Why do you need eye makeup brushes, what varieties exist, the rules for choosing high-quality brushes and how to use the main types. Eye brushes are an essential tool for creating the perfect look. Depending on the purpose, they can be made of various types of pile - natural, synthetic, mixed. In addition, they have a different shape, length and stiffness of the villi.
Why you need eye makeup brushes
Perfectly applied eye makeup can transform the appearance of any woman. But a roughly made make-up can ruin even the most pretty face. In applying cosmetics, an important role is played by its quality, the performer's skill and tools.
A professional makeup artist applies cosmetics to the face only using special brushes. They allow you to achieve an excellent effect on the eyes: smooth transitions, sharp accents, perfect shading of borders, clear lines. To achieve the desired result, you need to not only use the right brushes, but also choose them for specific purposes. Each brush has a distinct purpose. In professional sets, you can find products made from both natural and synthetic fibers. They are necessary in order to apply the right amount of cosmetics to the eyes, to simulate the uniformity of the coating.
Each eye makeup tool has its own density, length, bristle stiffness. This affects the suitability of the brush for applying cosmetics of different consistency and texture. For example, flat top is suitable for a dense structure of a cosmetic product, and kabuki is suitable for a light, crumbly texture. Eyeshadow brushes are generally thin, flat-based tools. They can have an oblique or even cut, the structure of the pile is usually dense and dense. With their help, decorative cosmetics are applied evenly to the eyelid, a color accent is indicated in the right place. Lines with such brushes are well shaded, which allows you to achieve a complete eye makeup.
Brushes for working with shadows are most often used from artificial bristles, for subsequent shading - from natural. As a rule, natural bristle brushes are used for "loose" cosmetics. For creamy and liquid - made of synthetics.
What brushes are needed for eye makeup
A standard set of brushes for applying cosmetics can contain from 3 to 40 tools. However, in reality, as a rule, only a few basic products are used, depending on the complexity of the make-up and the preferences of the master. Consider the basic brushes used for make-up eyes.
Arrow brush on eyes
Drawing straight arrows with brushes is a process that is often beyond the power of beginners. For inexperienced ladies, use a pencil or felt-tip eyeliner is better. However, if your hand is full, then you should choose the right brush to draw a clear line along the growth of the eyelashes. Eyeliner brushes come in a variety of shapes. Most often, it is a thin, slightly elongated synthetic bristle brush. It is dipped into liquid eyeliner only with the tip and a straight line is drawn along the eyelid. These brushes should have tight-fitting bristles. The holder can be chamfered and straight.
However, you can also draw arrows with shadows. In this case, they turn out to be wide, soft and slightly shaded. Other brushes are suitable for this - thin, flat and beveled from stiff artificial bristles. The same brushes are suitable for drawing arrows with gel-like eyeliners. They are convenient for modeling strokes. In any case, the pile of the arrow brush should be elastic so that you can conveniently adjust the thickness of the line and its bending.
Eyeshadow Brush Set
For applying dry eyeshadows, it is recommended to use brushes made of soft natural bristles, for example, squirrel. They are ideal for the delicate skin of the eyelids. And for drawing the area under the eyebrow, you can choose a sable brush, since it is tougher. Mostly small flat brushes are used to apply shadows. They have a rounded shape and a fairly short pile. The outer corner of the eye is drawn, the optimal amount of shadows are applied to the moving eyelid.
A flat wide brush with a bristle length of 10-12 millimeters is used to apply the main color. And to place accents, you need a brush of the same shape, but with a pile length of 5-8 millimeters. With its help, it is possible to put the desired accent in the inner and outer corners of the eye and gently apply shadows to the lower eyelid. For the make-up of the lower eyelid, a pencil brush is also used. It has a conical shape and a stiffer pile. With its help, small details are drawn and an even layer of shadows is placed along the line of growth of the eyelashes along the lower eyelid. The eyeshadow kit should also include a barrel brush. It is a small, tightly padded tassel that is rounded in shape. It is good for the pencil technique of applying makeup on the eyelid. It makes sense to purchase several of these brushes for shadows of different shades.
Set of brushes for blending eye makeup
To feather the shadows and create smooth transitions between them, you should use another type of brushes. These are tapered, beveled tools that smooth out edges well. As a rule, their pile is artificial. With beveled brushes, you can also perfectly draw the crease of the upper eyelid with dark shadows.
Small rounded brushes with short bristles are intended for drawing small details, shading a soft pencil, applying shadows on the lower eyelid, and emphasizing the growth line of eyelashes.
Dense, round, tapering brushes are ideal for blending loose shadows at the edges of the moving and fixed eyelids and drawing folds. In addition, they are convenient for applying light shadows under the eyebrows and you can place light accents on the face.
For applying and shading the contours, narrow brushes with a thickness of no more than 6 millimeters are suitable. They can be chamfered or straight. It is better if its pile is synthetic, since it must be as elastic as possible for high-quality application. The contour is applied and shaded over the upper and lower eyelids.
Eye Makeup Applicators
Applicators are also used for eye makeup. This is a relatively inexpensive variety of brushes that have a replaceable domed brush head made of synthetic material, most often foam.
It is recommended to use applicators to apply different colors of eyeshadow. They can be applied both dry and wet. In the latter case, the tool is wetted and dipped in the shade. Thus, a color accent is placed in a specific place, and then shaded with the dry part of the applicator. Parallel to the applicators, you can use bristled brushes to thoroughly blend the edges of the shadows. Also, with foam applicators (sponges), creamy shadows can be applied to the eyelids.
Eyebrow & Eyelash Brushes
An eyebrow brush is a thin, flat tool that has a beveled, short bristle and a sharp edge on one side. With its help, you can correct the shape of the eyebrow. This brush is designed to work with dry concealer. If necessary, you can grind pencil lines with it.
A brush for eyelashes and eyebrows is presented in the form of a cone-shaped fleecy stick or in the form of a comb with artificial bristles on one side and plastic or iron bristles on the other. Using these tools, you can remove excess mascara from the eyelashes, comb them, and also style the hairs of the eyebrows, give the desired shape using a correcting gel.
How to choose the best eye makeup brushes
Brushes can be made from a variety of materials. The bristles are made of natural or synthetic bristles, the handles are made of plastic or wood. Metal handles can sometimes be used. It is believed that the best makeup brushes are made entirely from natural materials. However, this is not quite true. A tool made of squirrel, pony, sable bristles is good, but suitable for applying dry, crumbly decorative cosmetics. Liquid, gel and creamy cosmetics should be applied with brushes and brushes made of artificial bristles, which are harder and more elastic. Natural bristles will absorb such cosmetics, wash off poorly and quickly deteriorate.
Artificial brushes last longer, do not absorb pigments, are easy to clean and retain the fat base.
However, when choosing tools for applying cosmetics to the eyes, you should pay attention to the following points:
- Pile hardness … It needs to be tested before purchasing. Ideally, it is quite soft and delicate, but firm. Too hard brush will not only poorly apply makeup to the eyes, but can also damage the delicate skin of the eyelids.
- Bristle coloring … Make sure the brush won't shed. To do this, it is enough to run along the villi and release sharply. This must be done twenty times, no less. If the finger is not stained, and all the bristles remain in place and are not deformed, then the tool is quite suitable for use.
- Handle strength … The material from which it is made does not really matter. The main thing is to test it for strength - the fleecy part should be tightly fastened to the handle. To do this, just grab the tip of the tool and wave it from side to side. If something is loose in it or a loose fit is felt, then you should refuse to purchase such a brush.
- Density of the brush … It is very important to check how tightly the tool is packed. To do this, you need to pinch some of the villi and see if there is a gap. In a quality tool, it will not be there or it will be less than one millimeter.
Also, do not use the brushes that come with shadows. Most often they are of poor quality, and their shape is adjusted to the packaging of the goods and is absolutely inconvenient to use. As a rule, in the description of brushes there is information from which pile they are made. But you can check it out. After purchasing, carefully singe a few bristles of the brush. Natural bristles will burn just like human hair. The artificial one will melt and give off a specific smell.
Features of using brushes for eyeliner
Before proceeding with the eyeliner procedure with brushes, you should master the basic rules that are appropriate for applying any cosmetic product with various tools:
- We draw an imaginary line from the end of the nose to the corner of the eye (add 3-5 millimeters to it). Thus, we determine the location of the tip of the arrow. Extension of the lower eyelid line by several millimeters is allowed.
- We put a point and draw the line itself, connecting it to the corner of the eye. In this case, the brush acts as an imaginary feature. Where the highest point of the future arrow is, we put an imprint. This arrow shape is suitable for any shape of eyes.
- We do not draw a line at a time, we try to do it with small strokes.
- Do not close the eye completely, as there is a risk that the arrow line will be too thick. You must always see the pupil and the crease of the eyelid so that the tail of the arrow does not wring into it.
- Do not stretch your eyelids with your fingers.
For liquid eyeliners, a thin, narrow brush is usually used. It is more suitable for women who already have some experience in applying makeup, since it can be very difficult to draw a perfectly straight arrow with it. However, given certain rules, a beginner can also cope with this task after several trainings:
- Liquid eyeliner is not shaded, so the line should be drawn quickly and clearly.
- So that the hand does not tremble during the application of the eyeliner, we keep the elbow on a support, it should not be suspended.
- Be sure to get the brush wet before starting to move the arrow to get rid of excess liquid, otherwise it will interfere with the application of the cosmetic.
- You need to stroke the upper eyelid with a brush from the inner corner of the eye to the outer one. The line should be thin at first, and then thicker.
- Do not open your eyes until the eyeliner is dry, otherwise the arrow may flow, crumble or crack.
Remember that you cannot use brushes on mucous eyeliner. Also, do not use liquid eyeliner to highlight the lower eyelid. In this case, it is better to use a soft pencil and a blending brush. A more versatile type of eyeliner is the gel type. Its texture is denser, and for application you need another brush - a flat corner with a beveled edge. The latter can be drawn with arrows, even using a regular soft pencil. It is easy for her to pick up the color of the pencil and apply to the eyelid. Also, this brush is optimal for drawing arrows with shadows. The pigmentation remains the same as after applying the eyeliner or pencil. In this case, you can vary with the thickness of the arrow, shade it if desired, making it "smoky". For a sharper line, wet the brush in water. Dry eyeliner can be applied with either a thin pointed or beveled flat brush. The tool should first be moistened in water and shaded with the cosmetic product along the eyelash growth line. How to choose a brush for eye makeup - watch the video:
There are many different eye brushes available. There is definitely no need to purchase a huge set of makeup tools unless you are a professional makeup artist. All you need to do is get basic brushes that are comfortable for you to work with and that allow you to achieve optimal results.
