The thing that takes girls from makeup novices to makeup masters is expert use of makeup brushes. But don’t worry, we have the lowdown on everything you need to know when it comes to choosing the correct makeup brush.
Do you know which the brush is used for what? Stay tuned as we show you which one you’ve been using wrong your whole life. We reveal a complete guide to makeup brushes.
Foundation brush
The foundation is the base of your face, and how you apply, it can be the difference between looking like a supermodel and looking like you haven’t slept in days.
Do you apply your foundation with your fingers? If so stop right now and buy yourself a foundation brush you probably know what they look like it’s your standard makeup brush.
It’s designed to help you have a smooth finished look to your makeup, and the bristles are tightly packed for a great application, before you use this brush, you will need to prepare your face to do this, wash your face and pat it dry with a towel then rub a lightweight moisturizer on your skin and let it dry.
Next, it’s time for primer and then concealer, now it’s time to use the brush, put a small amount of foundation on the back of your hand, and then pick some of it up with your brush, if you want lighter coverage, then only dip one side in the foundation, if you want the folder coverage, then you can dip both sides of the brush in the liquid, start putting the makeup in the middle of your face and blend outwards. It’s best to use big downward strokes, and now you can use the edges of the brush to blend makeup and harder to reach spaces, that’s why this the brush is perfect for foundation.
Lastly, check for harsh makeup streaks, and you’re done.
Concealer brush
Some people say that diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but we beg to differ concealer is a girl’s best friend, especially on those days where you are running low on sleep or running high on stress.
So what better way to apply your concealer? With a concealer brush. Concealer brushes are on the smaller end of the spectrum and pretty flat, they’re also taller in the middle of the brush.
So here’s how you use: after you’ve washed your face and put on moisturizer, you are ready for foundation, after that look at your face in natural light, make a note of any dark circles under your eyes, breakouts scars or discolouration, the concealer will fix all that now, pick a concealer one shade lighter than your natural skin tone, use a concealer brush with synthetic bristles and begin to apply. Three dots of your product under your eyes, we use a brush with authentic bristles because it makes it easier to blend, and won’t absorb as much of your product, now dab the concealer to blend it into your skin, you can use the tip of your brush to make sure you get as close to your lash line as possible, now move on to conceal any other dark or discoloured areas on your face. When you are finished, you should have an even tone to look.
Oval brushes
So brushes come in all different shapes and sizes which brings us to the Oval brushes, they look more like something out of a fairy tale than real life, but these brushes can be lifesavers if you know how to use them, they come in several different sizes as well, so they have a wide range of uses the big difference between oval brushes and other brushes is the density of the bristles.
Oval brushes tend to have more hairs than other brushes, which means when you apply product to the brush, it will all stay on top rather than soaking into the brush. This will cause you to use less product, which is always a good thing. Oval brushes are also easier to use because of the rounded design tilted tip, and the firm grip they give you more control over the makeup you’re applying.
To apply foundation, you should use a large oval brush, the same goes for powder, all you need to do is, some product directly to the brush and apply it to your face using the brush to massage the product into your skin, depending on what you need to get done. You can use a wide array of sizes of oval brushes from concealer to blush, bronzer or browse, the Oval brush can help you tackle every aspect of your face.
Dual fibre brushes
So basically, dual fibre brushes are exactly what they sound like, and they are brushes with two or more different fibre types, the dual fibre stippling brushes feature animal hair bristles and thin white synthetic bristles.
These brushes have many uses, but if you are not using them correctly, you will end up with a super streaky face, so in order to use one of these brushes for liquid foundation, you need to squeeze some of the product on the back of your hand, and then use the brush to get some of the foundation on the white bristles, after that pat the brush against your skin then swirl the brush lightly which will blend everything together, make sure you don’t press too hard, you can also use a duo fibre stippling brush for your powder simply, use the brush to sweep the powder on, you can also pack your powder into the parts of your face with concealer, before sweeping off the excess. these brushes also work well with blush, you can create a sheer, buildable look with your blush by patting the brush into the cooler, and blending it onto your skin, you can keep doing this process until you reach the perfect shade of blush for you. The possibilities with these brushes are pretty much endless, you can use one on your whole face, but we wouldn’t recommend that since you would probably end up mixing all the products.
Bronzer brush
Let’s talk a little bit about bronzer. You are going to want to use a wide, fluffy brush with a rounded top. Using a brush that is too small Lucas streaks and blotches to show up on your face, make sure you are using a bronzer that is darker than your skin tone, since the whole purpose of the bronzer is to give you a bronzed look, a general rule of thumb is to go to shades darker than your skin tone, swirl the brush around the bronzer, you are going to want to apply light coats that build on each other rather than laying on a single head, Oh to your face lightly coat the end of your brush with a product and tap off the rest first apply the bronzer to your forehead putting it in the shape of the three from the top to the bottom of your face, blend this all, in next hit your cheekbones and your jawline finally use the brush to dust bronzer all over your chin nose and neck. The most important thing to remember during this process is that everything needs to be blended out, you don’t want to end up looking darker on one side of your face than the other, but if you follow these steps and use the correct brush, then your bronzer should make you look like a Greek goddess.
A smudger brush
The one looks that is pretty much seen, that every red-carpet event is the smoky eye, it’s an age-old eyeshadow trend that doesn’t seem to be going out of style any time soon, it’s also tough to achieve, if you aren’t a makeup aficionado, well don’t fret if you have always wanted to create a smoky eye look but didn’t feel that you had the skill.
The smudger brush is about to be your new best friend, the Smudger brush is a tightly packed small dome-shaped brush that allows you to easily blend out almost everything, we are talking cream pencil and powder eyeliners. You can find these brushes in two sizes, the larger applicator is for the upper eyelid, and the smaller one is for the lower, you can use these brushes in the way that you would an eraser, but gently, once you’ve applied your eyeliner, use the spudger to rub over it in a smooth motion for even more intense look, so you can dip the brush into a similarly, huge powder to set your pencil liner, you can also use this tool to get the inside corners of your eyes, and any other tiny space that needs attention.
Basically, the smudger brush is a must-have when it comes to eyeshadow, if you don’t have one what are you waiting for?
Angled eyeliner brush
Eyeliner is essential to complete any look, without it you risk looking sleepy, but the problem is eyeliner isn’t the easiest thing to put on, you have to make sure that both of your eyes have an equal amount of product, which is next to impossible and we all know what it’s like to overcorrect one eye, because you put too much on the other, it’s the easiest way to turn out looking like a raccoon, but fear no more the angled eyeliner brush is here to help. It’s perfectly shaped so that all you need to do is dip the edge of the brush into your gel liner after that just run it across your lash line and voila you have the perfectly straight line of the liner, but apparently the brush could be used for more than just winged liner according to celebrity. Makeup artist Daniel Martin, the tool is perfect for any look that needs a straight edge, he says that if you are doing a red lip you can use the angled brush to apply concealer around the border of your lips, according to Martin it’s like cheating your natural lip a little bit, and it gives you a more finished look, he also uses it to fill in eyebrows with powder and to get highlighter into smaller spaces, like the corners of his clients eyes, basically this brush is the Savior we have all been waiting for.
Double-ended eyebrow and eyelash brush
Now having beautiful eyebrows has become a big trend in recent years, from filling them into letting them grow in thick, there is always something new that we are supposed to be doing with our brows, but have you ever thought to brush them, what about your eyelashes? Do you ever brush them before you put on your mascara? Well, you are supposed to that’s where the double-ended eyebrow and eyelash brush comes in, usually when this brush comes in a pack, people skip over it, but we are here to tell you that, that brush has used you are supposed to, use the flexible brush side to give your eyebrows a voluminous bushy look, you will recognize this side of the brush, because it has bristles you can also use it for blending in any colour that you already put on your brows, the other side of this brush looked like a comb this side is used for your lashes, the comb is supposed to separate your lashes and take off any mascara clumps. You can also use this brush on your brows to make them look even more polished, do not however use the bristled side of the brush on your eyelashes, it won’t do anything other than getting your eyebrow makeup on your eyelashes, and who wants that?
Face contour brush
How do you notice that everyone’s faces have been looking exceptionally thin lately? It’s not because everyone has suddenly begun to lose weight, it’s because everyone has started contouring, and for the perfect contour you need is a contour brush. This brush has firm bristles and usually has an angled tip, the angle is there to help you have more precise contour lines, the firm bristles help blend the powder, so you don’t have any powder lines when using a contour brush, you should always tap off the excess powder before bringing the brush to your face, this will help the blending process and make sure that you don’t look ghostly, fold the brush with the bottom bristles, facing the way that your hand is moving and apply your product, you can also use these brushes to apply blush, just try not to mix your contouring products with your blush products, because you may come out looking like a clown with contouring, it’s important to make sure that your concealers are the right shades, you need one that is about two shades lighter than your skin tone, and one that is two shades darker, this will create the contrast that makes your face look thinner, you might not get the perfect contour on the first try, but trust us practice will make perfect.
Fan brush
When you got your first set of makeup brushes you probably looked at some of them, and thought to yourself what are those the fan brush probably fit in that category,
it seems more like something you would use to cool yourself off than a brush. Fan brushes actually have many uses you can use them to brush away excess eyeshadow that may have fallen onto your face while you are creating your elaborate eyeshadow look, if you have a large fan brush you can use it for contouring your nose jawline cheekbones and forehead, most people use these brushes for highlighting, you can use the fan to lightly dust, any powdered highlighter on the tops of your cheekbones, this brush can also be used to apply your blush if you want a more natural rosy cheek to look, using this brush will result in a lighter blush application which will make you look more natural, these brushes are also great for applying tinted moisturizer, you can use them to evenly distribute a lightweight tinted moisturizer, to make sure that you don’t use too much product. A fan brush is also a great way to evenly distribute any powdered foundation that you may be wearing over your favourite liquid foundation. So basically when it comes to almost any product that you want to apply the fan brush can undoubtedly assist.
That’s it for a complete guide to makeup brushes.
