A lot of girls overlook the importance of using makeup brushes. For those of you who don’t use them at all, they’re a great alternative from makeup sponges or eye-shadow applicators. Do you ever see those girls whose faces look like they were painted on with that oh-so-flattering line of bronzer under their chin? Or the girls whose eyelids look like brightly colored separate entities that they paste on every morning? It might just be because I’m a makeup-obsessed cosmetic connoisseur, but I find myself rocking back and forth, hugging my knees and repeating my makeup mantra: Bronze, Blush, and BLEND whenever I see these face faux paus. Brushes allow face powders, foundations, and bronzers to look more natural and less caked on, and prevent eye shadow from being applied too harshly and instead blended to perfection.
Here are my five must-have make-up brushes:
- Foundation brush – Instead of using a sponge, a brush helps make foundation look less heavy
- Large powder brush – This should not only be used for full face application, but also blending blushes or bronzer
- Small powder brush – I use this for both my bronzer and blush because it’s great for contouring. (Tip: when applying bronzer apply underneath the cheekbone for further definition and only to your temples and nose—basically wherever the sun would naturally hit your face most!)
- Fluffy eye shadow brush – This will really help with blending and shaping your eye shadow to your lid shape
- Eyebrow brush – Polished eyebrows can make the biggest difference as a finishing touch. The eyebrow brush is also great to reduce darkness if you color in your eyebrows.
While switching over to brushes can update and freshen your face, maintenance is absolutely necessary. You must must must must must clean your makeup brushes, and OFTEN! Think about it–your makeup brushes touch your skin every day, sometimes multiple times a day, and they not only acquire build up, but also retain germs, dirt, and oils! (Especially when they’re dropped on the floor, oops!) Cleaning your brushes can really help prevent blemishes and acne problems. There are a few different “shampoos” you can use that disinfect your brushes and make them super soft! I recommend this brush cleaner from MAC COSMETICS. If you don’t feel like dishing out some cash for it, you can also use baby shampoo which will make your brushes softer and smell good, but not disinfect them thoroughly (I’ll mention a quick fix for that later).
How to clean your brushes:
- Run your brushes under cold water, and place them on a towel.
- Fold a paper towel in half and pour some of the solution over it.
- Brush your brush (say that five times fast) along the solution on the paper towel, and you will see the makeup residue start to come off. You can move on to the next brush once you feel that there is no more build up. FYI: it may take a lot more with bigger face brushes so you can run them under water and squeeze out some of the gunk, and keep reapplying the solution to it. Sometimes I pour the solution right into my large brushes.
- After each brush is thoroughly cleaned, run them under cold water again.
- Lay them flat on a towel to dry.
- Once they’re dry feel how soft and amazing they are!
It is recommended that they be thoroughly cleaned once a week, but let’s be honest we all don’t have time for that in between class, homework, socializing, fratting, and sleepy, hung-over Sundays. So for a quick and easy daily disinfectant, I use this daily brush cleaner from Sephora. Just a quick spray every day can make a difference! I also use this after I wash my brushes with baby shampoo if I’m all out of cleaner. You can always make it something fun to do with a friend! I promise you will be obsessed with cleaning your brushes when you feel how soft they are afterwards, with the extra bonus of keeping your face fresh and clean!