Makeup Brush Guide- Other Tools and Brush Maintenance

Hey Glams and Geeks! Today is the third and final part of my Makeup Brush Guide Series. So far, we have talked about face brushes to help you prime, prep, and enhance your face. Then, we looked at brushes that help to create your desired eye looks from a neutral eye to a smokey eye. Now, we will be discussing a few more tools that are essential to helping you achieve your best face yet. Let’s begin!

 Brush: Lip Brush

Purpose: The purpose of the lip brush is to apply lip products (lipstick, lip gloss, lip balm, etc.) to your lips without needing to use your fingers.

Tips: A lip brush is a great tool to have on hand for a few reasons. If you have reached the end of your lip stick, but there is still a bit more product left in the base of the tube, use a lip brush to gather the remaining product and apply it to your lips, or if there’s enough, transfer the excess into a plastic container. Another great use is to achieve clean, crisp lines when working with some brighter or darker colors, line your lips with a lip liner, and apply your desired lipstick color to your lips, using your lip brush.

Recommendation: Eco Tools Detailed Lip Brush, $3.99, can be purchased online at EcoTools.com or in stores at your local Walmart, Target, or participating Eco Tools retailer.

Brush: Shield Brush

Purpose: The shield brush is meant to protect your face makeup from shadow fallout or mascara smudges. Simply hold it under your eye during your eye shadow or mascara application to prevent any mistakes.

Tips: Before using the shield, try applying a generous amount of setting powder beneath your eyes and let it sit. Apply your shadow or mascara, then remove your shield. Now blend out your setting powder to finish your look!

Recommendation: E.L.F Cosmetics Studio Mascara and Shadow Shield, $3, can be purchased online at Eyeslipsface.com or in stores at your local Target location.

Tool: Lash Curler

Purpose: This one is also pretty self-explanatory, but is such an important step prior to applying your mascara to achieve lengthy, curled lashes!

Tips: To get a curl that lasts all day, heat up your lash curler by holding it before a blow dryer for no longer than 5 to 10 seconds. This will have the same effect that a curling iron would on your hair, creating a long lasting curl. After, coat your lashes with 1 or 2 strokes of mascara to complete your look.

Recommendation: Revlon Extra Curl Eyelash Curler, $6, can be purchased in stores at your participating Revlon retailer. Details of this tool can be reviewed at Revlon.com

 Tool: Tweezers

Purpose: Tweezers are an essential beauty tool as you can use these to clean up any sparse hairs on your brows, between your regular brow grooming appointments.

Tips: Tweezers are a great tool for applying lashes! Whether applying strip or single lashes, simply grab your lashes by the tips of the hairs and apply a layer of lash glue. Let this sit for 20 to 30 seconds, and begin applying your lashes at the center. Make sure its settled just above your lash-line and that its secured in place, then proceed in applying it to the inner and outer corners.

Recommendation: E.L.F Cosmetics Gem Tweezer with Pouch, $4, can be purchased online at Eyeslipsface.com or at your local Target location.

Tool: Spray Bottle

Purpose: The spray bottle is meant to be filled with water, and used for various beauty techniques, such as to wet your shadow brush prior to applying metallic/shimmery shadows or pigments or to mist your beauty blender prior to blending out for makeup.

Tips: Fill your bottle 2/3 with water, and 1/3 with Rose Water for a gentle rose aroma every time you mist your brushes/sponges. Also, Rose Water is great for the skin so you have the added benefit of applying antioxidants to your skin while you apply your makeup!

Recommendation: Spray bottles can be purchased at your local Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc. and can be found in the travel section. Bottles should not cost more than $2.

Tool: Towelettes

Purpose: These are good to have on hand to wipe off any excess makeup from your hands or brushes, and are great to quickly clean brushes before applying your makeup.

Tips: Keep these towels close by, by storing them near your designated makeup area. That way, you’ll always have them near you when you need them most! To clean your brushes with these, mist your brushes with your brush cleansing spray and gently wipe your brush back and forth to remove the makeup, then dry it on a separate towel.

Recommendation: Equate w/ Chamomile, Vitamin E, and Triple Tea Complex Cleansing Towelettes, $3.97, can be purchased online at Walmart.com or in stores at your local Walmart location.

 Tool: Brush Cleansing Spray

Purpose: Brush cleansing spray is great to help maintain your brushes clean between washes.

Tip: If you like DIY projects, here is an opportunity to make your own brush cleansing spray! Using a spray bottle to hold your cleanser, mix 2 cups of distilled (or filtered) water, ½ cup of Isopropyl Alcohol (with a high alcohol content to sanitize brushes!), 2 tbs of Dish Soap (or baby shampoo for a gentler formula), 2 tbs of Leave-In conditioner, and this last one is optional, either 2 tbs of Rose Water or your choice of scented essential oil to make it smell lovely!

Recommendation: Sonia Kashuk Brush and Sponge Cleanser, $6.99, can be purchased online at Target.com or at your local Target location.

 Tool: Brush Shampoo

Purpose: Brush shampoo is extremely necessary in the maintenance of your brushes. Shampooing extends the durability of brushes, as well as prevents breakouts, so be sure to have some on hand!

Tip: If you want to save some money or prefer a gentle cleanser for your brushes, go for baby shampoo. It will leave brushes super soft and clean. If you have sensitive skin, go for Antibacterial soap. It will deep clean your brushes and remove any bacteria that could be buried between the bristles.

How-To: For anyone who may wonder how you should shampoo your brushes, here’s a quick step-by-step explanation.

You will need a sink, your brush shampoo, a towel, and a space to leave your brushes out to dry overnight.

Start by running your brushes under lukewarm water. Place a quarter-sized amount of shampoo into your palm and begin to swirl your brush into the shampoo. Once you’ve built up a good lather, use your fingers to scrub between the bristles as you would your own hair. Rinse, and repeat to really get all of the product out from your brush. After, gently dry your brush with towel, and lay it out to dry. Do not place your brushes to dry upwards in your brush holder as water can seep into the bristles and prevent the brush from drying or can make your brushes shed, or even worse, come apart at the base. So always make sure to lay them out to dry overnight.

Recommendation: E.L.F Cosmetics Studio Brush Shampoo, $3, can be purchased online at Eyeslipsface.com or in stores at your local Target location.

Thanks for reading my Makeup Brush Guide series! I hope this was able to provide some knowledge on the essential makeup brushes, their intended purpose, some tips to help you use them to their full potential, as well as which brushes offer amazing quality for affordable prices. Be sure to follow me on Instagram to stay up to date on upcoming posts, for quick product reviews, swatches, and beauty tips, and much more. @TheGlamGeekConfessional