Back to Basics - Building your kit 103

Brushes

I get so many people asking me which brushes are the best for makeup, and if anyone has seen my brush set, they will know i have about a billion different brushes, from different brands. The reason is, I started at the bottom with some cheaper brushes and worked my way up to the more expensive. 

One of my biggest beliefs and something i tell people every time they ask me "what brushes do you recommend?", My first recommendation : Know your brushes, and how to use them.
Before you go and spend $50 on an eyeshadow brush, know what brush is for what. You may have a beautiful brush, but you have terrible makeup.

Here are a few of my favourites that I am recommending for your starter kit, and they are all reasonably priced !

Eyes

So if you have ever tried a smokey eye and it kept getting bigger and bigger till you had panda eyes, thats probably because you used the same brush to apply the colour as you did to blend. 

You want a flat brush (E.L.F flat eyeshadow brush) for applying your base colour. Use the brush in a dabbing motion to really push the pigment into your eyelid. 

Now if your going for a look where you want more than one colour or shade, especially in the crease, you want something along the line of a bullet brush (E.L.F bullet brush). The bullet brush is designed to give precision, especially in your crease line. So apply the colour in the crease, DON'T BLEND OUT with the crease brush, this is used just for applying the colour where you want it. 

Now for blending out you want a blending brush (E.L.F blending brush). This is a larger fluffier version of the bullet brush and helps to remove any harsh lines and blend the pigment into the skin flawlessly. 

Eyebrows, are sometimes something people neglect (never ever me!) Eyebrows are easy to groom, all you need is an eyebrow brush/comb (E.L.F Eyebrow brush/comb). Use the brush side to remove any tangled hairs and then comb into place. 


So for your eyes i recommend those four brushes to start with. E.L.F is a great and inexpensive store for makeup and brushes. I recommend them because they were the first brushes i ever bought, and they are still going strong! 


Base

There are a few things you can use on your face, i personally have tried everything and always come back to my buffing brush's . I will show you a few things you can use for foundation and powders.

Sponges, are a great tool if you want to really press the foundation into the skin and achieve a flawless finish, rather than opting for a triangle sponge aim for the tear dropped ones, as the shape really gives you the option of getting into the smaller parts of the face (near nostrils, inner corner of eyes) one of my favourites would have to be the beauty blender (Beauty Blender). If you are using a sponge for your makeup, you pretty much want to wash it after each use, so you aren't staining it, but also, to limit the build up of bacteria, and giving it a longer life span. 

Buffing brushes  (a.k.a the best!) Yes I'm definitely biased towards certain brushes, especially buffing brushes, because i have tried and tested many, and i always compare it to my real techniques buffing brush (Real techniques expert face brush). Apply your foundation in dots around the face (Nose, cheeks, chin and forehead) and in a circular motion begin buffing the foundation into the skin. For me, I've found that this really helps to push the foundation into place ,rather than having it move around, which can usually happen when using a flat foundation brush. 

A large fluffy brush, is the best staple for a makeup kit. You can use it for powdered foundations or just a translucent. 
When applying it you want to have the movement coming from your wrist, and lightly, because you don't want to starting moving around, or picking up the foundation you just set. 
( E.L.F complexion brush)

Kabuki brushes are great if you are someone that wears a powdered foundation (E.L.F Kabuki brush) as it has the same effect that the real techniques buffing brush has, just in the form for people using powder. Using circular motions work your foundation around the face, the circular motions really buff the colour into the skin, and help settle the pigments. 


For contouring i always stick to an angled brush like ( E.L.F Contour brush). The angle helps to guide you when mapping out the contouring on your face. I like to place the bronzer on, wipe my brush on tissue and then blend out any harsh lines. 

As for blush i like to use something soft like ( E.L.F Blush brush) which has a roundness to it. Using your wrist movement, softly place the blush on the apples of your cheeks and blend up and outwards, softly.



So as you can see i've definitely recommended a lot of E.L.F brushes because they are inexpensive, practical, long lasting and sometimes…even better than the $50 ones. I really encourage you too buy some that are inexpensive and learn how to use them, and when you're feeling confident enough, splurge a little and buy yourself an expensive brush you are too scared to ever use because you broke the bank buying it. 

Back to Basics - Building your kit 102

Just a little extra help 

Concealer

Ive seen and heard many people say “I don’t need/use concealer I just add another layer of foundation” and it makes me cringe. No one likes a cake face. If you are lucky enough to have no discolouration on the skin or marks too hide, hooray for you.

Concealer really is your best mate when it comes to achieving a flawless finish.

Which colour and where?

You may have seen concealer wheels or pallettes that have vibrant colours of green, purple, pink and yellow, that just don’t look like they belong on the face. WELL.

Im going to show you which colour goes where and how to best apply it.

Green

So if you're in need of covering something with a redness too it, green is the answer.

The green counteracts the redness. Best applied to any blemishes, fresh scars that still have a red and pinkish tone to it, red around the nose (thanks winter) , light sunburn (thanks summer) and even rosacea. 

Purple

Purple helps to combat any sort of yellow tones. Such as light bruising, or just general discolouration. 

Yellow/Orange

Yellow/Orange help to neutralise any sort of blue/purple hue on the skin. Most common area for this is under the eyes. It can also be applied on any sort of blue/purple bruising. 

How and when do i apply it? 

So, to apply concealer its important to have your foundation on first. Having your foundation on first, can help with applying less makeup, as you're left to see what needs that little bit of extra help. Another reason you apply after, is if you go in apply all the concealers first, when you're applying the foundation on top, you are moving the concealers from the place you first set them, and creating a big mess, and a waste of time, as you have to go back in and apply them again. 

1. Foundation

2. See what NEEDS concealer. 

    - Is there any redness 

    - Obvious discolouration

    - Blemishes

3. Apply the colours to the areas. 

     Under the eyes : Using a clean ring finger, DAB lightly under the eyes. If you swipe you're 

     not only irritating the eyes, but just wiping away the foundation. The under eye is also a 

     very delicate area, that you want to take extreme care of.

     Blemishes : Using a clean small brush, apply the green - lightly - to the affected area and 

     slightly around it, before blending out, apply (with the same brush) a small amount of foundation

     over the green and lightly blend out. 

     Bruising : Besides the obvious point of being gentle, apply the coloured concealer lightly to the

     the bruise and slightly around it. Cover the bruise as best you can, but don't over do it. If you keep 

     layering the makeup to hide it, you're only drawing more attention to it, so people, 

less is more.

Back to Basics - Building your kit 101

So I thought id ‘revamp’ my blog and start fresh. Which is also a good way to start my blog posts , ‘Back to basics’.
A lot of people get the gist when it comes to makeup. But there’s a little more too it besides picking your foundation, mascara, blush and lippy.
To avoid looking like a disaster, I’m going to give you some basic rules and tips, so you can build your kit, and know what you’re doing. (It also helps knowing more so you don’t get talked into buying that $90 foundation that does nothing for you).

Base for your face.
Before buying that new foundation that everyone is raving about it is so important to know YOUR skin type.

Normal Skin:
- Not overly sensitive to things

- Barely visible pores
- Very few imperfections

- Even tone

Dry Skin:
- barely-visible pores
- Red patches (from dry skin)
- More visible lines
- Rough complexion

Oily Skin:
- Enlarged pores

- Blemishes

- Dullness to the skin colour

Combination:
Is essentially two or more of the above types. Some suffer from an oily t-zone and dryness around the rest, etc.

Once you've identified your skin type, you can now read on and see what type of makeup will benefit you.

The below foundations, are drug store ones. I believe its so important to understand what you're using and how to use it before you invest in expensive makeup that leaves you walking around like a clown, and broke. 

Normal Skin                                                                 

What to look for : Something "normal".                    

 Doesn't specialise in a                                               

'luminous' finish or 'matte' finish.                                

                                                    

Normal Skin Recommendation:                                  

Rimmel Match Perfection                     

Dry Skin 

What to look for : Silk finish, and or containing

a 'luminous' finish. 

                         

Dry Skin Recommendation:

Maybelline Fit Me

Oily Skin

What to look for : Matte finish, or 

pair with a translucent powder

Oily Skin Recommendation:

Revlon ColorStay oilyskin/combination

Revlon Photoready Translucent Powder

Combination Skin

Combination skin, can be one of the trickiest to deal with. 

Im blessed (sarcasm) with a combination of oily (t-zone area) and normal, everywhere else.

I usually go for a foundation that has a matte finish too it, 

So im not having to powder just my t-zone. 

If you suffer from combination you want to weigh your options of how to go about it, by taking into consideration the above recommendations.