Product Review: Makeup Brushes

Why do you have 30+ makeup brushes Scotia? Are you a Hoarder?

Nope, But I am a professional makeup artist(MUA). You don’t need that many for sure!

Pro’s need so many to be able to fit every type of face and facial feature

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Why do they have to be makeup brushes that are sold separately? Not just those makeup sponges and come in my eye shadow case or my kid’s craft paint brushes?

The first time I ever used makeup was my mum’s contour kit from the 80’s(which at this time was well past its expiration and was probably 12 years old…. I was 7). It was a dark hot pink for blush and a white kinda highlighter. It still had the 12 year old sponge on a stick in there.. it disintegrated on my eyelid and scratched me and I didn’t touch makeup again till I was 15.

The difference in brushes. Makeup brushes are usually made from 2 different bristles.

Natural fiber brushes are great for dry makeup(shadows and powders). They can be made from pony, badger, mink, squirrel, and more. Each type of fur has different strengths and softness but all natural bristle brushes need to be taken care of better, making sure not to be too hard on them, bending them and making sure to condition them.

Synthetic makeup brushes are better for any wet makeup( liquid, creams and gels). They are made from nylon or takon and are way more durable.

You can mix and match or buy full sets of either one.

So what brushes should you use for doing your makeup?

The Basic Set:

You can buy a 6-7 piece set like this.  They may either come with the sponge eye shadow brush or the blender brush.

I personally rarely use the sponge brush unless its for something that will get lost in a brush, like a glitter or a faint colour that I want more of.

I will side track here for one second to make a point about WHY there are makeup brushes vs using other brushes.  You can’t use artist brushes(from craft or art supply stores) for many reasons: they are made from stiffer hair(boar or horse usually) which can scratch your skin, they are also designed to pull the paint in so you don’t have to redip. Makeup gets easily lost in brushes and becomes a waste and more time consuming for your makeup application.

I would only suggest ever using these brushes(make sure they are natural as synthetic artist bushes will be ever stiffer and rougher) for face painting or elaborate lipstick, cream/gel eye shadow and eyeliner application(for these make sure you use a good primer and have your foundation on too so there is a barrier to protect your yes).

A step above set: for makeup artist enthusiasts or those who love to do their own makeup and test new things out.

These sets are 10-12 brushes, what is not pictured here is a straight eye shadow brush and a fine liner brush that usually comes in a 12 brush set.  The added brushes as so if you don’t clean your personal use brushes all the time(many clean only once a week or sometimes longer) you aren’t mixing up your blush and your face powder, as well as your liquid/cream foundations with your concealers/highlighters and bronzers.

Many people also may not use a concealer or foundation brush, they either use a foundation sponge or the foundation egg.

I find no difference personally with  these products (sponge or egg), as you wet the egg and it dilutes your foundation, which might be good if you tend to buy a thicker foundation but want it on thinner but I find it ruins any type of foundation that is a HD type.(see my review on HD foundations here). The Sponge just sucks up a lot more product.

Note: Most people could call the yellow brush pictured above a “kabukki” brush.

The “spooley” brush here is a replacement brush for the brow comb we all have. It is a mascara wand but if you are using a set this big, you maybe using it more to set your eyebrows with a clear brow mascara. When you buy mascara, depending on the kind of mascara you use: they have their own specialized brushes built in.

 

The pro kit: 20+ brushes

 

These are the kits for people like me: professional makeup artists.

Like I said before, I need all kinds of brushes as I work on many people at a time( wedding parties, fashion shows) so I need a variety depending on makeup styles and face types, plus enough that I have a few doubles so I can wash and let one set dry while I am doing 1-2 other people before I need it again.

Last off Make sure to wash your brushes.   This keeps from getting crossing of colours(like grabbing your eye shadow brush you used black shadow with and wanting to dip it a light green….) and also keeps from getting germs which can result in pink eye or cysts.

if you have OCD : wash with warm soap and water every day and condition once a week.

if you have a regular cleaning sched. : wash once a week with warm soapy water or makeup brush cleanser and condition.

if you are too busy, don’t care or are a makeup artist(cleaning after every client) use this:

 

from my instagram : click to follow!!

 

These cleaning mitts are great, use a bit of your makeup brush cleanser and use the appropriate side(one side is or eye shadow and liner brushes and the other for face, blush, contouring).

The only note that I have about these is that any gel or lipstick clean first with soap and water first to get most off: I had trouble getting it off the brush, then off the mitt.

Well hope that helps, if you have any questions comment! I always love to help!

-xo Scotia