non-stop November: back to basics: essential eye brushes

You don't need a huge collection of brushes to get the look you want- in my opinion all you need is a few that all have different purposes, but can be multi-tasking. I wanted to let you know what brushes I think are necessary when doing any type of eye look!

The first brush, and maybe the most important, is a fluffy blending brush. The one I'm showing is the Coastal Scents Classic Blender Natural. You can find this here- it is very affordable and great quality for the price. This type of brush is key for blending out any shadow lines, as well as placing color into the crease area. This leaves a wash of color in the areas you put it, rather than a shadow brush, which densely packs the color. This also happens to be the next brush I want to discuss. The e.l.f. Essentials Eye Shadow Brush is great for packing color into the areas you want. Generally it is used all over the lid and can also "flick" the color up in to the crease. This brush is very dense and typically rounded, but flat.

The third essential brush is a pointed pencil brush. This one is part of the Essential Tools Hi-Def Deluxe Eye Duo Set, but any small pointed brush would work. There are so many uses for this brush- you can highlight your inner corner and brow bone, define your lower lash line, darken the crease, create a smudgy liner look- it really is limitless. This brush is great for more detailed work that elaborate smokey eyes usually require.

The last brush I think you absolutely need is an angled liner brush. This also happens to be part of the Essential Tools Hi-Def Deluxe Eye Duo Set. An angled liner brush can be used to create a winged or normal liner, as well as liner the upper and lower water lines. This is also a great brush to use for filling in your brows.

Although those four brushes are essential ones for me, there are a few others that I think would aid you in creating those eye looks that require a little more work. A large fluffy brush, like this one from the Essential Tools Hi-Def Deluxe Eye Duo Set, can help blur and fade out the edges of your shadows, to get that seamless blend. A brush like this is also great for adding in a base crease color to give yourself a guideline of how high towards the brow you want to take your shadows. Next is a small domed brush- this one happens to be the e.l.f. Essentials Eye Crease Brush. This is great for placing shadows directly where you want them, while blending at the same time. It allows a little more blending and less precision than the pencil brush. Last is a small detail brush. This e.l.f. Studio Small Precision Brush is great for packing color in the inner corner and also smudging out your lower lash line.

I know some people think their sponge-tip applicators can do the job, and I partially agree. However, I do think for more complicated looks, brushes are necessary. I wanted to include drugstore only brushes because that's really all I use- I would rather spend my money on a cool high-end eye shadow palette rather than brushes. I think a great kit to get is the Essential Tools Hi-Def Deluxe Eye Duo Set (can I mention it any more times in this post?) from Walmart, because they are very affordable and basically packs everything you need in to three double ended brushes. You can see my full review on those brushes here.

I hope this is helpful to all you beginners in the makeup world, but also to the more advanced artists- sometimes going back to basics is just what you need! 

Always stay happy and healthy! :) Tschüss, Katharina