Meet My Clean, Happy Brushes

brushes I use most often

Hello everybody, happy Hump Day! We're one day closer to the glorious weekend.

***Before I start today's post, I want to thank those who messaged me, which gave me an idea for today's post. Only you can tell me what you want to see. Please continue to message me, you guys are always an inspiration. I sincerely thank you.

Today, I want to share with you the brushes that I use most often, on a daily basis, both face and eyes. All of the brushes I mention are all drug store brand, very affordable but so very durable. 

Top: Face Brushes
Bottom: Eye Brushes

Face Brushes:
Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
Real Techniques Stippling Brush
Essence Powder Brush
ELF Essential Eyeshadow Brush
ELF Studio Small Stipple Brush
ELF Studio Complexion Brush
ELF Studio Blush Brush
ELF Studio Angled Blush Brush
ELF Studio Fan Brush

Eye Brushes:
Sigma E25 Blending Brush
Essence Smokey Eyes Brush
Essence Eyeshadow Brush
ELF Studio Contour Brush
EcoTools Spoolie Brush

You probably noticed that most of my brushes are from the ELF (Eyes, Face, Lips) Studio line. I bought all of mine at Target or from their site for $3 each. ELF is one of those brands that people usually overlook in my opinion. Their Studio products, packaged in black are usually sold for $3 or sometimes $5. The Essential products, packaged in white, are $1 each. Both lines include brushes, eyeshadows, lip sticks, foundation, you name it. For such prices, one would think that the quality would match the prices. Not in ELF's case. With that said, my ELF brushes are super durable with qualities worth matching to those like Japonesque. I have used these same exact brushes for the past years; they survived my bi-weekly cleaning sessions with all of their bristles still intact. The brush is sooooooo, soooooo soft, words cannot merely describe how incredible they feel. I feel that ELF has an adequate selection of brushes to choose from, from both Studio and Essential. Although I do 100%  recommend any brushes from their Studio line, I have to warn you that the brushes from the Essential is slightly under par compared to Studio brushes. Essential brushes tends to shed a lot. The longer bristle brushes like powder or blush brushes are the worst. They shed when you clean them, use them, touch them. I do however enjoy their shorter bristles brush like the eyeshadow; shorter bristles don't shed as much. Maybe just the first few times of cleaning.

First off, you're probably wondering why I have the ELF Essential eyeshadow brush with my other face brushes. Well, I use it to contour my nose, which works surprisingly well. As for the small stipple brush, I like to use it around my nose region. No matter what method I use to apply my foundation, I will always stipple my nose area, I feel that it looks more flawless that way. I will also use the small stipple brush to apply liquid or cream blush like ELF HD Blush. I use the complexion brush to apply powder, the blush brush to apply my highlight and the angled blush brush to apply my blush and bronzer (I have two angled brushes, one for blush the other for bronzer but only one is pictured). The fan brush is just to dust off any eyeshadow fall outs at the end.

The stippling brush was the first Real Technique brush I ever bought. On days that I want a flawless, air brush face, I will use the stipple brush, otherwise I will just continue using my expert face brush. Those two brushes are my must have recommendation. They will make your make up experience more enjoyable and easier. I love that Real Techniques brushes are made from a synthetic type bristle, nothing like the traditional bristle we see on your brushes. I have tried a few stipple brushes from different brands, none can compare to Real Techniques. Their stipple brush's bristles are a little shorter, courser and less bendable when touched. The point of a stipple brush is to stipple, if the brush easily bends, you're just swiping it back and forth like a regular foundation brush, no stippling there.

Last brush from the face category, the Essence Power brush that I use to apply my bronzer. I mentioned above that I use an angle blush brush to apply my bronzer, yes, to sculpt my face because the brush is more dense, While this powder brush is less dense and more bendy. I use this to lightly dust my forehead and hairline; it's less harsh in my opinion.

Eyes...one lonely ELF Studio brush in this category. I use the contour brush to pack the outer corner of my eyes while I use the smokey eye brush on my crease and the eyeshadow brush to pack my lids. I use my Sigma E25 Blending brush to blend everything together. This one that I show here is a special gift when I ordered the eye brush kit a couple of years ago. I think that's why it's shorter than the regular one. With my four trusty eye brushes, I can do a natural look to a full out smokey eye; it really just depends how you use them, with a light or heavy hand. Lastly, I would like to mention that my EcoTools Spoolie brush was bought with a kit that has four other brushes. I don't think they're sold separately, I might be wrong. However, if you're interested in buying a spoolie brush, I recommend Sonia Kashuk Spoolie Brush No 127, it works just as great.

All of the brush pictured were freshly cleaned and dried. They smell good and look good, that's why they're happy. On how I clean my brushes, you can check out that post here.

Enjoy your night. Thanks for reading guys. :)

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Woman Crush Wednesday, Korean Edition

Yoon Eun Hye - Actress, Singer, Entertainer, Model ; 29 Years Old