Your makeup routine can only get efficient if you have an amazing set of makeup brushes. After all the makeup brushes are your secret tool to cover up those unexpected pimples, catching the smokey eye look of Kylie Jenner and faking that supermodel sharp cheekbones. In case you don’t use one because of lack of information on types and how to use makeup brushes, here’s your simple guide to makeup brushes.
For professional makeup artists, it’s very important to use the correct type of brushes and it is quite understandable. However, for a normal person, determining correct brush and its use is a completely different story. We are going to take you through the different types of brushes for contouring, highlighting and other important techniques, so let us continue.
We will first of all put some light on the bristles of makeup brushes. They come in three different types: synthetic, hybrid and natural. They may come in sets with each type of bristles or sometimes mixed as well but each type serves a different purpose. Let’s see how to use makeup brushes.
Bristles of Makeup Brushes
1. Natural Bristles
Natural bristles are made of animal’s real hair and have porous material that is perfect for picking up the powder colours. Natural bristles are not ideal for liquid and cream makeup products.
2. Hybrid Bristles
Hybrid Bristles are easily recognizable by the double tone design, as they made of synthetic and natural animal hair material. It’s a versatile tool as it lends itself to applying, contouring, blending and for almost any sort of makeup.
3. Synthetic Bristles
Synthetic bristles are not absorbents and are used for cream and liquid makeup items such as liquid foundation, cream blushes etc because the product won’t trap in the bristles. However, they are not a good match for natural bristled brush for applying powders.
How To Use Makeup Brushes?
The Face Brush
There are quite a few brushes that are used for the face makeup such as contour brush, stippling brush, highlighter and angled brush. Your choice of the brush will mostly dependent on the type of makeup you wear but how to use makeup brushes because these four brushes are the ones used on the regular basis.
1. Concealer Brush
A concealer brush is a flat and round brush that allows you to cover up and blend the imperfection around the areas of the face that have been contoured. A perfect way to use a concealer brush is to apply the concealer using one side of the brush and blend it with the other side from under the eyes and around the spots and fine lines.
2. Foundation Brush
This brush is apt for applying liquid and cream foundations seamlessly, the tapered edge of the brush help around the tricky corners of the nose. The brush is perfect for building the coverage and gives you a flawless look which further prevents you the embarrassment of streaking effect. Use the brush to apply the cream or powder with downward strokes.
3. Blush Brush
The blush brush is perhaps the softest brush with dome shaped bristles which helps in sweeping on the colour for a rosy looking glow. To get the perfect blush, smile to make your apples of cheeks more prominent. Gently put the blush powder or cream in small and circular strokes towards the hairline.
4. Powder Brush
This is one of the commonly used brush in the makeup collection. This brush is used for dusting the translucent powder or powder foundation to set up the look. Use the brush all over your face to blend all the makeup products in order to set it for the long-lasting look.
5. Lip Brush
The lip brush is tiny but amazing for plumping up your beautiful pucker. Professional makeup artists usually apply lipsticks that are bright with the help of lip brush instead of applying it from the lip tube. The reason is that it helps the colour to come out more rich with smooth precision. Applying lipstick with the brush also helps in preventing the formation of the crease and make the colour last longer.
6. Contour Brush
The contour brush is used for making the cheekbones look sharp and give them extra definition. Use the brush to sweep highlighter, shimmer and bronzer on cheekbones and also along the cheek sides. The brush can also be used for enhancing the brow bone area. The brush is also used on the sides of nose bridge for a sculpted look. Apply your highlighter with the contour brush for the best glow after considering the light and the angles on the face.
7. Highlighter Brush
One of the multipurpose brush, the highlighter brush is used to apply light foundation, for applying blush on your cheeks and for highlighting the top of your cheekbones. Soft bristles will help in applying the lighter makeup product.
8. Stippling Brush
This brush is commonly used for pressing the power or creamy foundation into your skin. The stippling brush needs to be stiff so that it avoids the streaking and allow more of a clear airbrushed finish.
Eye Brushes
When we talk about eye brushes, there five commonly used eye brushes. Everyone should own these brushes. Each brush is responsible for the different colour application of products on the different eye area. We will see here how to use makeup brushes for eyes.
1. Pencil Brush
This type of brush helps in the correct application of colour. The brush is mostly used for smudging the eyeshadow on the lower lashes and also smoking out the eyeliner and gives a defined crease.
2. Dome Brush (Stiff)
A dome brush is stiff and used for putting and applying colour in the crease area. It also gives feather effect in the case of darker eyeshadows giving that perfect smokey eye.
3. Flat Brush
A flat brush is used for placing colour on the eyelids. It is important that the brush is stiff so that it picks up enough colour and the flat portion of the brush will allow you to even out the eyeshadow application.
4. Soft Dome Shape Brush
This type of brush is quite similar to Stiff Dome Shape Brush with the only difference of being softer. The brush is used in applying the transition shade, blending colour and diffusing the colour on the crease under the brow region.
5. Angle Eyeshadow Brush
Round, long and tapered brush is good for shading the area of the eye socket. Gently use the brush in the natural crease of your eye socket and blend it back and forth give the depth.
Keep Your Makeup Brush Clean
Now that you know the types of brush and how to use makeup brushes for concealing, blending and contouring, but it is also important to wash your brushes on regular basis. Make it as a part of beauty routine to clean your brush. Your brushes contain oil, bacteria, dirt and also small bits of makeup caught up in the bristles. These small bits end up clogging your pores leading to sudden breakouts of zits, blackheads, and whiteheads. Clean your makeup brushes every week. Here are few basic steps to clean your brushes.
Step 1 – Rinse your brush bristles under the lukewarm water to remove the residual makeup.
Step 2 – Take a small container or a bowl and put a little water in it and add two drops of shampoo. Dip your brushes into the bowl and swirl them around.
Step 3 – Once you are done with swirling, rinse off.
Step 4 – Wipe the brushes using a soft towel and leave them on a cloth and let them dry.
When you decide to create your own brush collection, always emphasis on the quality of the brushes for bang on look. Happy Brush Shopping!
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