The Brush Off

Ever felt like your brushes weren't delivering? Like your shadow was melted together? Well, Im gonna give you some heartfelt advice thats gonna hit below the brush belt. First off, a quick note from Mr Hygiene. CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES people! Why is it that people will spend 30 dollars or more on brushes and let product and bacteria build up on them. This is a question that has always perplexed me. Whether you have cheap brushes (which I honestly do not reccommend) or you have nice quality brushes, the key is to keep them clean. Product builds up and evetually will break down the fiber of the bristles. Ever had a brush that the bristles broke off of? This is why. Also, bacteria can thrive in the hairs of your brush, as they are porus and when you use them on your face, oils from your face allow them to breed and do the nasty things that they do. YUCK-O. Also, when you are using dirty brushes, you screw up the pigment placement on your face. It changes the diffusion of the color and your payoff wont be as good. I reccommend HIGHLY the brush cleaner from MAC. It has a cleaner as well as a disenfectant built in. So you are good all the way around. I reccommend doing this at least once a day, I know its hard, but its worth it. I also reccommend using an alcohol-free, baby shampoo once a week for a thorough cleaning. I say alcohol-free, because alcohol will get down past the hairs of the brush, into the glue and deteriorate the glue, thus making your brush hairs fall out. Now, lets talk about types of brushes. I like a wide array of brushes, except ones that are made mass market. I will explain why. Mass market brands are going to spend more money on their advertising rather than product research, testing and materials.  So, its worth the effort to spend the money to get a decent set of brushes you can take care of and will give you an amazing performance. Now as far as actual brushes go, I love a variety of brands. MAC has an amazing brush called the 187. Its a big brush with white tips. Great for moisturizer, foundation, blush, powder. There is a 188 too thats smaller thats fantastic for the cheek area. The 190 is great for those that like a regular, round, flat foundation brush. I also like, for a less expensive alternative, the foundation brush from the HD line from Sephora. Its good for blending liquid foundation. As far as eyes go, the blending eye brush from Lancome is stellar. It has a great pointed end for blending specific colors into your crease. If you want something a little bigger, the Chanel blending brush is great. A little hint...take scissors and trip the tip into a point...works wonders. For application of shadow onto the lid, MAC wins again. 213 and 239. Best for application. One will give a more pressed, diffused look, the other a more fluffy piled look. You can also grab yourself a 224 for blending, they are great too. I always like to have a smokey look under the eye, by putting a small amout of shadow under the eye and blending. The 219 is a winner in that category. I like a fluffy, less defined brush for the cheeks. The stripe look is NOT in.  The 116 is a sure fire brush to aid with that. Its also great to contour with, on the face and neck. Last but not least, the lip brush from Chanel is my all-time favorite lip brush. It gives a great application of lipstick or gloss without losing the color or making a big dang mess. Your brushes are definately interchangeable. Utilize your tools for various things, such as learning to use your flat foundation brush for highlighting and contouring, using your 187 to put on liquid and powder consecutively. I hope this helps in the world of brushes. I have to watch the Bears stomp the Packers now. So. Good-day.