Back to basic: how to take care of make-up brushes

I recently posted 2 articles about must have brushes (face and eyes separately) but there is definitely more to be said. Once you buy brushes for your make-up application you need to know how to take care of them so they last you long time.

If you have acne-prone, sensitive skin or you work on other people, you should always clean your brushes after each use. If you quickly need some clean brushes (for ex. if you don’t have many brushes and you use them for several make-up applications at the same time), you can use alcohol cleanser. Spray the brush with it and use the paper tissue to wipe the colour off. It will dry within seconds and you can use the brush again.

Alcohol brush cleansers: Makeup Atelier Paris and Peggy Sage

It is not recommended to clean brushes only with alcohol cleanser they should be cleaned with special soap/cleanser that you can buy from companies that sell brushes or you can just use gentle shampoo (for ex. Johnsons&Johnsons Baby shampoo). The drying time is lot longer than with alcohol, approximately 5-8 hours. I clean my brushes with shampoos that didn’t do well with my hair, this way I don’t waste them totally.

As you can see on the picture I have lot of brushes. In fact I don’t like cleaning brushes so I have several sets of them to use and every 2 weeks I clean them all at once. I keep dirty brushes in the special drawer so that they don’t mix with clean ones.

How I clean my brushes:

1. I use rubber glove to protect my hand and it also cleans the brushes easier thanks to its scalloped texture. I bought mine in IKEA (at the kitchen department) for 3€, Sigma sells similar one for 35$, what a waste of money I say.

IKEA glove

2. I add shampoo to the glove and rub the brush on it till water becomes clean again.

3. After all my brushes are clean, I take a paper towel and squeeze extra moisture out of them.

4. I lay the brushes horizontally with bristles in the air and let them dry.

5. Once they are dry and if I’m not going to use them immediately, I put them in the brush guards. They not only protect them from the dust but also keep them in their original shape. You can buy these brush guards on Ebay (I bought set of 50 from user maaqii for 4,19$) or on Amazon.

I hope I gave you some ideas what should you do once you invest in brushes and you want to take good care of them. If you have any questions, please leave a comment or send me an email. I’m planning on posting little overview on companies that sell makeup brushes to give you an idea what and where to buy.

Back to basic: eye makeup brushes

Let’s continue today with back to basic brush edition focusing on eye brushes. The good news is you don’t need many types of brushes as one may think but it is still few more than number of brushes for your face.

(from left) Sigma Large shader brush n.E60, Sigma Blending brush n.E25, E.L.F. cosmetics Essentials Blending brush, Sonia Kashuk Spoolie brush, Sedona Lace Angled detail brush n.EB23 and Beauty Makeup cosmetic eye brush

Flat shading brush: everybody needs to have flat brush to apply colour on the lid. It can be large as the one on the picture which makes the application quicker (if you apply only one colour) or it can be smaller in which case it is very useful when you want to apply more colours. It should be made of natural hair as it is more recommended for powder eyeshadows but good synthetic bristles brush is also usable.

Brushes I recommend:

• Sigma Large shader brush n.E60 (on the picture, you can buy at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/,16$) 
• Sigma Eye shading brush n.E55 (at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/,14$) 
• Real techniques Base shadow brush (at http://www.iherb.com/, part of the Your eyes/Enhanced starter set) 
• MakeUp Atelier Paris brush n.12 (in Makeup Atelier Paris shop, 20€) 
• E.L.F cosmetics Essentials Eyeshadow brush (at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/,1€) 
• Sedona Lace Large shader brush n.941 (at http://www.sedonalace.com/, 13,95$).

Sigma Large shader brush n.E60

Sigma Large shader brush n.E60

Small flat shading brush: very useful for précised work like highlighting inner part of the eye or under the eyebrow, or applying colour on the lower lid under the lash line. I always keep two of them, one for highlighting and one for lower lash line (where I use darker colour).

Brushes I recommend:

• Beauty Makeup cosmetic eye brush (on the picture, you can buy them at http://www.lightinthebox.com/, 3,86€ for set of 5) 
• E.L.F cosmetics Essentials Smudge brush C (at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/,1€) 
• Sigma Short shader brush n.E20 (at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/,14$) 
• Mac cosmetics Short shader brush n.214 (at http://www.maccosmetics.be/ or in MAC store, 27€)

Beauty Makeup cosmetic eye brush

Beauty Makeup cosmetic eye brush

Blending brush: this brush is absolutely crucial for achieving nice eye make-up. If you don’t blend properly your eyeshadows it will look messy and trashy, no matter what expensive make-up you use. After each eyeshadow application always blend the edges of the colour. Moreover, blending is a must for the eyeshadows in the crease, at the outer corner of the eye or under the eyebrow.

Brushes I recommend:

• Sigma Blending brush n.E25 (on the picture, you can buy at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/,14$) 
• Mac cosmetics Blending brush n.211 (at http://www.maccosmetics.be/ or in MAC store, 22€), it is the mother of all the blending brushes, all the companies basically copied it
• Bdellium brush n.776 (at http://www.iherb.com/, 7,65$) 
• Sedona Universal blender brush n.EB09 (at http://www.sedonalace.com/, 13,95$).

Sigma Blending brush n.E25

Sigma Blending brush n.E25

Small crease brush: I use this brush to apply darker colour in the outer corner of the eye and to lightly blend it into the crease. It is great to deposit colour on the précised spot where you want it even better if it fits perfectly on the spot at the outer part of the eye where the lid meets the crease.

Brushes I recommend:

• E.L.F cosmetics Essentials Blending brush (on the picture, you can buy it at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/,1€) 
• Real techniques Domed brush (at http://www.iherb.com/, part of the on location travel essentials set) 
• Sigma Exact blend brush n.E32 (at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/,14$) 
• Bdellium Studio line Crease brush n.781 (at http://www.iherb.com/, 8,93$)

E.L.F. cosmetics Essentials Blending brush

E.L.F. cosmetics Essentials Blending brush

Angled brush: this brush has quite a lot of uses; you can use it to apply gel eyeliner on the upper lash line, an eyeshadow on the lower lash line and to apply brow powder or gel. I use it every day to apply eyebrow powder and cannot imagine my brow makeup application without it.

Brushes I recommend:

• Sedona Lace Angled detail brush n.EB23 (on the picture, you can buy it at http://www.sedonalace.com/, 13,95$)
• Sigma Small angle brush n.E65 (at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/,14$) 
• E.L.F cosmetics Studio Small angle brush (at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/,4€) 
• Bdellium Angle brow brush n.763 (at http://www.iherb.com/, 6,80$)

Sedona LAce Angled detail brush n.EB23

Sedona LAce Angled detail brush n.EB23

Brow and lash brush: it is as much used as angled brush as I comb my eyebrows with it every day and in case I put too much mascara, this brush can save the day. Just comb through the lashes and it will take off excess in no time.

Brushes I recommend:

• Sonia Kashuk Spoolie brush (on the picture, you can get it at Target,1,99$)
• Sigma Brow and lash brush n.E80 (at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/,14$)
• E.L.F cosmetics Studio Set of 12 spoolies (at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/,4€)

Sonia Kashuk Spoolie brush

Sonia Kashuk Spoolie brush

Hope you enjoyed, there will be one more back to basic about brushes next week and we are done (don’t forget to check the review of perfect dupe for Sigma F80 brush on Friday or Saturday).

Back to basic: face brushes

There are few brushes that every woman who use make-up should have. Today I would like to mention some face brushes and in the next post I address some must-have eye brushes.

Calvin Klein powder brush, Sedona Lace n.FB05 and Real Techniques Contour brush

Powder/bronzer brush: there are few brush shapes you can choose from, it always depends on personal preference. Lot of people prefer rounded brushes, I like to use flat ones. In any case, it should be made of natural hair or high quality synthetic hair. Good practice is to sweep the brush over the powder/bronzer, tap the excess off and lightly sweep it over the face, without pressing too much in order not to disrupt the foundation. To set the concealer I l like to use smaller brush that I will mention in this post as well.

Brushes I recommend:

• Calvin Klein powder brush (on the picture, you can get it sometimes on http://www.directcosmetics.com/ under 10€) 
• E.L.F cosmetics Studio powder brush (at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/,4€) 
• Real Techniques Your base/Flawless powder brush (at http://www.iherb.com/, 9,99$) 
• MakeUp Atelier Paris brush n.P23 (in Makeup Atelier Paris shop, 29€) 
• MAC powder brush n.129SE (at http://www.maccosmetics.be/ or in MAC store, 40€)

Calvin Klein powder brush

Small powder/highlighter brush: I like using small brushes with natural bristles for précised work such as setting the concealer under the eyes or on the face, powdering just the T-zone or simply placing highlighter precisely where I want it (top of the cheekbones, on the nose, temples and above the upper lip). It is a lot easier to use small brush then the big powder brush and I really think it is a must.

Brushes I recommend:

• Real Techniques Contour brush (on the picture, you can buy it at http://www.iherb.com/ as part of the Core collection set) 
• Real Techniques Your finish/Perfected setting brush (at http://www.iherb.com/, 8$) 
• E.L.F Blush brush (at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/, 4€) 
• Sigma Tapered highlighter brush n.F35 (at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/,35$)

Real Techniques Contour brush

Blush/contour brush: here again it depends on personal preference if you choose rounded brush or kind of tampered angled brush. I like rounded brush better as it blends the product a lot better into the skin. If I turn it on the side I can do the contouring and them turn it back regular way of use and blend it.

Brushes I recommend:

• Sedona Lace n.FB05 brush (on the picture, you can buy it at http://www.sedonalace.com/ , 13,56$)
• MAC brush n.109 (at http://www.maccosmetics.be/ or in MAC store, 34€) 
• Sigma Large contour brush n.F40 (at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/, 22$) 
• Bdellium Studio line Contour brush n.945 (at http://www.iherb.com/, 9,35$) 
• E.L.F Studio High Definition Powder brush (at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/, 4€) 
• Sephora Blush Contour n.74 brush (at http://www.sephora.fr/, 26,95€)

Sedona Lace n.FB05

Optional brushes:

All the cream products can be applied with the fingers there is no need to buy a special brush for them. However I don’t always want to get “dirty” so I use some brushes for cream products as well.

Foundation brush: buy a brush with synthetic bristles for liquid/cream foundation or natural hair brush for powder foundation. They are usually call “kabuki” brushes and they are very dense to smooth and blend the foundation into the skin.

Brushes I recommend:

For liquid/cream foundations:

• Sigma Flat Kabuki F80 brush (on the picture, you can buy it at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/, 24$, but don’t buy it yet as I discovered such a cheap dupe that you won’t believe, review coming already on Friday) 
• Sedona Lace Synthetic flat top brush n.928 and n.FB07 (at http://www.sedonalace.com/, 15,16$) 
• Bdellium brush n.957 (at http://www.iherb.com/ , 14,03$) 

Sigma Flat Kabuki F80 brush and Sigma concealer n.F70 brush

For powder foundations:

• Real Techniques Buffing brush (at http://www.iherb.com/, part of the Core collection set) 
• E.L.F Studio Powder and blush brush (at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/, 4€) 
• E.L.F Studio Kabuki brush (at http://www.eyeslipsface.be/, 6€)

Concealer brush: either flat brush or small (micro) kabuki brush with synthetic bristles can be used to cover blemishes, to blend under the eye concealer or even to apply cream eyeshadows.

Brushes I recommend:

• Sigma Concealer brush n.F70 (on the picture, you can buy it at http://www.sigmabeauty.com/, 14$)
• Sedona Lace n.EB11 (at http://www.sedonalace.com/, 11,16$) 
• Sedona Lace Synthetic Small Angle n.773 (at http://www.sedonalace.com/, 13,56$)

Back to basic: cream and liquid eyeshadows

Cream eyeshadows are generally not used very often since they have this image of too much work and not much of the staying power. For some of them it may be true but good cream eyeshadows can actually make an eye look fast and easy.

(from left to right) Milani Shadow eyez in Champagne toast and Cafe au lait, WjCoon Make it lasting colour stick in Rosa Quartz, NYX Jumbo eye pencil in Pots & Pan, Oyster and Purple velvet  

You can use cream eyeshadows for:

• Quick look when you don’t have much time, just use your finger and apply it to the lids and it’s done
• To intensify colour (in case your powder eyeshadow is not as pigmented as you’d like it to be)
• As a help to make a powder eyeshadow last longer
• As a sticky base for pigments and glitter
• Cream eyeshadows in very light colour (pearl white, light gold or silver, champagne) can be used as cream highlighter on your cheekbones, matt colour on the eyebrow bone and in inner part of the eye to brighten eye area

(from left to right) KIKO Vibrant eye pencil in 601, Boujois Metallic eyeliner in Noir effet miroir, Feuille de cuivre and Vert pepite, Maybelline Color show Crayon Khol in Chambray blue 

They come in different format, for example in pots (they tend to dry quicker than cream eyeshadows in other format and they are not super hygienic if you use fingers for application), as crayons (either thick crayons or skinny classic crayons, they have to be creamy enough to be smudged). Liquid eyeshadows usually come in tubes or concealer-like packaging with doe foot applicator.

(from left to right) Maybelline Eye Studio Color Tattoo in Pink gold, Physicians Formula Custom Eye enhancing Gel CreamLiner for brow eyes, Bourjois Ombre a paupiere liquide in Beige metallique

Tips and tricks for easier application:

• If you have very oily lids use eyeshadow primer underneath cream eyeshadow 
• Use fingers or brush with synthetic bristles as they don’t soak as much product as brushes with natural bristles and they blend creams better (see the picture for examples) 
• Colourful gel eyeliners can be used the same way as cream eyeshadows, for example for smoky eye look use dark brown, blue or purple as a base and apply powder eyeshadow over it 
• Look for long-lasting eyeshadows, they can serve not only as cream eyeshadow but also as eyeshadow primer 
• Bright colours can make a natural eye look more exciting (apply cream colour eyeshadow under water line and smudge it) 
• If black eyeliner seems to be harsh for you, you can use dark purple, brown, blue cream eyeshadow instead (use thin brush used for gel eyeliners) 
• Don’t put too much of the cream eyeshadow otherwise it will crease even if it’s long-lasting, let it sit for few seconds and wipe away the access with finger 

(from left to right) Sigma F70, Real Techniques Domed shadow brush, Sedona Lace 312

My favourites:

Higher end:

• MAC paint pot (in MAC stores) 
• MAKEUP FOREVER Acqua cream (in Sephora) 
• Chanel Illusion D’Ombre (in Sephora or in perfumeries where they sell Chanel)

With drugstore price:

• Maybelline Eye Studio Color tattoo 24hours (in any drugstore) 
• Milani Shadow eyez (in drugstores in USA, but also at http://www.cherryculture.com) 
• Rimmel ScandalEyes Shadow stick (in any drugstore)

Back to basic: blush

Blush is one of the makeup items that everybody has in the makeup bag even if you are not a makeupholic like some of us. It gives a skin healthy look, makes the face look less flat after foundation application. Generally speaking there are no rules to blush application (it's makeup, have fun with it) but some tips and tricks are very useful since it is a colour product.

What to keep in mind when applying a blush:

• start with less and build the colour slowly, it is easier to put more than get rid of too much (if it happens that you put too much, take your foundation brush to blend the edges and use clean brush to blend the rest of blush), 
• choose the colour according to your skin undertone, there is a pink with warm undertone as well as with cool one and it just looks better when the blush really suits your skin,
• use smaller brush for precise application, lot of drugstore blush brushes are huge and you end up applying blush all over your cheek ( even on the spot where the contour and highlight should be), the blush should not pass the half of your eye and should be applied upwards to the temples to lift your cheeks,
• choose natural bristles brush for powder blush and synthetic bristles brush or hands for liquid and cream blush,
• tip off excess of the powder blush before the application to avoid fall outs and excessive amount of product on your cheek,
• don't put too much blush close to the centre of your face as this part tends to be already little bit red, blush would only make it worse, 
• if your skin is mature and the cheeks are lower as where they used to be, don't smile when applying the blush otherwise it will appear lower once you stop smiling therefore not where it was intended to be.

(left) Sedona Lace FB05 with natural bristles for powder blush, ELF stipple brush with synthetic bristles for cream blush (right) 

Liquid and cream blushes: 

• are very often advertised as multitasking products that you can use not only on your cheeks but also on the mouth instead of lipstick. On the cheeks, they should be applied before any powder so if you use powder foundation you should stick to powder blushes as well, 
• liquid and cream forms are great when you want to create that healthy dewy finish or if you have very dry skin and don't want to use any powder product, 
• they are great for layering when you want to extend the wear of the blush (put the cream blush first then top it with powder one), 
• they are used to fake suntan (see my post about bronzers for suntanned look here), 
• some creams/liquids have cream to powder texture which means that you apply them as creams but then, once they set, they change into powder matt finish. They are great for natural finish and can be used on the powder as well (depends on specific product qualities). 

(from left to right) Maybelline Dream Touch blush, Tarte Cheek stain, Benefit Benetint, NYX blush

Blushes come in different finishes, matt, pearl, shimmer and glitter just like eyeshadows and I think it is personal taste what kind of bush you choose to use. I personally put blush with shimmer only when I don't intend to use highlighter so that I don't look like a disco ball. I tend to go for this trio: matt cool tone bronzer for contouring - matt blush - shimmer highlighter (more about contouring here). I reserve blushes with sparkle only for evening, special occasion’s looks.

My favorites:

• Maybelline Dream touch blushes (cream to powder blush, in any drugstore) 
• NYX powder blushes (in Germany and in US in some drugstores, otherwise on cherryculture.com) 
• Benefit box powder blushes (at Sephora) 
• NARS powder blushes (at Sephora) 
• Body shop powder blushes

Back to basic: contouring

Today I continue with bronzer theme and would like to write about the contouring. As I mentioned last Monday, not every bronzer is suitable for the contouring. It should have cool undertone to fake natural shadow that is created when the light hits your face and it should be matt as well.

Contouring of face parts is very individual, depends on each person as we all have different face features. Also everybody would like to enhance or maybe hide something else.

Classic contouring:

• creates more prominent cheek bones (apply bronzer under the cheek bones, from place where the ear begins towards mouth, you can find that place under the cheek bones by making a fish face),
• creates thinner face (apply bronzer on temples, around hair line),
• changes partially nose shape (if it’s too wide or misshaped like mine L),
• hides partially double chin (by applying bronzer under the chin),
• fakes for example cleavage, bigger décoté (at least I don’t need that J).

(left) blush-bronzer NYX in Taupe, (right) highlighter The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer

Besides bronzer you can use highlighter which creates better contrast between darker and lighter parts of your face: what is lighter stands out, comes forward and what is darker recedes. Highlighters come usually in powder format, but creams and liquids are used as well. It can be few shades lighter than your foundation, it can or cannot have glitter, shimmer, it all depends on personal preference what you are going to use. Highlighters without shimmer/glitter appear more natural and girls who are not used to wearing lot of makeup usually prefer those (in this case try a regular powder that is few shades lighter than your powder, or product/eyeshadow with light pearl colour).

(from left to right) Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in Diffused light, The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer, MAC Mineralize Skin Finish powder in Soft and Gentle

Swatches (from left to right) MAC Mineralize Skin Finish powder in Soft and Gentle, The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer, Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in Diffused light  

In this video the makeup artist, Wayne Goss (gossmakeupartist on YouTube), used bronzer and highlighter as well. Contouring is a bit extreme but at least you can see really well the difference in shades. He used cream products and blended it all with foundation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow1rdFOlxnk&feature=relmfu

Here the contouring is less extreme; the makeup artist, Lisa Eldridge (Lisa Eldridge on YouTube), used powder bronzer, cream and powder highlighter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8g3orq4M7U&feature=plcp

As bronzer for contouring I recommend:

• Nars Laguna bronzer (in Sephora) 
• NYX blush in colour Taupe (in Germany in Douglas perfumery, or for ex. at cherryculture.com)
• Sleek Face contour kit (it has bronzer and highlighter, in UK in Superdrug, or at sleekmakeup.com) 
• Solait Maxi bronzer (in UK in Superdrug) 
• ELF contouring blush & bronzing powder (it comes both in powder and cream format, few different colours, at elf-kozmetika.eu/sk in Slovakia, at eyeslipsface.be in Belgium) 

Highlighters I recommend: 

• ELF blush in colour Gotta glow 
• The Balm Mary Lou manizer (in Belgium in some DI drugstores, try to see in your drugstores) 
• MAC Mineralize skin finish in colour Soft and Gentle (in MAC stores) 
• Physicians formula Powder palette Mineral glow Pearls in colour Translucent Pearl (in some drugstores in USA, or at www.iherb.com, code IPO591 for a discount from your first purchase, you’ll get your code for your friends as well) 
• Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder vo farbe Diffused light (in USA, in Sephora)

Back to basic: Bronzer

It looks like the candy shop in my bronzer drawer: everything is brown, something with glitter, something like caramel, dark or milk chocolate…every time I open it, I crave something sweetJ. If my boyfriend looked in this drawer (fortunately he didn’t so far), he would shake his head in disbelief why I need so many “brown powders”! But the answer is simple; every bronzer has its own use. I admit, if I weren’t a makeup addict I would need just two: for bronzing and for contouring. What is the difference?

Bronzer for bronzing/tanning purposes: depending on your skin shade, it should have, of course, different shade but always with warm undertone. In case of fair skin, if you want to fake tan really well, use little bit of pink blush as fair skin tends to have somewhat pink undertone, not only brown one when it suntans. Depends on your personal preference, you can use matt bronzer or one with light shimmer. I use both, shimmery one in summer as it looks good with tan and matt one in winter when I stay paler. If you have problems choosing right shade, here is a small trick: try regular powder that is 2-3 shades darker than your skin (the same goes for cream bronzers replaced by foundations).

Application: stick to the places where the sun naturally hits your face and tan it. That means on the cheeks, on the nose, on the forehead, on the chin, or even under the eyebrow. Apply bronzer towards your neck and cleavage to avoid difference between face and body.

In this video, Samantha Chapman (one of the Pixiwoo sisters on YouTube) fakes even the freckles!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk9KWFdykEU

Beside powder bronzers you can also buy cream or gel bronzers, they look more natural than powder ones. Unfortunately, there are not sold that much in drugstores.

Bronzer Essence Sun club blondes with warm undertone

NYX Blush in Taupe with cool undertone

Bronzer for contouring purposes: imagine how the natural light and shade hit your face and thanks to your bones and muscles structure create lighter/darker parts. For instance, when the shade is created under your cheek bones, your face looks slimmer. Some people get it by nature (I so envy them) some have to fake it…with bronzer. Now you say “I already have a bronzer for bronzing my face and that is enough”. Well, that is not really enough if you want to fake it well. Natural shade has cool, almost grey, undertone and that is why we should use bronzer with cool undertone not the regular bronzing one with warm undertone. It should also be matt as it is more natural.

I will talk about contouring in detail in next back to basic post.

For bronzing your face, I recommend:

• Essence Sun club blondes (powder, in DM drugstores, in Belgium in Kruidvat)
• Bourjois bronzing primer and Bourjois BB bronzing cream (cream and liquid bronzer, in DM drugstore, in Belgium in DI drugstore) 
• NYX Matte bronzer (powder, in Germany in Douglas perfumery or for ex. cherryculture.com) 
• Soleil tan de Chanel (cream, in perfumeries where they sell Chanel)

Back to basic: face primer

Face primer is not a must for girls with normal, even skin and for those who wear makeup for less than 5 hours. For the rest of us, some kind of primer is quite needed.

There are several types of primers focusing on different skin problems:

• Mattifying primer that serves as the wall between sebum (skin’s natural oil) and foundation. It prevents skin from looking shiny and therefore suitable for oily skin.
• Primer covering uneven texture, for those who have acne scars, large pores or other skin texture issues. Most of these primers use as main ingredient Dimethicone to fill out the uneven spots in the skin.
• Primer increasing makeup longevity.
• Illuminating primer that helps to make dull, dry skin appear healthier, it gives skin more or less dewy finish (depends on amount of primer and how you apply). 
• Primer combatting redness. It tends to have greenish undertone and should be applied only on specific area where the redness appears.

Lot of primers combine some of the qualities mentioned above, e.g. mattifying primer may have Dimethicone as one of the main ingredients so it not only mattifies but also evens out skin texture as well.

Application

Before applying any makeup, you should prepare your skin well. Peeling and moisturizing is a good start. Let the moisturizer soak for some minutes (I let it work in for 10 minutes before starting with makeup application) and then apply face primer (or go straight to the foundation if you don’t need primer). After primer application you should also allow some time to let it set before going to the next step. If you apply primer having Dimethicone you should only gently blend foundation over it since it tends to move, especially if you don’t let it sit on the skin for a while.

I have mostly dry skin, so most of the year I use illuminating primers. If my foundation is medium or full coverage I mix the primer with foundation otherwise it would not be visible due to higher foundation coverage. If you have sheer or low coverage foundation you can just put it under the foundation and it’s enough to show. Illuminating primer can also serve as highlighter on specific parts of face if you don’t intend to use powder one.
I also use primer to increase longevity of my foundation since most of the foundations suitable for dry skin are not long-lasting at all.
As we get to the warmer part of the year I will also grab mattifying primer for my T-zone which serves also to hide my large pores around the nose. This primer is also nice for photography purposes.

(from left to right) Benefit Highbeam, Yves Rocher Perfect base, Elisabeth Arden Let there be a light, Benefit Porefessional, Clinique Pore refine solution

Primers I recommend:

• To mattify and even out skin texture: Benefit Porefessional (at Sephora, at Inno in Belgium), Clinique Pore Refining solution (at Sephora, at Inno, in Slovakia in perfumeries), L’Oreal Studio Secrets face primer, Catrice Prime and Fine, Rimmel London Stay Matt primer.
• To illuminate your skin: Benefit Highbeam (at Sephora, at Inno), NARS Illuminator (at Sephora), Elisabeth Arden Let there be a light (at eu.strawberrynet.com, amazon.com), L’Oreal Magique Lumi.
• To increase makeup longevity: Yves Rocher Perfect primer (so far the best primer for makeup longevity issues I’ve ever tried).

Back to basic: Eyeshadow primer

If you have oily eyelids, you probably already know this product. I think it is an absolute must as it avoids the lines of mixed eyeshadows in the crease at the end of the day. Since I discovered it I haven't put any eyeshadow on without applying it first.

 

Eyeshadow primer serves primarily to prevent eyeshadows from creasing but it has other important functions as well:

 

•  it helps your eyeshadows to last longer (my eye look lasted untouched through my kickboxing class!),
• it prevents low quality eyeshadow from flaking, falling all over the under eye area (which happens even if you tap off excess eyeshadow, if you don’t put the primer),
•  it makes a colour more vibrant (in most cases a poor pigmented eyeshadow can look at least average),
• it helps to hold cream eyeshadows better especially if they are not marketed as long-lasting.

 

They come in different packaging and shades: pots, squeeze tubes, crayons, tubes with doe-foot applicator…The difference is just a matter of personal preference although I think the squeeze tube is the best option from the hygienic point of view.

 

What concerns the colour, some primers come transparent and they don't show on eye at all, other have skin-like colour. Some brands sell also primers with different colours and these come usually in form of crayons or paint pots and serve also as cream eyeshadows. I prefer skin-like colour primers since they not only prep my eyelid for the eyeshadow but they also create bare canvas erasing discoloration and few visible capillaries.

 

  

(from left to right) KIKO Eye Base primer, Too Faced Shadow insurance (deluxe sample), MAC paint pot

 

 

Price tag depends on what you can afford, some cheap eyeshadow primers are as good as expensive ones. Depends on the size and packaging one tube of primer can last you up to 1 year.

 

Here is my choice, with the drugstore price: 

•  Kiko base primer (Italian brand, www.kikocosmetics.eu, skin-like colour)  
• Elf eyeshadow primer (site www.eyeslipsface.com, drugstores in US or www.eyeslipsface.be in Belgium, www.elf-kozmetika.eu/sk in Slovakia)  
• Hema eyeshadow primer (only available in Hema store in Belgium)  
• NYX eyeshadow primer (www.nyxcosmetics.com, cherryculture.com, drugstores in US, cosmetic stores in Germany)

Here is my higher-end choice:  

• Urban Decay eyeshadow primer potion (few colours, at Sephora)  
•  MAC paint pot (skin-like colours: Soft Ochre or Painterly, but another 23 colours available)  
• Too faced shadow insurance (few colours, at Sephora)

Back to basic: how to choose a foundation

 As in the case of face lotions the world of foundations is quite a chaos for a layman. Every foundation promises something else. Anti-aging, 24 hours lasting (who wears makeup for 24 hours?!), luminous, matt, with vitamins etc.

What influences choice of foundation?

Skin type:

Oily skin:  doesn’t need more shine so look for matt finish foundation (these foundations also tend to be long-lasting), texture rather very liquid, light mousse, powder.

Dry/mature skin: needs any possible help not to look dry and dull so artificial shine/light is very welcome and luminous foundation is helpful (they are often called "anti-aging" foundation as well). Mattifying foundations tend to underline dry patches in dry skin, which is very visible and of course not the best looking. Dry skin enjoys more cream or thick liquid foundation that can give it some extra moisture.

Skin shade and undertone:

To find right shade and correct undertone is quite difficult, mainly in drugstore. Problem starts with shades already, mainly for girls with very light or very dark skin since most of commercial brands don’t sell these shades. Besides, the skin has either pink, yellow or neutral undertone (there are lot of tests to determine your undertone on the Internet). Drugstore brands usually offer light shade foundations with pink undertone, so the choice is quite restraint here.

Properties of the foundation:

Always, when possible, ask for sample of the foundation you want to buy. If you are trying it in the store, go outside to see how it looks on the day light. Beside the shade, you can also test how long the foundation lasts, what is the coverage and if your skin reacts badly to it. Unfortunately, they don’t give the samples in drugstore, and the experience says that if you touch the testers, you meet the criminal profile of the local security guy…TerribleL.

How to choose the right color?

The opinions on how to choose the right shade are different, some say, the foundation should be compared to spot under the cheek, some say, it should match with the neck, other say it should correspond with the chest.  I, personally, agree with the last opinion. My face is much lighter than the neck or the chest. I use peeling and high SPF factor on my face, the neck is darker than my face but still lighter than rest of the body (because the chin protects the neck from the sun). When choosing the foundation that matches my chest, I don’t look like I “borrowed” somebody’s head for my body.  I have in my stock few shades since the skin tends to get darker in summer (in best case due to self-tanner not the sun overexposure).

What tool to apply foundation?

Till I haven’t become makeup maniac I used my fingers to apply foundation and I still think it is a very good tool. But I discover other gadgets: sponge (the best is the Beauty blender), brush (classic flat or round brush). I prefer round brush with dense synthetic bristles (for the liquid and cream foundation) and Kabuki brush (for powder foundation). I will blog about brushes later.

My favorite foundations

My skin: dry almost all year around so I use luminous liquid or cream foundation, BB cream in summer (I try to put the least products possible). I have very light skin with rather neutral undertone, but I look ok in foundation with yellow undertone as well, on the contrary I look very sick in the foundation with pink undertone.

My choice (mostly drugstore):

Matt finish: DERMACOL Matt control, NYX HD Studio foundation, REVLON Colorstay, MAX FACTOR Face Finity SPF 20 (in USA it is COVER GIRL Outlast stay fabulous 3 in 1 foundation),
Natural finish (semi matt): L´OREAL Nude Magique,  L´OREAL True Match, MAC Face and body,

Luminous finish: L´OREAL Lumi magique, YVES ROCHER Comfort cream foundation

Natural finish,

BB cream: GARNIER Ambre Solaire BB cream SPF 30, SMASHBOX Camera ready SPF 35,

Powder foundation: THE BODY SHOP Nature´s minerals foundation SPF 25, MAC Studio fix, LAURA GELLER Balance ´N´ Brighten foundation.

 

I will definitely blog more about the foundation as there is still a lot to talk about. What foundation do you use, girls?