Make Up Monday - Make Up brushes!

Hey Guys,

Well with it being the start of a new week that can mean only one thing..... that it's Make Up Monday!
Today's post is about Make Up Brushes, which ones you use for what and how to look after your brushes.  It has been requested a couple of times by some of my lovely followers and as it fits in perfectly with make up Monday I thought I would do the post today!

I wanted this post to be for everyone so I haven't used expensive brushes in my photos and I certainly don't expect people to rush out and buy MAC or Sigma brushes to use everyday.  I have used a variety of brushes some are from the chemist, some where from gift sets that you get at Christmas and some are even from my college kit that I had when I trained (far to many years ago!) as a beauty therapist!  Some of you may have a vast collection building up but I'm going to show you the essential brushes to need to cover all areas of day to day make up!

Foundation Brush (L) & Concealer Brush (R)

FOUNDATION BRUSH: This is used to apply an even, full coverage of foundation. I am currently using a rounded foundation brush which is good but I prefer a flat head brush. The reason for this is that with the one pictured it tends to leave streaks in the foundation which you need to blend it with your hands after, with a flat brush you can use circular motions to get a good even coverage.
CONCEALER BRUSH: Its always best to choose a smaller brush that has tapered, firm bristles. This will ensure you cover just the area you need to but also allow you to get a good coverage.

Powder (L) Bronzer (M) Blusher (R)

POWDER BRUSH: My next step would be to set my foundation and to do this I use a large fluffy brush, this will give a good coverage and as the bristles are fluffy it means that you wont end up with too much product on your skin!
BRONZER BRUSH: When applying bronzer I tend to use a brush that is very similar to my powder brush but it's smaller, again the soft bristles will diffuse the colour evenly, not leaving too much product on the skin (remember less is more with bronzer!)
BLUSHER BRUSH: I love to use a slanted blusher brush, this is a great way to contour the blusher to give the illusion of really defined cheek bones.

Large & Medium eye shadow,
Sponge applicator and Slanted
shading brush.

EYE SHADOW BRUSH: You will see I have two in the photo, one is large and this would be used for applying your base colour to your eye lids. The second is slightly smaller and this would be used for applying your darker shadows where you would be creating more detail i.e a smoky eye effect.
SPONGE APPLICATOR: These are great when using a highly pigmented eye shadow, it will allow you to pat the colour on so you keep the colour in place!
SLANTED SHADING BRUSH: This brush is quite small but is great for shading in the crease of the eye and for lining under the eye lashes and along the upper lid to give the effect of eye-liner.

Lip Brush

LIP BRUSH: I don't always use a lip brush but it's always useful to have one in your collection. Using a lip brush will ensure a precise application of colour, so is great to use when you are wearing a vivid red or shocking pink.
Always try to choose one that has firm, tapered bristles, this will give you more control when applying the colour.

CLEANING!
One of the most important things to do when it comes to make up brushes is clean them!  Even if you only use your brushes on your own skin there will still be a build up of make up and bacteria!  So I use two different products for this, on a regular basis I use MAC brush cleanser, all you do is pop some product onto some cotton wool or tissue and swirl the brush into the liquid and that will remove any excess make up.  For a deep clean (which I advise you to do at least once a month) I use baby shampoo, This is great for the bristles as it wont cause any damage. Dampen your brushes, massage in the baby shampoo, rinse and then leave to dry thoroughly before you use them again.

You don't have to be a professional make up artist to know what your doing with make up, if you just have the right tools and confidence you can look and feel gorgeous all the time!
Hopefully this has been helpful and for those of you who requested this I hope I answered the questions you had!  Don't forget if you do have any questions or further requests please get in touch!

Happy Make Up Monday
Stay Gorgeous

Grace x