When contour was first established everyone was doing it in a certain way and from those basic guidelines different variations of contour took place. Some new questions arose "do I use cream, do I use powder" and then of course the question of "which brush do I use to apply it?"
Did you ever give up on doing contour because you weren't sure how to apply it. Or feel as if you're not good enough at applying your own make up? Honey, It's not your fault! It may be your brush's fault. Maybe your brush is too old, maybe it needs a good cleaning as seen in our latest YouTube video.
Or you could possibly be using the wrong brush and another brush would give you the results you dreamed of! If you're wanting a starter kit that will give you the options to learn the art of make up application without breaking the bank. I recommend BH Cosmetics 36 Ultimate Brush Set. It offers a range of different face and eye brushes at a price in the $30 dollar range!
For starters, lets break down what you get. This portion of the blog will feature items 1-12 and is the first part of a three part blog series.
Picture from BH Cosmetic Website of the 36 Ultimate Brush Set
Item 1: Eyebrow Brush
Its funny how this is considered and eyebrow brush, because I would also use part of this for my eyelashes. I personally call it a dual lash and brow brush. The "brush" part of this is used for grooming and shaping brows, I have sparse brows so this tool really does nothing for me but if you got some wild brows this may help brush it so your hairs go all in the same direction. The "comb" is a great tool to help when your mascara clumps together. Because no one likes tarantula legs for eyelashes!
Item 2: Spoolie Brush.
It looks like a mascara wand, but instead of using this for mascara, I use this as my brush comb instead of item 1's brush. I love Anastasia Beverly Hills products for my sparse brows, and their brow wiz comes with one end as a spoolie brush, so I rarely use this tool from the BH set.
Item 3: Small Fan Brush
Here is one of those wonderful brushes that I use for different applications. I would say that the number one reason this brush is used for is for clean up. For example, when using powder eye shadow for a smoky eye where there are little specs of black, gray, or other dark colors that fall out. If you don't use shadow shields to catch the fall out then your catching these specs onto your skin. And if you use your fingers to brush the eye shadow specs away you may actually smudge the flecks and give yourself a black streak. Not cute! This small fan brush is perfect for brushing away those specs without smudging. Another use for this fan brush is for light application of powder products such as contour or highlight. I love using a matte grey eye shadow and casting a "shadow" to make my face appear less round than it is (foodie girl problems)! It helps blend the shadow without casting harsh lines on your face. The same goes for highlighting on top of your cheek bones, it creates the glow without it being overpowering. Keep this brush as part of your go to set!
Item 4: Shadow Sponge Brush
Throw this sh*t away!
You have so many brushes in this kit to achieve what you need. Stop trying to use this product sucking sponge! However, if you're against throwing away something that you paid for, give this to your little niece or daughter so she can play with it!
For your convenience of not having to keep scrolling up I will keep featuring this image.
Picture from BH Cosmetic Website of the 36 Ultimate Brush Set
Item 5: Eyeliner Brush
Pretty self explanatory, one of the few eyeliner brushes that is provided in this set. If you're starting out, I would recommend trying this brush with your gel eyeliner. This is a good brush to help you get started on learning how to wing out your eyeliner. Just try to get as close to your eyelash line as possible. And if you get blank spaces you can always go over it again, also known as tight lining, with the brush again or an eyeliner pencil. Another use for this brush is to help line your eye shadow to do a cut crease. Which is a harder look to do for a novice, definitely have to take it slow and steady to create the look.
Item 6: Angled Liner Brush
Another one of the eyeliner brushes in this set, its great for those of you have more experience with winging out your eyeliner or wanting to go a little thicker of a liner line. But this is another brush with dual purpose. You can also use this to line your brows.
Pretty self explanatory, one of the few eyeliner brushes that is provided in this set. If you're starting out, I would recommend trying this brush with your gel eyeliner. This is a good brush to help you get started on learning how to wing out your eyeliner. Just try to get as close to your eyelash line as possible. And if you get blank spaces you can always go over it again, also known as tight lining, with the brush again or an eyeliner pencil. Another use for this brush is to help line your eye shadow to do a cut crease. Which is a harder look to do for a novice, definitely have to take it slow and steady to create the look.
Item 6: Angled Liner Brush
Another one of the eyeliner brushes in this set, its great for those of you have more experience with winging out your eyeliner or wanting to go a little thicker of a liner line. But this is another brush with dual purpose. You can also use this to line your brows.
As the picture tutorial shows, the angled liner brush is featured in both pictures 3 and 6. As you can see, the angle liner brush is used for shaping the brows. This picture tutorial was done by one of the most talented makeup artists out there, Vegas_Nay! Who features her work and lots of other Makeup Artists on her Instagram page.
Item 7: Rounded Liner Brush
Item 7: Rounded Liner Brush
Since the BH set has given you a few liner brushes, I wouldn't use this for my eyes, I'd use this to blend in my lipsticks or liquid lipsticks. This would help blend colors together without giving it a color block appearance. When you see the word ombré, think of it as a gradient of colors. Typically the most common examples are when you have that darker color on the outside and the lighter color in the inside. But that's is not always the case. For instance in this picture by Beauty Inside you see the darker color is in the inside and it fades into a neutral color. This was done with using a rounded liner brush to give her that porcelain doll look, which is very popular Asian Beauty trend.
Item 8: Bent Eyeliner Brush
This would be an eyeliner brush again. This is great for the inner corners of your eyes. Sometimes if you're not careful with the regular liner brush you may smudge your eyeliner. The bent feature helps get into that tiny crevice and help with your precision. Don't worry if you don't get it right the first time or 100th time, no matter how many times I've done eyeliner, I still mess up. Your eyeliner can sense your fear!
Picture from BH Cosmetic Website of the 36 Ultimate Brush Set
Item 9: Small Smudge Brush
I bet, you're at this point where you didn't think there were this many brushes for doing your makeup. Even sometimes I can feel overwhelmed. But sometimes its a great thing about having so many brushes, especially when you can't find one, then you can make due with another. For this brush, its a good one to smoke out or blend your lower lash line. So if your eyeliner application is too much just blend it out, or put powder on the brush and also blend it out for a nice blended lower lash line.
Item 10 & 11: Small Angled Liner Brush and Small Rounded Liner Brush
I bet, you're at this point where you didn't think there were this many brushes for doing your makeup. Even sometimes I can feel overwhelmed. But sometimes its a great thing about having so many brushes, especially when you can't find one, then you can make due with another. For this brush, its a good one to smoke out or blend your lower lash line. So if your eyeliner application is too much just blend it out, or put powder on the brush and also blend it out for a nice blended lower lash line.
Item 10 & 11: Small Angled Liner Brush and Small Rounded Liner Brush
See descriptions for items 6&7. Its the same idea just smaller for better precision.
Item 12: Flat Liner Brush
Item 12: Flat Liner Brush
I would like to concluded with the flat liner brush. You can use this as another eyeliner brush, but I prefer to use this as the highlighter/concealer component of doing my brows.
As referring to Vegas_Nay's brow tutorial picture again, you can see the flat liner brush as picture 8 and 9.
Just remember there's not one right way to use your brushes, the best thing you can do is play around until you discover the best purpose for the brush. Keep your eyes out for the next installment of this blog series! Where I will cover even more of the different types of brushes!
Glammie Love,
Just remember there's not one right way to use your brushes, the best thing you can do is play around until you discover the best purpose for the brush. Keep your eyes out for the next installment of this blog series! Where I will cover even more of the different types of brushes!
Glammie Love,
Bex
