The best way to get the most out of any makeup is having and maintaining a GREAT set of BRUSHES! I think they're the most important thing in your makeup bag. Your brush will pick up, hold, and transfer more product, more evenly, than a sponge applicator or your fingertips, so you'll get more onto your skin and lose less out of the pot or compact. Brushes are better at precision lines, even application, and often boldness of color than just about anything else on offer. And since you can easily wash them, they're surprisingly versatile - you could use the same brush for eyeshadow, blush, and foundation powder if you really needed to!
If you're still using any of those crappy, antiquated sponge applicators for foundation or eyeshadow, get up right now, go throw them all away, and come back to me. Actually, wait! COME BACK! First, replace them with a great set of brushes, then throw that crap away! I'll wait...
There are endless options for fantastic deals out there, and you don't always get what you pay for. You can get top quality brushes for shamefully low prices if you skip the overpriced brand decal and look at the brush itself. Here, lemme show you some fantastic and fantastically cheap brushes and how to use and take good care of them, so you'll have a long and happy life looking beautiful together!
Read on for all the details!
MAINTAINING YOUR BRUSHES
I was gonna leave this section for last, but I really feel that it's the most important, and I don't want anyone to miss it!
CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES, YALL! No matter what brush you get and no matter what you use it for or how often, you need to wash it. If you have oily skin like I do, or even if you don't, just think of what nastiness is crammed down into those bristles! It's commonly recommended that you wash all of your brushes once a week, and if you apply makeup on a daily basis, I'd say that's a good guideline. It's all going to depend on your usage, really - if you're washing a brush more often than you're using it, you're unduly wearing it out. Your main powder/face brush should be washed about once a week or once every couple of weeks. Some of your eyeshadow brushes can hold out much, much longer, especially if they don't see daily use.
There are tons of makeup-brush-washing products out there that vary wildly in price, of course, but I'm a cheapskate, and that's the point of this blog! All of the products are going to be very similar, so I see absolutely no need to spring for the name brand.
You can get a 4.1 oz bottle of e.l.f.'s Brush Shampoo for 3$, which is the least expensive one I've found and a pretty good deal. But you can also wash them in a mild soap that you may already have around the house and forego the 3$ altogether! Baby shampoo is an excellent and widely accepted alternative, and you can find Johnson's No More Tears just about anywhere for around 2$ for a 3 oz bottle. An equal amount of baby shampoo will last a bit longer than brush shampoo since you don't need to use as much.
I could go into painstaking detail on how to wash them, but this wikihow tutorial is already there and quite thorough, with pictures and even a video! Another tutorial shows you how to use both baby shampoo and brush shampoo and points out the pros and cons of each. It's just about time to wash my brushes, so I may make a video anyway when I get to it.
SELECTING YOUR BRUSHES
Like I said in the intro, you don't always get what you pay for. Sometimes you pay ten times what you should! Look at this comparison of angled eyeliner brushes: e.l.f. versus Bare Minerals. I have both of these, and they are pretty much identical. Neither has ever lost a bristle and they both perform equally well, but one cost 1/4th the price of the other! Stila's Flat Top Brush is 45$ - I can't find it for a penny less anywhere! - but e.l.f.'s is 3$, and they are of equal purpose and equal quality.
As you can see, I'm omg totes obsessed with e.l.f. products (come on, can their prices BE any lower?!), but I will say that I do not recommend their entire line of Essential brushes. Some of them are perfect and totally hold their own against more expensive brand name brushes, but some are actually quite cheaply made and rather flimsy. In general, I've noticed that the tighter the bristle-pack, the sturdier the brush with these.
A few of the smaller eyeshadow brushes I've used lose several bristles per use, and the larger brushes, like for blush or foundation, tend to become coarse and less comfortable to use over a relatively short period of time. The plain ole shadow brush works very well but loses a bristle or two each use, as does the blending brush. However the tiny smudge brush, the lip brush, and the concealer brush are all still perfect after much use! Either way, at a ridiculous ONE DOLLAR a pop, they kinda can't be beat even if they do suck!
The entire e.l.f. Studio line, however, at a price point of a measly THREE DOLLARS per brush, is absolute perfection according to reviews! I have and love the eyeliner brush, so maybe they're onto something. I've just purchased their basic set, plus the stipple brush, and this crazy silicon glitter applicator, so I will do a full writeup of those once I get them and use them. I ordered them in a crazy sale that netted me 11 brushes plus a carrying case for THREE BUCKS (sale is still on until 06/24, babes!), so even if half of them explode into splinters in the mail, that's still one hell of a bargain!
USING YOUR BRUSHES
or WHAT THE HELL ARE ALL THESE THINGS FOR
There are right around a million different types of makeup brushes, and they all have specific (or varied!) uses. Choosing the right brush for the job is important, and it can be damned intimidating when you're faced with so many options.
I'm still learning all this stuff, so I'll just go over the ones that come in the e.l.f. set since that covers the basics. Once I get them and get used to them, I'll post a video and actually show you how they're used and why! (Don't you let me forget!)
- Angled Foundation Brush - Face: contouring/shaping/high- and low-lighting, blending blush and/or light bronzer, finishing powder
- Complexion Brush - Face: powdered foundation, bronzer
- Small Smudge Brush - Eyes: Blending shadows, thick lines, crease, under-eye shadow
- Small Angled Brush - Eyes: eyebrows, smoky eyeliner, under-eye lash line, wet for sharp thin lines
- Small Precision Brush - Eyes: lid and crease shadow, tight smudging or blending
- Contour Brush - Eyes: crease shadow, shaping, blending
- Concealer Brush - Face/Eyes: Concealer powder spot application, general eye shadow application
- C-Brush - Eyes: lid, crease, shaping, under-eye
- Fan Brush - Face: very light bronzer or highlight, finishing powder, brushing away stray powders
- Blush Brush - Face: blush or bronzer
- Powder Brush - Face: flat for all-over face powder, corners for contouring/definition
Not pictured but terribly important is the stipple brush! It's used to distribute liquid foundation evenly, and can be used to apply lightly powdered foundation as well.
As you can see, you don't always have to adhere to what job the manufacturer assigns the brush or what they choose to call it. It's usually a good guide, but you're a free and independent woman, dammit, and you'll do what you want.
For example, I use e.l.f.'s tiny Essential Concealer Brush to apply powdered eyeshadow as eyeliner along my lower lash line, and I love the hell out of it! I can't find anything else that applies such a lovely thin line of powder like that brush does! I'm such a rebel.
CHEAP TRICKS
If you don't have many brushes or don't have time to clean them off between applying colors, flick it off! Quickly run the side or back of your bent finger, or your nail if it's long enough, along the top of your brush, rapidly fanning out the bristles, and you'll actually see the pigment come flying off - poof! - like so:
I don't recommend using your fingertip because you'll transfer oils to your brush, but this is really a good way to switch between colors quickly and cleanly. I got this trick (and the gif) from this awesome tutorial by Cherry Dollface, a lovely pinup girl (who is neither cheap nor a trick!) with loads of awesome tutorials on classic makeup, vintage hair, and pinup fashion.
If you use any cream or stick eyeshadows or anything that can get gummy, definitely grab a cheap, plain ole eyeshadow brush or two, and reserve those specially for applying the creams themselves or applying or blending powder over them. They will get gunked up, so you'll want to wash them often, but they'll save your other brushes some serious heartache. I mark my gummybrushes with permanent marker so that they're instantly recognizable.
Okay, that's about all I've got for tonight, so until next time all you brokeass babes and cheap chicks, I will miss you terribly.
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