USE THE RIGHT BRUSH FOR A FLAWLESS FINISH
A professional makeup artist, hair stylist and fashion stylist, Vancouver-based Nadia Albano has been doing makeovers for more than a decade. Albano says her ability ‘to see the big picture and actually make it happen’ is the key to her success at helping both women and men look their best.
Investing in the right makeup brushes is essential for achieving flawless makeup. Here are five that Albano can’t live without, and tips on how to use them.
THE CHEEK ENHANCER
This natural hair blush brush is designed with an angled shape and doubles as a contour brush.
It picks up and deposits powder to define, contour and enhance your cheeks. Apply blush two fingers away from the nostrils, starting from the apples of the cheeks, and sweep the brush up toward the temple to create a natural blushing effect.
When you’re using this as a contour brush, apply bronzer in a C formation starting at the side of the forehead, under the cheek bone and then along the jawline to enhance the face shape.
DOMED FOUNDATION BLENDER
This synthetic domed foundation brush is densely packed and acts much like a beauty blender sponge. It’s best to dampen the brush and apply foundation by dabbing onto the face for a sheer, even and streak-free finish.
HIGHLIGHTER BRUSH
If you’re looking to add a natural glowing highlight finish to the skin without looking overdone, this brush is ideal. It’s the perfect size, and the key is to use light and feathery sweeping motions on the peak points of the face (cheekbones, bridge and tip of nose, above eyebrows and upper lip).
EYESHADOW BLENDER BRUSH
This is one of the most functional brushes and truly a musthave. It acts as a blending brush for the crease and is soft enough to blend and soften multiple shadow colours or lines. It is fluffy yet narrow enough to create a clean contour or a smoky eye.
BROW SHAPER AND SPOOLIE BRUSH
This 2-in-1 brush is also a must-have. One end is a firm yet soft-angled brush which is perfect for filling in and defines sparse eyebrows, and precise enough for creating the perfect winged cat-eye.
The other end (the spoolie) is like a mascara wand and brushes the brow hairs into shape and works wonders for removing clumps of mascara from the lashes. For best results, I recommend using this brush mainly for eyebrows and purchase a separate angled liner brush specifically for the eyes.
CLEANING BRUSHES
It’s very important to clean your brushes regularly to prevent contamination and skin irritation. For daily cleaning, I suggest wiping your brushes down with a liquid brush cleaner that you can spray onto a tissue. Alternatively, you can use a liquid dish soap or shampoo to gently cleanse by hand, rinse with lukewarm water and lay flat to dry.