On this dull Friday morning, I think it's time we go back to basics and get to know our brushes!!
Brushes are the key to creating good make up looks. It's extremely difficult to to apply make up well if you are not using the right kind of brushes.
My own collection is growing slowly and as always it's important for me to clarify I am not an expert, what's working for me and my skin may not work for you and if you are in the make up business you may not agree but that's OK I'm always happy to spend more of my hard earned money on make up toys :)
Money is another huge factor as to what is available to you and ladies, I am right up there with you when it comes to brushes, I never invested hugely in my brushes because I didn't understand just how important they are.
A great brand and price point which I have sworn by the last few months are the Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman. I first came across these on Cloud 10 Beauty. I love this website!! They have a fantastic points reward system and when you sign up as a customer they are forever sending you discount codes which helps you to keep buying.
Now that Christmas is on the way it's time to get thinking about what we would like or what we would like to buy friends and family. The Real Techniques Core Collection is a perfect gift. It retails around €25 and Real Techniques are also available in Boots so if you do not like shopping online hopefully there is a Boots near you.
Another kit which again retails around €25 is the starter kit. I bought this with the intention of helping me create better eye make up and it is amazing. The brushes, I find, do not have overly long handles so you can get a good grip on them and really concentrate on what you are doing. It's extremely hard to learn a smokey eye look or to perfect liner when you have no tools so again treat yourself or someone else to this great kit sooner rather than later.
Foundation brushes... depending on what foundation you are using, a brush can either enhance the foundation or have you looking washy. Both the expert face brush and stippling brush from Real Techniques are an excellent choice. The expert face brush works so well with the Urban Decay Naked Foundation, MAC Face and Body Foundation, any foundation which is slightly lighter in consistency, this brush applies is flawlessly onto your skin. It costs €11.99 and is it always my go to brush. The stippling brush for me works best with my Estee Lauder Double Wear and MAC Studio Fix, retailing at €13.50 I love how you can create a flawless face with your full coverage foundation.
Other Real Techniques brushes I have invested in have been the blush brush at €11.99 and the powder brush €13.50. These are huge fluffy brushes and fantastic for blending out your contour lines and applying a light glowing blush.
That's a serious tribute to Real Techniques brushes but I genuinely feel they do not break the bank and with good care these brushes are going to last you ages.
If you were keeping an eye on the blog Facebook page last week " Emma Sheehan Blog" you would have seen me post about a brush sale in Fuschia Make Up. They had a 75% sale on their individual brushes so I invested in a few for me and some for my mum. I purchased two lip brushes, two blending brushes, a flat foundation brush and a small liner brush. You will not believe that for all 6 brushes it cost me €20!!! Postage was €6 and I am so happy they arrived. It's been a busy week in work for me but yesterday I managed to have a little play and I love them! The crease brush is fantastic, really suits my eye shape (gets right in there into the crease to help blending) They actually call their crease brush their blending brush so don't get too confused :) Fuschia make up have moved factory so they had a serious sale, please like them on Facebook "Fuschia Makeup" and keep an eye out over the weekend, they have said there will be amazing deals over the weekend so keep an eye out!
I actually called them yesterday looking for more brushes and the Swords store explained they will have brushes back in next Thursday so hopefully the will still be on sale :) 75% is a huge discount so I couldn't pass it up. You can do make up courses in both the Drogheda and Swords store Level 1 and 2, both during the week and weekends for €50. At the moment, they have an offer on in which you receive a brush kit at the course included in your price. I really want to go so hoping once I move to Dublin I'll duck over and do the courses.
My Bare Minerals brushes are naturally the best tool for my mineral make up. I bought the starter kit in Debenhams for €56. This kit includes 3 brushes which I have blogged about before but I love the full face brush for any of my powders or mineral foundations. I have recently been watching YouTube tutorials from people like Loz Curtis, I think she is fantastic! She made a great tutorial recently about what she feels is the right and wrong way to apply makeup. I had been putting mineral foundation over liquid medium coverage foundation but I'm starting to think that this is not working for me.
The smaller concealer brush from the Bare Minerals foundation is a lovely tool to make sure that areas such as your nose, chin and under the eyes get covered with the mineral make up.
I recently visited Emma at the Eyrebrushed Makeup Studio in Kilkenny. Emma has launched her own Eyrebrushed brush range. Emma very kindly gave me a brow/liner brush and it is fantastic!! When I get the opportunity to go back for a one day course I will be investing in more eye brushes from the range. The quality is fantastic and with all Emma's knowledge in the make up world, you know you're going to have this brush for years.
Any of the brushes mentioned in today's blog, I have only purchased within the last year. I completely understand that people these days do not have the money to purchase expensive brushes so if I can source brushes which work on all types of skin I will blog about them as I find them.
If I was loaded, of course I would like to own the MAC range of brushes but there are so many brands which can match MAC's quality these days. The lovely Paul from the Cosmetics Outlet in Dublin is launching his own range of brushes in November and I will absolutely be trying them! Madison is the brand and with Paul's knowledge of the make up world, I just know they will be unreal. Keep an eye out and like the "The Cosmetic Outlet Dublin 8" on Facebook to see the amazing offers he has in store and online.
I do have one MAC brush which I have now had for almost 4 years and I still love it. I have the Duo Fibre Large Stippling Brush and with good care, I still love to use this brush for my nights out with my full coverage foundation. Don't be silly like me ladies, about 3 years ago, I took the notion to buy a 'MAC' Brush Set on Ebay.... It cost me only €30 and I somehow believed it might have been real. Now please don't get me wrong my fake brushes are fantastic! I think I got an excellent set and it was really only in the last year and a half of getting into make up that I even realised they may not be real. The eye brushes I find really good but the face brushes are a little too rough for my skin.
Oh and just as I finished writing this the postman arrived with my bursh belt I had ordered online.... Delighted!!
If you have any questions on brushes please feel free to mail me at emmajosephinesheehan@gmail.com. Like my facebook blog page 'Emma Sheehan Blog' and follow me on Twitter @emmajcsheehan and instagram EMMALVSAPOSE.
Stay Beautiful,
Emma x
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