1. MAC fluidline gel eyeliner in blacktrack (with 208 brush)

- So smooth, no smearing, no smudging and long lasting. The best in the bunch!

2. Mascara – inimitable by chanel in black and waterproof

- It curls, lengthen and volumize my lashes. A little bit pricy, but it works.

3. Eyelash curler – shu uemura

- Curls me lashes without fail everytime!! 

4. Foundation – Mineralized satinfinish SPF 15 in NC 35

- Medium coverage, glides to your skin and doesn’t make you feel like you’re wearing any foundation at all! In addition, there’s vitamin A, C and E and it’s SPF 15.

5. Highlighter and powder – MAC mineralized skin finish duo in medium

- I can have this on my bag all the time, and I don’t have to carry 2 different container. The powder side gives me just enough powder to set my foundation and for touch ups. The highlighter is AMAZING! I fall in love with it immediately. It gives a nice subtle shimmer to your cheekbone and brow bone.

These are afterall, my own opinion. Some might agree while others don’t. So, do not take my words for granted. Everyone have their own preference. 

All photos are courtesy of 

www.maccostmetics.com

www.shuuemura-usa.com

www.chanel.com

This week has been hectic and next week is not any better. Midterms and assignments are piling up, so I might not be able to update the blog regularly (once every 2 days). but I’ll for sure update this blog at least twice a week. Anyhow, today I’ll recommend some brushes that will be a good investment for your makeup routine.

Makeup brushes are important and allow you to pick up more products, blend the products better and improve the quality of your makeup application in general. Thus, a set of good brushes are important to have. That’s why MUAs use makeup brushes all the time.

There are so many brushes out there in the market that sometimes you just get confused and have no idea how to use each one of them and which 1 should you use. Today, I’ll do my best to let you know which are the ones that I think it’s necessary to have.

The applicators (sponge-tip or brushes) that come with the makeup product itself are not sufficient for a good makeup application. They do come handy, however, for touch ups.

So, without further a do, let’s start.

Face:

Foundation – you can use either a foundation brush or sponges. My fav is MAC 190 or those sponges from drug mart (really cheap). You’ll be able to blend your foundation really well with sponges/foundation brush. What I like about the sponge is that you can actually stiffle your foundation to your face without having the streaks, unlike the brush. Sponges are really good for beginners and those who are in a hurry. In addition you can just use them once and throw it away, so you won’t accumulate bacteria. 

Sponges that come in a wedge is better than the round ones because of their shape. You can use the thinner side to apply foundation or concealer under your eyes and around those hard to reach places (i.e. around the nose, chin, lips, under the eyes).

Concealer – fingertips! If you’re busy, use your fingertips to get some concealer and pat it all over the places (i.e. under the eyes, blemishes, redness).

Concealer brush is optional for beginners, but for those who want it, go get them. Really useful for areas like under the eyes, around the nose and to conceal blemishes (just like the sponges, but a bit better since they’re smaller, so you’ve more control). My fav is MAC 194

Blush/Powder – for blush and powder you can use the same brush. Just make sure that you clean the blush off the brush before using it for the powder. My fav is BodyShop blush brush 

Eyes:

Eyeshadow – Flat eyeshadow brush is a MUST. This will help to deposit eyeshadows better. A blending brush is an option if you like to play with more than 1 eyeshadow. If you want, you can clean your eyeshadow brush and then use it to blend as well. My fav flat eyeshadow brush is BodyShop Eyeshadow brush, and my fav blending brush is MAC 224

Eyeliner – If you’re using a gel eyeliner like I do, you’ll love this angle brush from MAC. It’s my favourite! MAC 208 is actually an eyebrow brush, but I use this for my eyeliner. This is great since it’s smaller than the normal angled brush for eyeliner, and thus you can be more precise and I find that I can control this better than the larger counterpart. It’s great for winged eyeliner

Eyelash Curler – Shu Uemura’s culer is a cult fav. It’s the best of the bunch and it does some serious curling job for your lashes. A MUST esp. for Oriental eyes.

Extras:

1. Brush cleaner – a good brush cleaner is necessary to clean your brushes to keep it sanitary and to avoid the accumulation of bacteria. You can get a good brush cleaner from MAC, Faces, Clinique etc. 

2. Q-Tips – important esp. to correct small mistakes like eyeliner smudges, eyeshadows falling on your cheeks, red lipsticks on your teeth. Always keep Q-tips handy.

3. Brush holder – a small bag is good to keep all your brushes and keep it convenient for travelling. Otherwise, pen holders are good enough to keep your makeup brushes.

4. Tissue – always have them handy to clean your brushes if you’re going to change the colors or products (e.g. clean the brush with green eyeshadow before you use it with the brown eyeshadow).

5. Mascara – any of your fav. mascaras. Remember, do not share your mascara with other people AND do NOT pump air to your mascara. Always change your mascara after 3 months of opening it.

I know it’s a lot of things to read, but I hope you find it useful.

Until next time.

All photos are courtesy of:

MAC (www.maccosmetics.com)

BodyShop (www.thebodyshop.com)

Shu Uemura (http://www.shuuemura-usa.com/)