My collection of brushes for work is vast to say the least but out of all them there are around ten that I repeatedly use on shoots. There’s five I use for eye make up application for blending, contouring, defining and lining. Three which I use for applying foundation, concealor and cream/liquid colours. The other two are used for applying powders,blushers and bronzers. I also use them to shade and buff the make ups I create for a flawless finish.
To purchase ten brushes can be quite costly and probably not necessary for many of you but I always get asked how to do a smokey eye or how to contour in order to create the illusion of cheekbones and without the right tools it’s not particularly easy to get across how to do it. I find that the brushes that come in many make up compacts are just to flimsy or to hard and are therefore inferior in their application of the product in hand. I’ve encountered many a woman and girls make up bag that contains these “kinds of brushes” but what’s the point of spending all that money on great make up if you can’t apply it properly?
Recently I was given some new brushes “Real Techniques” to try. Created by pro make up artist and beauty blogger Samantha Chapman, I had the “Your eyes enhanced” starter set, “Your base/flawless” expert face brush and the “Your finish/perfected” Kabuki brush. All are hand cut with ultra plush taklon bristles making them 100% animal cruelty free. All are now staples in my brush collection.
My personal favourite is the flawless face brush (2nd brush from left) which I’ve been using to apply cream and liquid foundation as well as cream blushers. The beauty of the brushes (other than the price) which you will find when you view the online tutorial that features Sam herself, as she guides you through each of the collections, is that they can have multiple uses for other than what they’ve been labelled as.
The starter set for eyes is a great beauty purchase at £21.99 and I love the Base Shadow Brush and Deluxe Crease Brush (3rd and 4th brushes from left). These particular brushes are very similar to another brand which I use when applying eye make up and they will make creating that smokey eye so much easier for you! Click the link below to see how it easy is.
http://realtechniques.com/the-brushes/starter-set-tutorial
The Kabuki brush is a genius little invention in that in it’s closed position it acts as a powder brush for finishing powders and when opened, you can use it to sweep colour on and contour.
There are many other brushes in the Real Techniques range and if you only want to opt for what I’ve featured here or less on this blog they’re still a brilliant beauty investment for you and your make up. Not only will you be getting great quality Hi Tech brushes but also great advice on how to use them!
http://www.realtechniques.com/videos/blog
Expert Face Make up brush RRP £9.99
kabuki Brush RRP £11.99
