep it around your face to remove excess product. If you are a drugstore sponge user, check out these quality and affordable brushes. If you are a beginner who wants to spend a bit more for quality, check out the Sonia Kashuk brush line from Target.

natural everyday brows

Want natural looking brows without compromising form and structure? Your best bet is a brow powder and gel set. Benefit has a great option if you want to invest. I use ELF’s eyebrow kit everyday - it retails for only $3.00 and it works like the expensive stuff! ELF is sold in all Target stores and online.

HOW TO

Start by taking a thin angled brush and pat into powder. You can use any brown eyeshadow that is a shade darker/lighter than your hair. To apply, flick the brush on your brows mimicking the length and direction of growth through the length of your eyebrows. Here’s a quick video example from the beautiful SMLx0. After you get the desired shape, brush a thin layer of gel or a small amount of hairspray to keep the hairs in place all day.

Whether you like super defined or natural looking brows, it always helps to use concealer around the edges of to polish them up. Just do this with a small brush and then blend out. Good luck, and let me know if you try!