Affordable Makeup Brushes 101

 

Makeup brushes ey.

 

They're probably my biggest addiction. There's something so satisfying and cute about a neat and expanding collection of makeup brushes.

But golly aren't they expensive. I don't like to complain but £20 for a teeny tiny eyebrow brush seems a bit extortionate. (I don't really know why I said I don't like to complain... I love to complain. I fact, it's one of my favourite past time.)

 

So today I thought I'd run through some of the brushes I've got. The most expensive brand I've got it Real Techniques (which I adore) so I'm not exactly breaking the bank. But sometimes you can tell it would be worth it to pay just a lil bit more. More about that later though, lets get straight into the brushes.

 

 

My first reaction when I see this picture is to say yummmm. (Don't ask.) So these are my Real Techniques face brushes, don't they look adorable.

 

(From left to right)

 

Real Techniques Blush Brush

£9.99

 

I think this was the first brush I ever bought and it was a pretty good choice. (A rather odd one as I don't actually wear blush but oh well..) It's very soft and doesn't malt at all. I apply my powder with this brush as the soft bristles gives my face a lighter look rather than a powdery look which you normally get from using a kabuki.

 

Real Techniques Sculpting Brush

£9.99

 

On the other end of the spectrum, this is one of my newest brushes in my ever growing brush collection. I never knew how to apply bronzer until I got this brush. It's a bit too big and dense to contour with- you'll end up looking like you just fell face first into a muddy puddle. However for larger areas of face that need powdering or blending, this is great. It is dense enough to use with both powder and liquid but works great with cream products.

 

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

£9.99

 

I feel like everyone has this brush, and for good reason. If you're out to get just one brush, this is the brush for you. It can be used for almost anything- foundation, powder, bronzer, highlight, concealer. It's just really great at blending as it's sooo dense and small enough to do things that take a bit more precision.

However. And this is a big however... this brush kind of becomes redundant when you start buying specific brushes for different roles. So now I have a foundation brush AND a bronzer brush AND a highlight brush AND a concealer brush, I use the Expert Face Brush less and less. So if you've already got a big collection, it's a nice brush but not vital. If you haven't got any/many brushes, this is the brush I recommend you go out and buy right now.

 

Real Techniques Setting Brush

£8.99

 

I guess this is meant to be for setting powder on more delicate places like under your eyes. I have used it for that a couple of times but even better, try contouring with it. It literally fits into the hollow of my cheeks perfectly. So that's mainly what I use it for. It's also pretty great at highlighting your cheek bones and bridge of your nose as its fairly small and pretty delicate.

 

 

£11.99 (mini size)

 

This is a mini brush set by Eco Tools. The problemo: they no longer sell it. Don't panic though, if you like the idea of this set, they do a newer version that's pretty much the same idea but with slightly different brushes. Have a look at that one here...

 

This is a really cute set a great value for the price. I absolutely love the flat concealer brush (far right) and is one that has made it's way into my everyday brush routine. The second right brush with the blue handle is fab at blending eye shadows as well.

 

In general, Eco Tools brushes are sweet and work well but you can kind of tell they're slightly cheaper. Especially with face and powder brushes. They're generally not dense enough and a bit more scratchy than Real Techniques.

 

If you do a lot of travelling or staying away for the night, a set like this may be a good purchase. It covers the basics and is a  great size for carrying around. However if you're looking for a brush set that's just as good quality as individual brushes, this isn't something I'd recommend for you.

 

I thought I'd do a quick one on one comparison between these 2 brushes (Real Techniques vs Eco Tools.) Eco Tools is considerably cheaper but it is clear in this picture as to why. It is less dense which makes it hard to work with liquids and the bristles aren't soft enough to provide a flawless powder cover. Even the aesthetic of the Real Techniques brush is superior to the Eco Tools brush. It is glossy and professional rather than wood and young looking.

 

By the way, this isn't an Eco Tools bashing session- some of their brushes are great (which you're about to see.) However as they are the main 2 affordable yet good quality brush brands available at Boots and Superdrug, it seemed right to compare them.

 

 

Eco Tools Bamboo Foundation Brush

 

Now this is more like it. In contrast to their sets, Eco Tools' individual brushes are a lot better quality and still great value. This is my current go to foundation brush and works perfectly adequately for me. Generally, I prefer using a beauty blender to apply foundation but when I use my Clinique foundation and concealer 2 in 1, it works a lot better with a brush so I whip this one out.

 

Obviously you could probably get a better foundation brush that's a little softer (you can kind of see one of the bristles malting out in this picture,) But you'd pay a lot for it. This brush is £7.99 and I don't see any reason to spend £40 on a brush when this one is just fine. (Don't kill me if I buy a new foundation brush in the future once I've got the money!!) If you're looking for a basic, possibly your first, foundation brush, this is a good one at a great price. What else could you need?

 

 

Real Techniques Special Edition Eye Set

Normal edition alternative

£21.99

 

Look how beaut these brushes look.

 

They're small, precise, neat and glossy... what more could you ask for? A smaller price tag possibly?

 

So this is a limited edition eye liner set I got around July time, I'm sure you could still find it in some stores but I couldn't see it online so I linked the normal Real Techniques Eye Set.

 

Again, these brushes are great quality. I guess they're all supposed to be used to do eyeliner but I kind of adapt them to my own makeup routine.

 

Sorry about the red, I did my sisters demon makeup!

 

The middle right is obviously a great eyebrow brush. It's small and light which gives the eyebrow powder a more natural finish. I use the middle left one for smudging eye shadow and eyeliner. I've got medium/small eyelids so it's a great size and not too bulky to try and blend quite precisely.

 

Overall, the Real Techniques eye brushes are faultless. I kind really see any flaws on them. I know I complained about the price tag but actually £21.99 for a 5 brush set (not the limited edition) makes it only £4.40 ish per brush which is hard to argue with.

 

 

Again, I thought I'd do a quick brush comparison.

 

This is the Superdrug Smokey Eye Brush for £2.99

vs

A Real Techniques angled eyeliner brush 

 

So the immediate thing is the tape. I'm not sure whether it's the quality of the product or the one I picked up, but the top of the brush kept falling off the middle. I could easily glue it but I'm much too lazy for that.

 

The second thing to notice is the fact that the Superdrug brush is a duo (with a small blending brush on the other end.) I love both of the brushes on the one brush so it's very useful when trying to minimise the amount you buy/pack.

 

As someone that appreciates a good looking brush, you would think I'd chose the Real Techniques brush over the Superdrug one every day of the week and twice on Sunday. But no. I use both of these to do my eyebrows and do not see a big enough difference in results to justify dismissing the cheap brush in favour of the Real Techniques one. Both do the job very well, both are easy to use. I guess it's different when it's on eyebrows because it doesn't really matter how soft they are. But density definitely does matter and they are equally matched on that front.

 

It's a shame about the tape but honestly, if I was going to recommend either of these brushes, it would be the Superdrug one. Spend more money on face brushes. But for £2.99 you get two great brushes that work just as well as any more expensive brushes. Fab!

 

Lastly, here is a paint brush. (Drops mic.)

 

Okay, hear me out here. You can get paint brushes for 100% cheaper than most makeup brushes and some can work great in your makeup routine. I'm not saying go out and buy a 100 pack of paint brushes rather than any makeup brushes because you will regret it. But next time you're somewhere that tells paint brushes, take a lil look and just see if you can imagine using any of them in your makeup routine.

 

I use this makeup brush as a lip brush. It's small, soft, smooth and flexible which makes it fantastic for applying lipsticks precisely and quickly. Just saying.

 

As I've been talking about brushes for so long I thought I'd do a quick list of affordable brushes I want to buy. Partly for my benefit so if you've tried any of these, leave a comment letting me know how they are!

 

• Any of the Real Techniques metal brushes purely for the look!!
• Tweezerman flat top foundation brush
• Smashbox Fan Brush
• Mur Ultra Flat Contour F304

*Hint hint if any friends or family are reading and starting to think about Christmas ay ay*

-

 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today's blog post. I guess there are a couple of things to bare in mind when it comes to makeup brushes. Firstly, sometimes money really does buy better quality. Sometimes, it really doesn't. (I'm helpful, I know.) Secondly, don't be restricted by the labels, names and price tags. If there's a brush that says blending brush, don't be afraid to try it with different products to see how you like it best. And finally, don't forget to use your fingers!!

 

Thanks for reading, I hope this helped some of you out there looking to buy makeup brushes.

See you next time,

 

Laura Stone x

 



 

Keep reading...

Budget Makeup Haul

October Catch Up

Let's talk about... makeup

 

 

Eyebrows 101

2014/15 has been a big year for eyebrows.

From small and delicate to bold and bushy, no matter what style brow you go for, they have to be maintained! But to be honest, brows have become so big recently that it's hard to know what to do most of the time. It's not helped by the new group of brow fanatics that seemed to have emerged. We all know that girl (or group of girls) that worship brows and judge everyone on the state of their brows.


How many times have you heard:



How could I write about eyebrows without including Cara?!

"Brows are the most important feature of your face"

"Your eyebrows define you"

 

"Well maintained eyebrows improves a face by 100%"

It's a bit overwhelming seeing as most off us barely have enough time to have a big breakfast in the morning, let alone shape, define and fill our eyebrows.

That's where I am going to try and help. By no means am I an expert but I have got fairly naff eyebrows and I manage to basically transform them every morning in about 5 minutes.

For those of you with naturally dark eyebrows, please take a moment to appreciate your life. As for the rest of us (from medium brown to ashy white)... follow me!

So, I have natural dark blonde hair but quite light sparse eyebrows. I don't want you to judge me, but I fill my eyebrows are seriously dark. I often buy the dark brown pencil/ powder. Not everyone likes the super dark look, understandably, so to give you an idea of colours to go for, follow my lil guide...

*this is just my advice, not eyebrow law*

• White: Go for the lighter shades, you can still shape and define them nicely but dark eyebrows may look a slightly odd. Not always though?

• Light blonde: I would go for light brown if I were you. You can always go for your own colour but to have eye brows that don't just blend into your skin colour, 2-3 shades above hair colour is advised.

Dark blonde (mousey): A blonde eyebrow pencil might not be dark enough for you, even if you are a proud blonde. A light brown would look very natural but for a more defined, bold eyebrow, dark brown will still work.

Light brown: Pretty similar to light blonde. But you can get away with darker still (if you really need to fill your eyebrows in.). You are pretty lucky and should go with either your colour or a little darker.



Dark brown: Ugh, no need to rub it in. We're all very jealous. You may not need to fill in your eyebrows, but if you do, go for your colour (but please don't touch black.)

What about shape?!!

 

There are 5 main eyebrows shapes that you could aim to achieve. (see above.) The best thing to do is just to realise what your natural shape is then try to define and enhance it.
 

For example, my eyebrows are very thick on the inside then arc and get slowly thinner. (okay I know my description wasn't great but bare with.) They most closely match the 'soft angled' eyebrow on the chart above.


So instead of trying to reshape mine to fit a different eyebrow shape that might be "popular" and "on trend", I just shape mine how they naturally grow.

Once you've got your shape, its just about keeping an eye out for stray hairs or a forming monobrow.

Personally, I recommend getting your eyebrows waxed/plucked professionally rather than doing it yourself. You can then do some plucking yourself to keep them looking neat until your next shaping.

But how do I actually fill them in!??

Easy. It's actually a lot simpler than you first think. Okay, first buy yourself a cheap eyebrow pencil (I use Rimmel in the shade dark brown-here-) and a singular eye shadow powder. (I use a natural collection duo eye shadow in mocha brown -here-). Get the colour of your choice, try and get the pencil and powder as close as possible but you should be able to blend them.

1. Sharpen your pencil. This is so important and can make such a big difference. Keep your pencil sharp and it keeps the definition of your eyebrows amazing- trust me on this one.

2. Draw a sharp line on the bottom edge of your eyebrow. There shouldn't be any hair under this line, it will outline your eyebrows and make a clear shape.

3. Also use the pencil to outline any shape that you've create on the outer edge. For example, if it gets thinner then create a thinner edge with the pencil. If you're eyebrows are just straight are cross then outline about 3/4 of the way across then get slightly lighter to give a bit of variation.

4. Now fill inside the outline with the powder. Work it in evenly and blend it well with the pencil outline. The powder creates a lot more natural look as opposed to completely filling it in with pencil (which creates a very bold fake look.)

5. Finally, use any kind of tool to blend it all together naturally. What I really recommend is to get yourself one of those plastic mascara applicators that doesn't have any product on it. You can normally find them on makeup counters in department stores like John Lewis or Mac. Use this to brush through your eyebrows so they're all growing in one direction, then use a blending tool.

6* Not everyone does this but you can use an eyebrow setter to keep your eyebrows neat and in place. Lots of brands now sell these but I don't actually use one. Benefit does a good one but its a bit more expensive. Alternatively, buy a cheap clear mascara (lots of lower end brands sell them as well) and use that to set your eyebrows because it works just the same.

And there you have it! Perfect brows so you can tell those eyebrow fanatics where to go...

 

I hope this helped some of you, but please remember that although having nice eyebrows is great, its not everything. Don't stress too much about it, just have fun with it and you'll be fine.

 

Thanks for reading and please share if you think this would be helpful for other people,

Laura Stone x