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This guide is just going to go through the most essential brushes, not all of them, just the very basics.

Face:

Foundation brush – this can be in the form of a traditional synthetic foundation brush, a stippling brush, a small contour brush, or a kabuki brush, it depends on your preference.  But because this is a basic brush guide, I suggest a traditional foundation brush for liquid products and a kabuki brush for mineral foundation.

Blush brush – look for a soft, small to medium sized, dome-shaped brush for blush.  A small stippling brush works really well for very pigmented shades as well.

Concealer brush – this brush should be synthetic (like the foundation brush) so that it doesn’t soak up any liquid products.  Use your judgment when choosing the brush size, if you have a lot of small blemishes, try a small brush.  If you’re trying to cover areas of redness, try a larger one.

Powder brush – this is basically a bigger version of a blush brush.  Look for a large dome-shaped brush that’s soft and dense for applying finishing powder.

Eyes:

Eyeshadow brush – this is a basic eyeshadow brush, what you would use to really deposit color onto your eyelid.  These brushes tend to be rounded at the top, and should be dense enough to pick up a lot of eyeshadow.

Blending brush – the most important eye brush is the blending brush!!  It should be soft, with longer bristles than the eyeshadow brush, and a tapered or dome-shaped tip. Try not to get a brush that’s too soft or long, because if it’s too flimsy, it won’t blend the product properly.

Crease brush – this brush should be a little stiffer than the blending brush with shorter bristles and a tapered tip, perfect for adding contour colors to the crease of your eye.  Crease brushes are useful for adding depth and dimension with eyeshadow.

Eyeliner brush – there are two types of eyeliner brushes: angled and pointed.  This will be a personal preference choice.  I tend to prefer angled brushes because they provide more control and they can also be used to fill in brows!

Lips:

For me, a lip brush is not really essential. You can skip this one for now!

Some brands to try (that I use or have heard amazing things about):

Essence of Beauty, MAC, Sigma (amazing value & professional quality), Posh, Ecotools (affordable and eco-friendly!), Crown Brush (carried by Coastal Scents).

Introducing… my sister Jillisa!!

I’m home (at my parents house) for a week before school starts and I’m attacking Jillisa as much as possible with makeup because she has the biggest and best eyes!  Here’s a dramatic blue and purple look using MAC pigments:

Products used:

L’oreal Bare Naturale Mineral Foundation: soft ivory

Urban Decay Primer Potion

MAC Vanilla Pigment (highlight & inner corner)

MAC Cornflower Pigment (middle of lid)

MAC Helium Pro Pigment (inner half of lid)

88 Shimmer Palette: dark navy (outer V)

Scotch Tape

L’oreal Voluminous Mascara: blackest black

Gel Liner: true black

Wet n Wild Silk Finish Blush: pearlescent pink

Elf Contouring & Blush Duo: brown shade  (contour)

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss: life’s a peach

Products used:

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Victoria’s Secret Cream Shadow: glampagne

MAC Teal Pigment (lid)

MAC Cocomotion Pigment (crease)

MAC Cornflower Pigment (lower lash line)

MAC Vanilla Pigment (highlight)

88 Shimmer Palette: gold shades (inner corner & lower lash line)

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil: zero  (water line & lower lash line)

Gel Liner: true black (upper lash line)

L’oreal Voluminous Mascara: blackest black

Elf Blush & Bronzing Duo: both shades (for cheeks and contour)

Elf Super Glossy Lip Shine: malt shake

*Yes, I’m wearing a Metallica t-shirt; it was a boring Sunday afternoon!*

So I finally received my MAC pigment samples from MakeupGeek (Marlena) and they are gorgeous!! I haven’t tried them yet (besides swatching), so still I don’t know what all the hype is about, but they certainly are beautiful.  I also got my 12 pan palette from Ebay the very same day, so I pressed the loose pigments right away using rubbing alcohol.

To press pigments:

~Add rubbing alcohol to pigment, stir in until the consistency is creamy.

~Pour into an empty pan, gently tap the pan to flatten the pigment, and let dry (a few hours).

~When completely dry, take a quarter covered in fabric and press down on the pigment, hard.

~Add the pan to your favorite palette and you’re done!~

Here are some swatches:

From left: mutiny, cocomotion, golden olive, helium, vanilla.

From left: cornflower, teal, kitschmas, blue-brown, circa plum.

This is going to be a series of short posts describing products I think everyone should have in their makeup bag. The first in the series is an eyeshadow primer.

Ever feel like your eyeshadow needs to be really packed on to even see the color? Or find that it forms a crease by the end of the day? A primer prevents both of these things and more. It also allows for smoother blending and ensures your eyeshadow stays put all day. A lot of primers are on the pricey side, but there are a few drugstore options as well. Here are a few recommendations:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance:

Urban Decay Primer Potion (my favorite!):

L’oreal De-Crease:

MAC Paint Pots:

To illustrate, here are some swatches. The swatches on the left are over a primer, the ones on the right are shadow alone:

Shades (Hard Candy Kaleidoscope Palette):
Top- Star#4
Bottom- Drama Queen#2