First let me apologize about the delay in posts. With graduation for my daughter approaching and the end of my oldest daughter's Freshman year, combined with work; I've not had enough time to pick through my huge stash of products I would like to post a blog about. That being said, this blog is one of those essential tools that women use. An applicator.
The hot new product of the year has been these brushes.
These brushes (and there are several brands now) are the "big" thing lately. There are countless YouTube videos, vlogs and blogs about these applicators.
The first, and undoubtedly best, came from arti's. The price tag definitely reflects the pioneer brush, and without a doubt it is probably worth it. The raves on the foundation brush are through the roof. You can pick up one of these brushes for $55.00
I didn't want to spend that kind of money on a brush so I found a set on Amazon and thought, "Holy crap this is a great deal! I can get a set of these for $20.00." Wahoo! I was extremely excited about trying these out and with such a range of brushes, I was confident that I would finally master the art of blending beautifully. I would be able to chuck my beauty blender, and MAC stipple brush to the "seldom use" drawer.
The brushes arrived and were unboxed quickly. The first tell tale quality alert came with the packaging. It was very cheap but I pushed on because I couldn't wait to try them all.
I grabbed my favorite foundation and tried out the largest. Nope...too big. Then I came to the 2nd and 3rd brushes. Excellent. Now to try out the smaller brushes for my eyes and eyebrows.
Failure. They were cumbersome and didn't blend well and I felt like I was about to snap them off.
And that was even true of the larger ones that did successfully apply my foundation. The narrow neck, combined with flimsy plastic handles, made application a bit awkward and I felt like there was no support to the brush head.
I've used these brushes for over a month now and I can say, without a doubt that the 2nd and 3rd round brush absolutely work. The 2nd to largest is not pictured because Maesin snagged it from me. But that's okay because the 3rd largest (shown as the 2nd from the left) really did the job perfectly for me.
If you notice the small oval brush pictured 3rd from the left, you'll see that it has been used. I tried to use this brush for concealer and it was an epic fail.
Concealers, in my opinion, have to be applied with a damp beauty blender. It is the only way to really get that product into the skin and produce a flawless finish. This holds true to under eye circles as well as highlighting.
I do give one or two of these brushes a solid A. They do not absorb as much foundation as a beauty blender, however you shouldn't apply the foundation directly to the brush. Your best bet is to dot your face with foundation and then let the brush do its magic.
The brush is very densely packed with soft bristles. It is that denseness that makes this brush a far superior applicator than other makeup brushes. All of my other makeup brushes for foundation tend to leave swirls that have to be blended and blended. And I have some very high end brushes. MAC ain't cheap y'all! But this brush, even though it is the knock-off from the original, works. I get an airbrushed finish and I get compliments on my makeup. I was told that I had beautiful skin. That is definitely a WIN! Your makeup foundation should give you that flawless finish. That's the goal of any foundation you use.
Before I leave you to your day, I do want to pass along a tip that I learned by watching other's videos. Many of the MUA will remove a bit of product from areas that tend to get cakey. For me these are the lines around my mouth and the edges of my cheeks. I tried it and it definitely helped removing the wrinkles and/or made them less visible. You should try it sometime.
My final advice is this: buy one or two of the round brushes. Don't buy the largest because it is way too big to use on your face for foundation and it does diddly squat for powder. It's just awkward.
Pick up one that is a bit smaller and try it out. Be forewarned though that it is something you will have to get used too because it has a different feel in your hand.
My score:
Blending: A+
Construction: a very weak C
Price: varies (start off a bit cheap and then invest in a high quality oval brush)
Does it work?: Yes but it takes some practice.
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