Tools of the trade

I was never really into make up. I dabbled in eye liner in my teens and the ‘brownest ‘ lipstick I could find…you know to match my back to front kriss kross jeans thing we had going on in the 90’s….*hangs head in shame*.  Occasionally I’d get a free eyeshadow with my Clinique, and if I ever bothered to play with it, I’d use that awesome sponge applicator that came with it, or my finger. *shudders at the memory*

Fast forward to 2014/2015 and I start reading beauty blogs and there are a gazillion brushes for a gazillion things! I thought…#MustBuyAllTheBrushes.  It became a bit overwhelming standing and staring at brushes and wondering which I need and which I don’t.  I do own more brushes than I use at this point….so I thought a post to show which brushes you need perhaps as the bare minimum would be a good idea. I’m obviously no guru and no make up artist….just an ordinary gal trying to figure all this out…. so keep reading if you’d like to see what my everyday brushes are☺And please note, I’ve called an expert in to assist me with my recommendations.

So my favourite Beauty Sponge is one by CALA, but the little bugger has gone missing all of a sudden. Maybe camera shy? My UBU sponge would have to do then 🙂 Okay….so back in the day, I used my fingers to apply foundation. Wow…how cool hey? NOT. I eventually discovered the flat foundation brush and thought….’aaaaahhhh I’ve arrived’. Nope, apparently not. I started reading about the Beautyblender and it’s dupes and I had to try it. I thought the UBU one was great until I tried the CALA one. It was love at first dab ???? I can’t use anything else now for my foundation, this just gives such an airbrushed finish. I can’t imagine how amazing the original BeautyBlender is. NOTE: you have to use the sponge after you’ve dampened it a bit. Do not use it dry.

Next up are my 2 eyeshadow brushes. I love these brushes from CALA:

– Shading brush (311) for packing on your eyeshadow onto your lid.

– Blending brush (505) for even blending of all your shadows. Ain’t nothing worse than stop-start eye shadow ????

Concealing brush (408) – This brush isn’t a holy grail kind of brush. I actually prefer to press my concealer in with my finger and then use the tip of my beauty Sponge to blend, but if I don’t feel like using my finger, this is the brush I use.

Powder brush – Everybody needs a fluffy powder brush. This is the only one I own and use, I do think there must be a fluffier brush out there, but as a starter brush this one is great. I use it for my powder and to bronze the outer areas of my face.

Real Techniques Blush Brush – This must be my favourite brush that I own???? It’s so soft and fluffy. I don’t quite know how to describe brushes, this is just so light,  but it picks up a lot of product. So just dab it into your blush and stroke your face lovingly and build your colour if need be. If there’s one brush I’d say you have to have, this is the one.

Real Techniques angled highlighter brush or CALA fan brush – Okay truthfully again, I do prefer to use my finger for my highlighter (especially the Colourpop one due to the texture), but if you have a small angled brush like this or a fan brush, it’s great for sweeping that unicorn glow on the upper parts of your cheeks, your nose, cupid’s bow….wherever you want to sparkle ????????I don’t love the CALA fan brushes (which is sad, because I’m obsessed with their brushes!), they just either don’t pick up product or they go wonky after a few washes. So I’llreport back if I find a fan brush that I’d recommend.

There are some additional brushes out there…..okay lots of brushes, but to me, if you just have the above few, you’re good to go.

Do you have a favourite brush or brushes that you can’t do without?

CALA brushes and sponges are available at Dischem.

Real Technique brushes are available at Dischem, Clicks, Foschini, Takealot and Biovea (the last 2 being online). Biovea is where I purchased mine.