Tips on Brushes and How to Clean Them

Hey, baby. Hey, baby, hey! Boys say, boys say. Hey, baby. Hey, baby, hey! All the boys get the girls in the back! 

I thought you could all use some throwback No Doubt in your life! Ha ha. Well today's post is all about brushes, baby. How to clean them and which ones to use. Let's get started.

The Essential Eye Shadow Brushes

In my Makeup For Dummies posts (in the July Archive down below) I went over the main face brushes  you will need to get a flawless face. Well, today I will be showing you the most important brushes that every girl- boy/girl, girl/boy, whoever you are- needs. 

From left to right:
Urban Decay brush, and the other two are from Mary Kay.

These beauties are your basic eye shadow brushes. They are not too small, or too fluffy. I use these for pretty much everything. You do not need to get more than one. I do because I use many colors whenever I do my eye shadow. The one on the left is a bit stiff to allow a more solid application. It also helps with getting into that inner corner, since it doesn't move all over the place.

MAC 208 brush

You must, I repeat, must have this in your makeup collection. This little guy is called an angled brush and it can be used to fill in brows, line upper and lower lash lines, and be used to flawlessly apply gel liner. Get it? Got it? Good.

A fluffy angled brush is perfect for when you want to get into the crease of the eye, but want it to spread over a larger area. It is also cool to use it on the lower lash line if you are the kind of person who loves a lot of smokiness under the eye. This brush I actually got from CVS and it was super cheap. It came in a set :)

A dome shape brush is also for the crease and can be used on the lower lash line. However, unlike the fluffy angled brush shown above, it is not fluffy giving you a more focused application. This also came in the brush kit from CVS.

I have no idea how to spell the name of this brush. It is pronounced like this, spool-ie. So there you go lol. It isn't exactly a must have, but it is a god send. Your brows will never be the same after you use this. I use it to comb through my brows after filling them in, and it looks so much more natural. This is from a company called, Neewer.

This brush is my friend. He too came from the planet, Neewer and I am so glad. It is super fluffy which makes it perfect for blending. As you know from reading my blog, blending is very importante.

If you want a thinner line than a dome brush, but a bigger line than a small angled brush, then you need a pencil brush. I use this all the time when creating my purple line under the eye. I really recommend getting a brush like this. (Brought to you by CVS).

Brush Cleaning!

A lot of people use fancy brush shampoos. I use this:

It is antibacterial (kills germs), has a moisturizer (conditions brush hairs as you clean them) and smells hella good (bonus!).

Remember this is simply my method of cleaning brushes that I think will work for everyone. I do this every couple weeks and always do it before and after doing makeup on clients. It is super important to clean your brushes, especially if you are oily or acne prone. All you will need are your soiled brushes, my homeboy Dial, and some paper towels. Oh and a sink that works, preferably.

Step One:

Pump soap into hand.

Step Two:

Wet brush under lukewarm water.

Step Three:

Dip brush into the soap in your hand and swirl it around until you create a lather. You will see all the gunk in your brush and be see why your brush needs to be cleaned. Trust me. Even I am amazed at how orange the water is when cleaning my bronzer brush ha ha. Cute!

Step Four:

Rinse under the water, still swirling the brush in your palm to get all the germs and soap off.

Step Five: 

Get water out of the brush by running your fingers down the brush so that the bristles are straight, and going in the direction the brush is when its dry. So you you want this:

Not this:

See its not so bad. Just repeat this process with all of your brushes and lay them on a paper towel to dry. 

So fresh and so clean, clean.

Obviously in between eye shadows I can submerge my brush in water, so to clean in between I have this:

I just used a bright blue eye shadow and now have to use a white one. Whatever will I do? Simply spray the brush and rub it on a paper towel and bingo-bango the brush is rid of crazy blue color. This won't deep clean the brushe, but will get you by when you are in a hurry. You can also do this on face brushes. For example, if you use a brush for both your blush and bronzer, and don't want your blush to be dark brown or orange. Oh and I got this at Sephora of course :) 

Well I hope everyone found this helpful! I have actually been asked a lot on how I clean my brushes and what brushes I use for eye shadow, so here are those questions answered. Enjoy the rest of your day :) 

Do you clean your brushes?

What are your go-to eye shadow brushes?

Talk to ya girl! 'Till next time,

Nicole xo

Makeup for Dummies, Vol. 3: Highlight, Contouring, and Blusher

Hey, party people!

I don't know where you are, but it is another gloomy, muggy day in New York. No worries though, because I have a new tutorial post to brighten your day. Yaaaayyy! I know. You are so excited :)

Today we go into the next phase of achieving a flawless makeup up look. If you are just now joining us, I posted about the other fundamentals of makeup including brushes and their uses,  and about how to get a flawless foundation application (the rhymed! ha ha).

Now that the foundation is done, it is time to bring some life to your face again. A lot of times people try to achieve this with their foundation alone. This is a huge no no! By doing that, they tend to get a shade that is too dark/orange for them, making them look like oompa loompas.

Not cute, right? The foundation is meant to blank you out. It takes away all the imperfections, leaving your skin looking bare. This is good! The contouring, highlighting, and applying blush is what is going put some color and dimension back into your face. Before we get started I will go through what each thing is:

Contouring: A face shaping technique that defines the face. It also has slimming affects. So, for example, lets says you have a really wide nose, or want it to appear to be straighter. All you have to do is apply a contouring shade down the sides of the nose. The darkness of the contour shade will make your nose appear slimmer. Contouring shades are supposed to be darker than your natural skin tone. Think bronzer and darker matte face powders.

Highlighting: Highlighting works to bring out or lift a certain area of the face. I'll go with the nose example again. Now that the nose looks slimmer, you need something to balance it out. So apply a highlighting shade down the center of the nose. This will make you nose look more symmetrical and give the illusion that your nose has more height, making it look less wide. Feel me? Highlighting is done with shades lighter than your skin tone. It is done with light concealers or light shimmery colors. 

Blusher: Now that you have made your face, so to speak lol, it is time to get some blood flowing. What I mean is blushing is blood flowing to a certain area. When a hot guys says hi to you, what happens? All the blood rushes to your face, right? Well with blush, you get that lovely rose-y color where you want it. Typically this goes on the apples of the cheeks or on the tops of your cheeks.

Now that you know what each thing does, let's put it into perspective with some pics :)

I use a matte brown face powder to contour. I have mentioned in a prior post that I used to use a bronzer, but switched to this because it looks more natural as a primary contouring shade. I say primary because I use like three things to contour. I know, I'm crazy :) The key to contouring is to make it look as natural as possible; blending, and building color as you go alone. Now, the placement of the contouring for the face should go from the top of your ear to about mid way to the corner of your mouth. As shown below:

 Making a fishy face helps to make the hollow of your check bone more visible. This give you a clear placement.

The reason for this is to slenderize the face and define the cheekbones. In the picture below you can see how now I have this sort of shadow. That is what you want. I used my skinny angle brush to do this. 

Now it is time to do the nose. I have a very wide nose towards the end, so this is a must for me lol. I take the same angle brush I just used and squeeze it thinner. Like so...

 So that when I run it down the sides of my nose it won't leave a huge streak.

 Now you see how the right side of my nose has a shadow and now looks slimmer. After I lay the color down I simply blend out with my finger of with a brush, depending on my mood ha ha.

I always like my cheekbones to look a little more defined, and I like a golden tan look so I add bronzer to the contour I made. I only do this on my cheeks though. Not my nose. I also go onto my temples with bronzer and blend it back into my hairline. This is where the sun will naturally hit you, so you end up looking naturally tan :) Also blending into the hairline is very important so you won't have any harsh lines left behind. To do this I use my Stilla bronzer in shade 2.

 The next step is optional, but I think it really helps to blend the contour and make it look like part of my skin. I take a very light bronzer, this one is Maybelline in the shade 'Forever Warm', and a my fluffy brush to go over the places I contoured. It also helps to add more warmth to the skin. And again, I do not do this to my nose. I don't want to lose the definition I have there.

See how bronzy and defined my cheeks look?

We are almost done, guys! Hang in there. Highlighting is next. I use my beloved Laura Mercier highlight to do this. It is a light shimmer. These also come in liquid and will have the same effect.

With a skinny angles brush I simply apply that to the high points of my cheekbones...

...and down the center of my nose.

I also like to pop it on the cupids bow of my top lip. This will make your lips looks fuller.

 Kiss me, baby!

As you might remember from my CVS experience the other I day, I got this Milani bakes blush in 'Luminoso'. I used this as my blush. I just took a small blush brush to pop that onto my cheeks.

I don't like to do it right on the center of my cheek, but more off onto the side and blend it with the bronzer a bit. Remember the key is to blend, blend blend. Its really the principle for all things makeup lol.

Just as the fishy face helps with contouring, smiling helps to find the apples of the cheeks. 

Et, voila! See how my face now has shape? It is bright in the center and bronzed around the frame of my face. Contouring is really a beautiful thing :) And yes, I know I look a little cray because my eyebrows are not filled in, but you just wait. Eye brows are next!

Hope you guys are enjoying these posts :) Let me know how your faces are turning out. 

Remember guys, don't be discouraged. Makeup is all about practicing and having fun. You got this!

Yours always, 

Nicole xo.

Makeup For Dummies Vol 2: Flawless Foundation

Hello world!

Now that you have the information about the brushes, lets get started with the foundation. 

Women typically have two concerns when it comes to a good foundation:

• I can never find a shade that matches my skin tone.
• I can never find a foundation that lasts all day.

Well, let me help you with that ladies :) To find a shade all you need to do is make sure it matches your neck and, more or less, your chest. Sometimes peoples' faces can be quite a different tone than the rest of them. So, when you match it purely with your face, i.e. sampling some on your cheek, you are going to have that line around your face. Not cute. However, if your face and body match, still make sure it matches your neck as well as your face. I also recommend going to a store like MAC or Sephora where there are open samples, or associates that can help color match you. Going to a drug store is not good when looking for a foundation because you cannot open the product until you buy it. Yes, this means you might need to spend a little more money, but it is worth it. If you are going to spend a shiny penny on any makeup product, it should be your foundation. Why, you ask?

• It is made with better quality ingredients, making it last longer on your face.
• Since it will last more on your face, you can use less of it.
• Drug store brands tend to waste quickly, because you will have to use more of it to get the staying power and the coverage you want. 

Think about it, you will waste more money buying a drug store foundation every two months because it ran out, than if you spent $40 on a quality foundation once a year. Sometimes it might last you more depending on if you wear it everyday.

Before you even think about touching your skin with foundation, you will cleanse and moisturize your face. In my skincare post I talk about the importance of skin care. I also did a full skin care routine, but for everyday just do the cleanser and moisturizer. And don't you dare tell me you don't have time to wash your face, girl! If you have time to read this post you have time to be cleansed and moisturized. 

Now let us move on to application, shall we? The foundation I will be using is a liquid. Liquid foundations have gotten a real bad reputation. People say they're oily and clog your pores. However, foundations have come a looooonnnggg way. Most are actually very gentle and water based. I also like the way liquid looks better than a powder. Powders are good for setting your makeup, but not as your only coverage source. To me they just sit on top of skin, and have zero to none staying power. Of course there are exceptions, but with liquid you will always be safe. 

After your moisturizer you can apply a little sunscreen for sun protection. This is good to do especially in the summer time, but it is optional. Next, use a face primer. These hold on to your foundation and keep it from rubbing off. This you can do with your fingers, just like when you apply moisturizer. 

Benefit Porefessional Primer

Then, take your stippling brush....

and your foundation...

Kat Von D Lock-it Tattoo Foundation (amazing coverage)

... and just do one pump onto the back of you hand. The foundation I used is a tad thick, so to soften it a little I just put a little moisturizer into it, and mixed them together. 

Then all I do is tap my stippling brush into the foundation and dab some all over my face. Like so:

No makeup. Not cute.

Now that each surface of the face has some foundation on it, I just start buffing it into my skin in small circular motions until it is all blended. I do it like this instead of doing one side first so that I don't do one side heavier than the other. And voila!! Much better, no?

See how the stippling brush just took away all my imperfections. And I turned to the side for you guys so that you can see how it matches my neck. 

Now, it is time for some concealer. This is optional if you really don't need it. I just use it because I have a bit of discoloration under my eyes, my nose, and my eyelids. If I am going to put on eye shadow I don't put concealer on the lip though. It makes my shadow crease. 

 Benefit Boiing Concealer 

And like I said in my brush post, you can choose to use a concealer brush or just your finger to blend out the color.  

 Gotta get the nose, girl! Cover up that redness.

Lastly it is time to set the foundation with a powder. As I am sure you know, I like to use a translucent one. These don't add color, so it won't be too heavy or cakey looking. Sometimes I do use a color one, if I am going to a party or being photographed, but other than that no. I just use my fluffy powder brush...

...to get the powder all over my face. I also make sure to pay special attention to the T-zone (forehead, nose, eyelids, and cheeks) as these get the most oily. 

Stila Hydration Finishing Powder

One more point I want to make is that you don't need to get both the primer and the setting powder. Their role is to make your makeup invincible, but I know that times is hard, right? So at the very least get a setting powder or a setting spray (coming up in a later post) to put on after the foundation is done. It will still do the job. I never had a primer until recently and my makeup lasted all day with this powder. I just use a primer now because, well why not? Ha ha. 

Keep in mind, this is the way I do my makeup and the way I learned. Feel free to adjust it to your own taste :)

I hope that this is helpful and will continue to be. It better be, girl, 'cause there are more coming your way! Stay-tuned for tomorrow. Highlighting and contouring coming right up :) If you're like What is that? Just wait and see...

What is your main foundation concern?

Did you always use liquids or powder before reading this post?

What kind of foundation do you prefer?

You know how I look forward to your answers :)

Peace out!

Nicole xo.