Makeup Brush 101

I have to admit, as much as I love makeup, I usually just use my fingers to smooth on a foundation, throw on some bronzer/blush, and then add mascara before running out the door. So when I received this beautiful brush set from adesign, I turned to my friend and beauty expert, Lara of the Glossarie, for help! Lara’s tips, combined with new high-tech brushes (adesign partnered with DuPont to create a synthetic fiber with the pick up and deposit of a natural fiber but without the breakage and fallout – they’re super soft and work great!) have me excited to do my makeup in the morning again! Continue reading for Lara’s tips on using different brushes and some other helpful links.

1. Powder Brush: The biggest and fluffiest of all! I use mine to apply translucent powder and I also use a brush like this to apply my blush so that it looks fresh and natural. If you’re an all over bronzer girl, these are great for warming up your skin tone as well.

2. Highlighting Brush: This unique shape adds pop of color to the brow bone and sets concealer under eye area.

3. Base Shadow Brush: Good for achieving smooth, flawless color foundation all over the eyelid or setting powder over under eye concealer because it’s nice and flat.

4. Smudge Brush: Tiny brushes like this are great for spotlighting, concealing, or even smudging eyeliner (i.e. hiding mistakes and making it all look purposeful); I like to keep one like this on hand to blend concealer.

5. Foundation Brush: Perfect for spreading liquid-based foundations or tinted moisturizers. The flat cut will help to build natural coverage and you’ll get a nice, airbrushed finish. For extra coverage, you can tilt the brush vertical and “spackle” product in the areas where you need it most.

6. Accent Brush: This type of dense brush is great for apply highlighting and illuminating powder to brow bone and cheeks, blending out harsh lines from foundation, or giving an all over wash of color to the eye (up to the brow bone). It’s nice to keep a brush like this on hand for multitasking and all over softening once your look is near complete.

7. Contour Brush: If you’re getting really creative with your eye look, this could also be great to work color into the crease. Since it’s dense, it’s going to give more depth and control so it would be nice for creating looks that require extra shading and definition.

8. Crease Brush: Can also be used all over the eye, but this shape is extra nice for sweeping accent color shadow into the crease – looks very natural!

For more helpful tips, be sure to follow Lara’s blog as well as my friend Kara’s new beauty blog, Politics of Pretty! I also love these tutorials from the Beauty Department for face, eyes, and cheek brushes. And Brunch at Saks rounds up some great brush storage ideas here. Finally, be sure to watch this video for how to clean your makeup brushes – it’s the best method I’ve found yet!

Disclaimer: adesign sent me the brushes as a gift but it’s very important to me that I offer honest reviews to you and only write about products that I like and/or fully endorse.