make-up brushes – Sinéad Hughes

Spring Cleaning!

New Year, New You. . .

Hear me out! Whether you pledge to be more economical, more adventurous, more natural OR go full RuPaul with your makeup for 2019, it’s achievable without spending your rent in Sephora or reducing your stash as though you’re packing for Australia on a Ryanair flight!

1. Spring Clean

It’s as simple as it sounds!

Gather all the makeup you own together, yes, even those random liners, powders and lipsticks in your handbag. Sort them by function. Ask yourself is there anything I haven’t used in months/over a year? If you forgot you had it, keep it. If you won’t reuse it leave it aside, I will explain later.

Note: If you suspect a product is passed its use by date, please dispose of it! It will do you no favors keeping it.

2. Display

Now that you know what you have or rediscovered you have, rearrange how you display/ store/ leave out your makeup.

This isn’t so you can’t find that mascara you use everyday but to encourage you to try other items that you have. You may discover new gems or recall what you hated about an item, if that’s the case, leave it aside too.

Try to use something in your daily makeup that you haven’t used in a while, it might even change the way or order in which you apply your makeup.

3. #Affiliate Link

I urge you to review who you follow or look to for inspiration, guidance and expertise.

If there wasn’t social media, would they be in the ‘beauty industry’?

If they didn’t earn money from an affiliate link to a website or a brand would they recommend something to you? Finally, what is their goal? To share knowledge or get likes?….

4. Sharing is caring

Consider what you have set aside from earlier sorting and ask a friend, family member, colleague or whoever you think might like to try anything of yours or perhaps even swap it for something they no longer like/use. . . . it’s a yard sale but FREE!

*Avoid sharing mascaras as they can spread infection and be kind enough to clean a product where possible! 🙂

And remember…. clean those brushes!!!

The Brush Series Part 2; Faux? Yes or no!

Here we have the second piece of this Brush Series puzzle.

Ever spotted a velvety soft makeup brush and immediately decide, it’s the softest brush of all time, therefore, I need it! – only to then notice its €€€ price tag and thought… I’ve seen that in Penneys, for €8, it’ll do instead thank you! The likelihood is that it was made from natural hair, in japan, with a laser printed, wooden handle. Super expensive and an excellent applicator but that doesn’t mean no other brush will do the job.

The good news is that there are many brushes(both natural and synthetic) available to you, varying in prices so that you can buy within your budget, needs and preferences.

Natural Hair Brushes

Availible from: ZOEVA (luxury range), Blank Canvas, Morphe, Tom Ford, Trish McEvoy, BareMinerals, Wayne Goss, Charlotte Tilbury

Advantages:

Application; due to the ‘porous’ nature of natural hair(goat, squirrel, pony), they pick up product easily.
Blendability; natural hairs will blend products very well due to their soft, very flexible hairs.

Disadvantages:

Absorption; some don’t like that fact that they can absorb some of your product due to the hair being porous; it’s a personal preference.
Cost; while some brands maintain a high price tag for their natural brushes, brands such as ZOEVA have made them much more accessible
Care; a little bit extra care is needed when cleaning/maintaining these brushes, gentle washing and a conditioning treatment(occasional) are needed.
Liquids; liquid can get trapped in the hairs easier than those made of synthetic fibers.
Animal Cruelty; not all makeup brands are described as animal cruelty-free….. you do you when it comes to this issue.

Synthetic Brushes

Available from; ZOEVA, Blank Canvas, MAC, Real Techniques, Inglot

Advantages:

Liquids; blend liquids very well because of the lack of ‘grip’ the synthetic fibers have(nylon or polyester)
Creams; synthetic brushes are brilliant when applying cream eye shadows and blending eye crayons/kohl pencils.
Cost; even quality synthetic brushes can be purchased at a low price.
Feel; the texture and feel of synthetic brushes are consistently improving with developments in manufacturing.
Clean; much easier to clean than natural(no cuticles or pores)

Disadvantages:

Powders; synthetic brushes can sometimes leave a more uneven finish to a look as the hairs don’t ‘hold’ and blend powder quite like natural hair; not always the case.

All in all it’s a very personal preference when it comes to brushes but I hope this has been at least a little helpful!

As always, ask away if you’ve any questions..

The Brush Series Part 1; Brush Translate

Brushes can be what stands between you and a flawless finish, but with thousands available, how do you know which to buy, use or lose?

This will be a series of posts explaining the functions and features of make-up brushes, here are some of the most popular brushes.

A few things to note:

Firstly….Do you need them? Yes! …Do you need 1,000 of them? No!
Secondly… there are no rules, if a brush says “powder brush” and you like using it for cream products, you do you!
Remember! The shorter and closer together the brush hairs, the more product they will pick up and apply!

FACE BRUSHES

*Coverage= how much product the brush will apply

*Product= corresponding product to use

Flat brush;

Coverage= High

Blending time= time consuming

Function= application & blending out

Product= foundation/primer/concealer

Stippling brush(Duo fibre);

Coverage= Light

Blending time = fast

Function= application & blending

Product= wet or dry: Foundation, cream/liquid blusher or bronzer.

Large “powder” brush;

Coverage= light/medium (depending on how much you dip into your product)

Blending time; fast

Function= application & blending

Product= Powders ( powder foundation/translucent), blusher, bronzer

Duo Fibre brushes;

Coverage= light/medium and high(if tightly packed)

Blending time = fast(the dark, shorter hairs keep the longer hair separated so the blend out your product

Function= blending(eyeshadow), blusher, bronzer, highlighter, setting powders

Flat top brush;

Coverage= high

Blending time= fast

Function= applying liquid foundation .

Small round top brush;

Coverage= medium/high

Function= applying & blending out

Product= blusher, bronzer, contour

Concealer Brush;

Coverage= Medium/high

Function= applying concealer to under eyes, specific areas of the face

Product= colour corrector, liquid/cream concealers

.

EYE BRUSHES.

Large Blending brushes;

Coverage= light/medium/high

Blending time= quick(if you are sticking by “thin, light layers” at a time method)

Function= applying & blending

Product= eyeshadow, highlighter to smaller areas, under eye powders

Pencil brush;

Coverage= medium/high

Function= precise application of colour (dark or light)

Product= eyeshadow, glitters/pigments.

Smaller Blending Brush;

Coverage= Light/medium/high

Function= applying and blending eyeshadow (this brush is more precise than the fluffier brush above, it will apply more product to smaller areas).

Still have questions? Send them my way!