Types of brushes you need to have

While thinking about what i should bring family and friends at home in germany as a gift from canada i thought about buying some brushes for my mom. I am always kind of annoyed, that she uses "cheap" brushes, which aren't good quality and soft at all and that she doesn't bother to wash them. So i thought about what kind of brushes you need to achieve any look you want to do. Like the basic kind of brushes you need to have. 

//THE BIG FLUFFY TAPERED BRUSH
I love these type of brushes for blush because it blends in the blush while applying and you get the right amount of colour onto your cheeks right away. Or i use it for bronzer, it adds a slight colour to your face and it's a quick sweep under your cheekbones, over your tempels and down your neck. You can also use it for powder to set your foundation if you want. There is the Real Techniques Blush Brush or the Zoeva 101 Luxe Face Definer.

//THE SMALL FLUFFU TAPERED BRUSH
This one is good for contouring, because it fits nicely under your cheekbones or for applying highlighter. It isn't too big so you can apply the product precisely. Still it isn't too small so you end up with a bulk of product on one spot. I love this Zoeva 105 Luxe Highlight.

//THE EYESHADOW PACKER
A flat eyeshadow brush to pack on eyeshadow onto your lid. You can use any brush brand, but the Mac 252 is nice.

//THE BLENDING BRUSH
Essential for achieving a nice eye look. There is the original Mac 217 or the more budget version that i have the Zoeva 227 Luxe Soft Definer. You can blend eyeshadow with this brush or apply an eyeshadow into your crease without the need to blend it afterwards. Honestly i could even live only with this brush for the rest of my life to apply eyemakeup if i had to.

//THE CONCEALER BUFFER
For buffing in undereye concealer or concealer applied on blemishes. I have to admit, that the Zoeva 142 Concealer Buffer isn't my favorite for this job. The Real Techniques Setting Brush is loved by Lily Pebbles for blending undereye concealer so i might give this one a go.

//THE FOUNDATION BUFFER
My favorite way for applying foundation in combination with a makeup sponge (read more about that here). Just apply the foundation in circular motions all over your face and your foundation is nicely blended in. The Real Techniques Buffing Brush was the first buffing brush on the market and a high end option would be the Bobbi Brown Full Coverage Brush. I use the Zoeva 102 Silk Finish Brush.

//THE WINGED BRUSH
This one is optional but it's essential for creating a winged eyeliner without an eyelinerpen. And you can use it for filling in your eyebrows too. I think every brush brand has a winged brush or you can look for a nice option in the drugstore (mine is from the drugstore).

P.S. Sorry for the unwashed brushes i had to take the photo quickly.

Foundation application with a sponge or a brush?

There are a lot of ways to apply foundation and they all have their advantages and disadvantages. I am not that big fan of the hand application for foundation so i will leave that option out.

The two options i tried and kind of liked are the application with a brush or with a sponge. There are a lot of brush types and also all different kinds of foundation sponges out there. You can say the same thing for the price range. 

One revolutionary new addition to the foundation brushes types out there was the
Foundation Buffer. There is one from Bobbi Brown, Real Techniques, Zoeva and the list goes on and on. I personally own the Zoeva version at the moment but have the Bobbi Brown and the Real Techniques ones on my wishlist. The Zoeva 102 Silk Finish brush is a medium sized buffer brush. It is the perfect size, not too small not too big either. I pour the foundation on the back of my hand and apply dots of foundation on my forehead, cheeks, nose and chin. Then the buffing brush comes into action. I blend the foundation in with circular motions until it is nicely blended into my skin.

The foundation sponge is on the market for a few years now. There is the original Beauty Blender and a lot of dupes from Real Techinques for example and other drugstore brands. I own the Real Technique Compelxion Sponge and i am happy with it. I don't think that there is a huge difference between the different foundation sponges, but if you compared them and know, tell me please. I have used the sponge for complete foundation application by patting the foundation
"dots
" into my skin. I would recommend to soak it under water several times before you use it, because otherwise it doesn't work that great. It leaves you with an airbrushed finish, but i found it hard to blend the edges of the foundation properly. So it's not my favorite for using it simply for the application, but i found a way to incorporate it into my routine. 

First step is blending my foundation in with a buffing brush and then i go over the whole face in dabbing motions with the complexion sponge. It gives you the airbrush skin-like finish the sponge gives, but the edges are nicely blended with the brush before. 

Another thing i like to use the sponge for is blending in liquid concealer. It keeps more of the concealer on my face then the brush does, so i end up with more coverage, which is always good.

I can't say this or that, because i like them both for certain things and for others not. So for me the combination of both gives me the finish i want.

How do you apply your foundation?

How to clean your brushes

I watched a ton of videos and read a lot of blogposts about how you should clean your brushes and i finally established a brush cleaning routine i am nearly satisfied with. I am not an expert or anything and there are a lot of products and a lot of ways to clean your brushes, but i thought i will share my way. 

THE ACTUAL CLEANING PART

Cleaning your brushes is very important, because they will last longer and look and feel good longer, if you clean them correctly. Moreover it prevents your skin from breakouts caued by old makeup on your brushes.

Firstly i wet my dirty brushes (clean only the dirty brushes, not the ones you didn't use) with warm or cold water. You don't want to use hot water, because that can destroy the brush's hair. Another important thing is to hold your brushes with the bristels pointing down so no water gets into the binding and destroys the glue.

Next i put a bit of my shampoo on my palm or what i prefer on the pink rubber pad i have (more about this thing later) and swirl the brush until it's clean. Rinse them in water until the shampoo is gone and squeeze them gently with a towel afterwards to remove excess water.

FREQUENCY

How often you should clean your brushes depends on how often and how much you use them. If you use the brushes for your everyday makeup, doing a deep cleaning once a week should be enough. You can use brush cleaners (f. e. from MAC) to quickly clean your brushes, during makeup application to be able to use them immidiatly again. Nevertheless your brushes need a deep cleanse once in a while.

LET THEM DRY

You don't want to place your brushes with the hair upwards, because the water will affect the glue (again :D). So i like to place them on a table or something with the brush part over the edge to help maintain the shape.

PRODUCTS I USE

I would recommend using shampoo, soap for sensitive skin (f. e. baby shampoo) or special brush cleaning products, because the brush bristels are sensitive and need to be handled with care.

You can clean the brushes on your palm or use a rubbery face cleansing pad (like i do). Mine is from ebelin (Germany), but any rubbery pad with little "bristels" (for peeling purposes) should work. (I recently found a similiar pad here) I like to use this pad, because it is way quicker than cleaning the brushes on your palm.

A TRICK HOW THEY STAY SOFT

 If you want your brushes to stay soft, you can use some conditioner now and then. It does not have to be any special conditioner, because it is just for soften the brushes (the conditioner should smell good though). My brushes see the conditioner not more than once a month, but it depends on how often you use and wash your brushes. So if you have the feeling they are getting a little bit hard and scratchy, just use a bit of conditioner after cleaning them the next time (make sure to rinse them in water afterwards).

Zoeva Brushes, one of the best

I already mentioned them in my November Favorites and i am going to rave about them in this post a little more. I am always on the hunt for good but not too pricey make up brushes. Sephora, Sigma or Mac brushes are good, but i don't want to spend so much money on a brush, because you need more than just one brush.

Zoeva brushes are still high quality, their hairs are soft and smooth and the brushes aren't loosing hair.Something that is important for me is, that they stay in their shape after i washed them. The really big and fluffy ones tend to loose their shape a bit after washing, but i like to put them in the protection case they came in to get them back in shape

The hairs are a blend of exquisite natural and synthetic hair free of dye.

The brushes are not only super soft and nice to work with I also really like the desigb of them. They look chic, but still simple. And i am dreaming of the rose golden set for a long time now. These brushes are just gorgeous.

 The price range is between 23€ and 8€ for single brushes, but they also have different brush sets.

I own the 101 Luxe Face Definer for applying bronzer, the 102 Silk Finish to apply foundation, i am using the 105 Luxe Highlight for my highlight, 122 Petit Stippling is for the application of cream blush and the 142 Concealer Buffer is for applying Concealer seamless.

I also have some Eye brushes, for example the 227 Soft Definer for blending in the crease, which is by the way very similar to the Mac 217 brush, and last but not least the 226 Smudger for smudging the eyeliner to get the smokey Kate Moss look.