If you want to learn the eye makeup techniques of professional makeup artists, the first thing you will need to start out with is a high quality brush set.
Your eyes are the first thing people notice, and the first things that stand out in a crowd or photo. Making sure your eye makeup is the right shade and style, as well as applied perfectly, will save you a lot of embarrassing moments and headaches.
Some makeup brush sets can be extremely expensive, but they don't have to be. Look for brushes that are made of natural hair or high quality synthetic hair, as these will blend your colors the best.
There are several makeup brushes you will need to apply great makeup; we've listed them here in order of importance so you can get them as you need them.
A foundation brush is a flat yet thick, soft brush that is used to apply foundation. Always used a sponge or your finger to put on your foundation?
These brushes are what the pros use to give their clients that perfectly airbrushed coverage. Once you use one, you won't ever want to use a sponge again.
Put a little liquid foundation on your wrist or in the lid, and apply with sweeping strokes to your face.
Foundation brushes also work for cream or powder, so you can dip it directly in the container.
A blush brush is a large, extra fluffy brush that works wonderfully for blending in colors over a large portion of your face. Technically there is a powder brush you can use for powder, but a blush brush will work just fine.
Use
this one for your setting powder, applying blush, sculpting your
cheekbones with bronzer, or applying a little bronzer all over for a tan
glow. This brush is very versatile and a definite must have if you want
to develop professional face and eye makeup techniques.
You don't want to apply blush or bronzer with anything thinner than this, as it will lead to ugly dark patches and “racing stripes”.
Assuming you wear eyeshadow, a good eyeshadow brush is essential. It is a wonderful blending tool that can apply and mix your colors so that there are no obvious lines. You want your eyeshadow colors to gently fade from one to the next, as would a gradient.
One of the best ways to get the most for your money with high quality makeup is to buy eyeliner gel in a pot and use your own angled liner brush to apply it.
Even a small pot will last you forever, and will cost only a bit more than a good eyeliner pen or pencil. Angled liner brushes are very thin, and stretch about half a centimeter across.
One end is slightly higher than the other, making it angled for the best application. These brushes can be easily dipped into a pot of eyeliner and perfectly applied thinly along the lash line.
A brow and lash comb is a very helpful addition to your makeup brush collection. These can be used to blend in eyeshadow on your brows to fill them in, and can also be used to brush your eyebrow hairs upwards for trimming or for a polished look.
The lash comb is especially important for brushing out any clumps of mascara and keeping your lashes separated so that they don't stick and look awful. A brown and eyelash duo comb is very important for developing professional eye makeup techniques.
These brushes are less expensive than other brushes, and truly you don't need an expensive one to get the same effect.