I was raised in a very hands-on home: we spent many afternoons finger painting; many dinners sans utensils, often licking the delicious corn on the cob seasoning off our fingers; and baking was done by mixing ingredients with our hands. To this day, I prefer picking up a drumstick and holding a slice of pizza vs. using a fork and knife. However, makeup application is one thing I prefer not to use my hands for (after all, they’re often sticky from eating with them!). Makeup brushes are designed for easier application, a more seamless, flawless result, and they allow for precision on how much of the product is going where. These magic wands (OK, brushes) help beautify my face on the daily. Here are my top picks…
I am a firm believer and big fan of the highlighter. Even if I’m running out of the house to grab a coffee I choose to highlight my face over applying mascara, which clearly indicates my love for highlighting because I’m also crazy about big, bold lashes (more on that later). I love powder highlighter equally as much as I love a liquid or cream highlighter, and I rotate between the three formulas depending on how apparent I want the highlighting to be. Regardless of formula, I always apply it with Sephora’s own fan brush. It perfectly blends the shimmering streaks into the high planes of my face and allows for subtle accenting. My better half refers to highlighter as war paint before I whip out the fan brush, and always compliments my glowing complexion after blending. ‘Nuff said!
The only makeup that rivals my love of highlighter is bronzer. I am crazy about bronzers (so much so that above mentioned better half doesn’t even ask about the shimmery fingerprints all over the apartment anymore) and I always feel instantly refreshed and way prettier the instant I brush some on. Contouring the face and giving the complexion some depth and a glow is achieved instantly with a bronzer, but the wrong brush can make the skin look muddy and even dull. Bobbi Brown’s amazingly soft, rounded, smooth brush ensures even application and a natural, radiant result that will have people guessing if your glow is, in fact, faux.
Any product that is multi-purpose and helps keep my crammed makeup shelves clutter free wins points from me. When both purposes work superbly, like Stila’s double sided eye makeup brush, it earns permanent makeup tool real estate. One side of this brush perfectly distributes eyeshadow, with the ability to build coverage, while the other smaller, tapered side is used for accurate eyeliner application, either wet or dry. Love a smudgier, sexier look? Piece of cake: just use the eyeliner brush dry and smudge away. Wink, wink!
