Brushes Part 2: Brows and Liner

I know what you're thinking... it's been 2 months since she's blogged... what a terrible blogger!! Surely you've all been holding your breath, waiting for that next blog about brushes you can run out and buy.  Things get so busy once school starts, and having crazy preschoolers doesn't help. ;)  I can honestly say I am going to put in much more blogging effort this month.  I'm even shooting for some great holiday looks to share with you! :)

On to brushes...  Last time I promised to show you eyebrow and eyeliner brushes to make your life easier. Here they are: 

Eyebrows:

Any very thin angled brush will do for eyebrows.  Here are the two I use most frequently:

                                                 

Anastasia Angled Cut Brush (I actually love their eyebrow kit and their stencils!)

The other one I use for a little bit more precision and when i need a more angular look is

                                                        

MAC 266 Small Angle Brush (This one serves dual purpose for eyeliner and brows)


Some tips on defining brows:

* Use a shadow that is a shade or two lighter than your natural hair color unless you have blonde eyebrows (like me!).  In that case, go a shade or two darker.

* Don't be afraid to trim up your eyebrows with cuticle scissors and pluck the strays, but don't get too carried away.  The trend this fall has been to have fuller, more natural looking brows. Kandee Johnson has a great video on You Tube on how to groom and shape the brows. It is extremely informative and you can find it here.  She also has a great one on defining eyebrows with shadow here.

There are so many different things you can do with brows, and you can change them up to match whatever look you're trying to pull off, i.e. darker brows to contrast a darker lip, softer brows to go with a muted look... Too many ways to mention! I'll have write solely about brows one day...

Eyeliner:

The brush I use the most for this is the MAC 266 (see above) small angled brush- the same one I use for brows.  This brush provides razor-like precision and you can make your eyeliner as thin or as think as you'd like.  It also works perfectly to "wing" your eyeliner out on the edge of your eye. 

The other brush I use is the STILA #28 smudge and line brush. 

                                               
The pointed side of this brush gives you more of a liquid liner feel when using gel liners and you can drag it easily across the top of the lid.  I wouldn't recommend using this below the eye- it is too easy to mess up.  As for the smudge side... excellent, excellent tool for smudging a kohl liner or bringing your the shadow color from your lid to the bottom line of the eye without getting it all over your cheeks. 

What type of liner can you use for the brushes?? 

My personal favorite:  MAC Fluidline.  Glides on easily, lasts FOREVER (it's waterproof), and doesn't dry out as easily as some other gel liners I've used in the past.  Available in a variety of colors.

(Drugstore Alternative to Fluidline):  Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama, or Loreal HIP cream liner.

Both of these brushes also do well with creating liner with shadow.  If you want to intensify your color, just wet your brush and dip it into your favorite shadow and use it as a liner.  For people with watery eyes, this may not be the best choice as it will most likely fade, but if you're drier than Summer in Arizona, you're good to go. :)

Side note:  You do not have to use expensive brushes for these.  There are tons of drug store and even art supply store alternatives.  Take a look around the makeup section next time you're at the grocery store or drugstore... you'll never know what kind of treasures you can find!

Coming Soon:  How to create an EASY Smokey eye... I may even do a video!!