Brush Basics

Hello my beautiful Stars, how are you doing? As you can tell by the title, today's post is all about brush basics.  I found a five piece brush set on Amazon with the most basic and necessary brushes and am going to explain for what and how you should use each brush.  Now for some of you this may seem super basic because, like me, you have jars full of brushes but for others just starting out brushes can seem very scary and confusing.  Well, have no fear I'm here to calm your nerves and explain how to use your most necessary basic brushes.  I will also end the post with a quick explanation as to how to care for your brushes, i.e. how to wash them and what soap to use.  Let's get started shall we?

1. The Angled Brush: This angled stiff brush is used to help you fill in your eyebrows.  The angle makes it easier to create natural looking hairs in your brow and to work with the angle of your eyebrows.  You want to use this with brow powder but you can also use it to put the wax onto your brows so that the powder will adhere to the brow.

2. The rounded shader brush: This is the most basic and versatile of eyeshadow brushes.  You can use it to pack color onto your eye, do an all over light wash of color, put a matte color in your crease, and highlight your browbone.  Be sure to use sweeping, not dabbing motions to apply your eyeshadow with this brush.  Not only will it make your shadow look better but it will also make your brush last longer.

3. The Powder Brush: This brush is used to apply translucent powder all over  your face.  It can also be used to apply bronzer because of the large surface area it covers.  However, do not use this to apply blush- you will get too much product on the brush and then on your face.  This is also good for sweeping any excess powder or shadow fallout off of your face.

4. The Foundation brush: This is a flat brush used to apply your foundation.  You apply the foundation onto the back of your hand and then you dab the brush into it and start sweeping, not dabbing, the product onto your face.  The only thing with this brush is that you need to be sure to blend away any streaks that the brush may cause in your foundation on your face and neck.

5. Pointed Lip brush: This brush is pretty self explanatory, it's a lip brush.  You can use this to line your lips if all you have is the lipstick but no lipliner as well as to apply your lip color evenly and effortlessly.  Best thing is that it's not a skinny brush so you can cover more surface area in one swipe.

Now that you have all of these brushes and you've been using them, they're starting to look a bit grody, right? Have no fear, you can wash your brushes. You should actually give your brushes a bath every one to two weeks (or more if you are a working MUA like myself).  But what soap should I use, you may ask.  The best soap I have found is Dr. Bronners Castile Soap in the liquid form.  You need very little to wash each brush.  You put a little in your hand, run your brush under lukewarm water, and then swirl it in the palm of your hand in the soap.  Then hold it under the running water, gently squeezing it, until the water starts to run clear.   Then either lay your brushes on their side or upside down to dry, DO NOT stand them up.  The water will run down into the brush and ruin the glue holding the bristles and brush together.  Depending on varying factors it can take a few hours to a whole day for your brushes to dry.  Here is a picture of the soap you should use:

Are there any other brushes you think a beginner should need? Leave your suggestions down below! XOXO Emma

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