Oct 23, 2015

Building a Personal Makeup Kit | Brushes & Tools


Thirteen years ago I decided that I wanted to become a makeup artist. Before I realized my dream, I started experimenting with makeup as a young teenager with just four makeup items; a blush brush, black Mascara, bronzer by Physicians Formula and clear lip gloss from wet and wild. The little makeup I bought really worked for me at that age. Alot of people told me that they loved how I did my makeup. It was then, at just 16 years old that my dream was realized. Art was always something I pursued. It was the thing that made me most happy but I didn't find my medium until I found makeup. It took me years of buying and trying makeup that I liked and worked well for me. So my goal is to help the everyday women find the right makeup and tools to create beautiful makeup looks for themselves. Building a personal makeup kit is a journey and alot of fun. Finding new and exciting things that work well for you is like finding treasure.

Practicality
Is tons of makeup worth it?
Having too much makeup isn't necessary at all. More in quantity might lead to less in quality. The first thing you should ask yourself is...

What kind of makeup looks do you want to achieve?

  • No makeup makeup looks?
  • Enhancing your own natural beauty?
  • Contouring and highlighting?
  • Bold bright?
After answering these questions you should have a better idea of what to shop for. When you go into a store like Sephora or Ulta, you can quickly be overloaded with the idea of makeup. The key is to know what your shopping for and look for one thing at a time!
*Samples are a great way to try new things without spending money. Asking a brand representative for samples can get you off to a great start.

Makeup brands
Don't believe the hype!
If your not a makeup contisure, makeup brands will steal your attention by pretty packaging and advertising. Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's better. Find brands that call out to you wheather that means spending $1 or $50. Thinking about the brand can narrow down a number of things like choosing natural makeup, lower price points with quality formulas, animal cruelty free or even gluten or Paraben free makeup according to your skins needs. They both can have the same value only if its useful in your collection for your personal needs.

Brushes and tools
Makeup Essentials
Some of the best tools a person has are their fingers! I use my fingers for blending eye shadow, applying eye shadow primer, all cream based products and lip balms. If you think your ready to invest in some brushes, you can create more intricate eye looks and more detailed and sculpted face shapes with all kinds of brushes.

Here are some of my favorite tools for applying makeup:

Foundation is one of the most important parts of makeup. It doesn't matter if you choose tinted Moisturizer, Full Coverage Foundation or Cream Based Foundation, you should have a tool that pushes the product evenly into the skin without streaking. These tools are great for foundation application for an airbrushed natural flawless finish.
Beauty Blender (round bottom half)

Real Techniques Expert Face brush

Concealer is used to cover dark circles under the eyes, blemishes on the skin or brighten the under eye area. Using a tool that is small enough to target that area is important.

Beauty Blender (pointed half)

e.l.f. Studio Flawless Concealer Brush


Powder Brushes are usually large, big and fluffy to cover the width of the face but if you use less setting powder, a fan brush will dust on smaller amounts of powder and a more dense small fluffy brush can target powder in the right places like the t-zone and under eyes.

e.l.f. Studio Blush Brush

e.l.f. Studio Fan Brush


Real Techniques Powder Brush


Blush Brushes are smaller then powder brushes to target blush in smaller areas like the apples of the cheeks. Theses smaller brushes in my opinion work well with applying bronzer as well.
Real Techniques Blush brush

e.l.f. Studio Blush Brush





    Contouring is used to create the illusion of depth on the skin. Its purpose is to slim the face, sculpt your nose shape and even change the appearance of a face shape. Someone wanting to accentuate their cheek bones will apply a deeper tones color then their own skin tone to give the illusion of depth. By using small blending brushes or sponges with edges can give you the effect of contouring easily.

    e.l.f. Studio Ultimate Kabuki Brush


       

      e.l.f. Studio Small Tapered Brush


        e.l.f. Studio Contouring Brush

        e.l.f. Studio Powder Brush




          Latex or none latex Sponge


          Eye Shadow Brushes come in all shapes and sized. The differences are to create more detailed looks on the eyes. An eye shadow brush is used to lay down eye shadow. It might not blend shadow as well as a blending brush and wont apply eye liner in a perfect line because its too big. Below are a few brushes I think are must haves to create any eye makeup look.

          e.l.f. Studio Angled Eyeliner Brush

          e.l.f. Essential Eye Shadow Brush

          MAC 217 Blending Brush

          e.l.f. Studio Crease Brush


          Eye Brows are a pretty important part when pulling together the face. The brows frame the face and refine your eye shadow looks. Depending on what you want to do to them, I will show you a few grooming and taming tools to have in your personal kit to keep those little hairs in shape and refined. If your brows are sparse, you always can fill them in with eye shadow and an angled brush or brow wax.

          e.l.f. Essential Eyelash & Brow Wand

          e.l.f. Studio Small Angled Brush

          Tinkle Brow Razors

          RAMY BROW SCISSORS BY TWEEZERMAN

          Wet N Wild MegaClear Clear Brow and Mascara

          Revlon Tweezers


          Cleaning your tools is extremely important and is a responsibility you have once you use them to keep them bacteria free and in good shape. Not cleaning them often can give you breakout and even infection. Lots of micro creepy crawlers you cant see live inside your brushes if not cleaned properly so make sure to do so! Here are some rules to live by:

          • Brushes need to be deeply cleansed at least once a week. I think Dawn Dish Soap is easy and very effective. 
          • An quick cleansing spray is great for someone with minimal brushes. It gives you the option to switch colors without mixing them together. Cinema Secrets Quick Cleanse Brush Cleaner is my favorite because it dries fast, cleans brushes very well and smells like vanilla!
          • Latex sponges are disposable and should not be used for a long period of time. Cleaning them wont rid the color or bacteria from them. 
          • All steal tools like eye lash curlers, tweezers and scissors should be wiped down with 99% alcohol before and after every use. 
          • Beauty Blenders has their own cleanser specifically for their sponge called Liquid Blendercleanser. I haven't found anything else that does the job as good this so purchasing their cleanser is a good idea in my opinion. 
          For any questions you may have, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will be glad to help you!

          Oct 21, 2015

          Happy October!

          Their couldn't be a better season then Fall! I am completely in the fall spirit and celebrating Halloween everyday since October 1st! This time of year I come alive to create different looks to inspire others to create characters of their own and have fun with Makeup. I'm a Huge witch fan and love everything about them. The cauldron, Black clothes, herbs and things to create spells and yes the spell book and soo much more! Their are a few movies on repeat in my house and I cant be more relieved to see that my 16 month old daughter is totally on bored. I dress her up all the time and we dance and sing around the house until her daddy gets home and then we make him dance and sing too. Its so much fun. 

          Hunter as a pink kitchen Witchy!

          Although I do practice looks all year round and most of the gigs I book are Weddings, I tend to focus on popular Halloween themes more in October like the skull! I've practiced many skulls on my own face to get that character effect and also the realistic effect which is my personal favorite.

          POP ART ZOMBIE
           INFECTIONS AND 3D TEETH WITHOUT LATEX

          TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF A GOLD HALF SKULL

          MERMAID 


          Below are a few fall inspired makeup looks using my all time favorite NEUTRAL colors!

          BOLD EYES AND LIPS OF BROWNS, GOLD HIGHLIGHTS AND A MATTE PURPLE LIP

          CLASSIC BLACK SMOKEY EYE WITH A NUDE GLOSSY LIP

          CLEAN FACE WITH BRIGHT EYES AND A MEDIUM RED BERRY LIPSTICK

          GLAMOROUS BOLD RED GLOSSY LIP WITH DEEP BROWNS AND GOLD HIGHLIGHTS

          SOFT WEARABLE HIGHLIGHTED MATTE BUT BRIGHT GLOW WITH BIG LASHES

          NEAUTRAL  EVERYTHING WITH BIG EYES WITH SEMI MATTE MAUVE LIPSTICK

          GLOWING EVERYDAY MAKEUP WITH HIGH SHINE AND PERFECTLY CARVED BROWS

          I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

           Don't forget to create the memories you want to remember and share later in life. Always see the positive out of everything and love with all your might.

          Oct 7, 2014

          Affordable Eye Shadow Palettes

          Im totally obsessed with these shades of colors. Im always looking for beautiful neautral matte eye shadows that are affordable and has smooth bold pigment in them. 

          Elf...

          You can always find me browsing the elf store on Astor place in NYC because the makeup is awesome! In my opinion,  about 80% of the makeup at elf is worth a repurchase and can stand up against some of the big brands of makeup. Elf's Flawless Eyeshadow palette in "Beautiful Browns" is so perfect for blending out colors or just wearing an all natural makeup look. It is now a staple in my everyday look and in my professional beauty makeup kit.

          The picture above shows an eye shadow look using only the LA Color Palette. 

          "Beautiful Browns" by elf
          "Neautral palette" by LA Colors