Inside a MUA's Kit: Brushes

Welcome to Chapter One of Inside a Make-up Artist's Kit.

Today I will be sharing with you my Must-Have Make-up Brushes*. At the heart of every make-up artist's kit lies a set of long lasting, good quality brushes - these tools will make all the difference to your work! In this post I will talk about the brushes I use, as well as going over brands, personal favourites and my very own wish list - I just love buying new brushes and there are still ones out there that I am dying to have under my make-up belt.

To make this easier, I will split it up into sections: Face, Eyes and Lips.

Face

Brands in this section: M.A.C Cosmetics, Illamasqua, Laura Mercier, Nars and Shu Uemura.

130 Short Duo Fibre Brush: This is a M.A.C Cosmetics brush and I tend to use this for blending and buffing in foundation. 

188 Small Duo Fibre Face Brush: This is a M.A.C Cosmetics brush and it is great for water based foundation and I also use it to dust on light powder. 

Illamasqua Foundation Brush: This is designed for foundation (the name kind of gives it away) but I use it more to apply primer or cream contour. It is one of my favourite brushes as it's a great quality brush, super soft and applies cream or liquid effortlessly. 

Illamasqua Powder Brush: Whenever I use this brush everybody comments on how soft it is. I use this when contouring with powder and I also use it to apply blusher too. 

Chantecaille Cheek Brush: Perfect for applying blush in the apple of the cheek, this one is not in my kit but in my own personal make-up bag. I had to add it as I love it. The Chantecaille brushes are definitely something of a luxury.

Nars Kabuki Brushes: These brushes were inspired by traditional Japanese culture and they are great for blending and contouring. I have the Ita Brush, the Itan Kabuki Brush and the Botan brush. I must say I hardly use the Botan brush as its very large and dense. I would say these are not essential, as they are quite expensive and I bought them just because I loved the look of them.


Shu Uemura Fan Brush: I'm not sure you can even get this anymore as I did a quick online search of this and I cannot find it anywhere, but this brush, as are most fan brushes, is great for dusting very light powder over the face. I also use this as a highlighter brush.

Shu Uemura Synthetic Brushes 10 & 12:  These brushes are designed for powder, cream and liquid eye application, as well as concealing blemishes. I use 10 for applying eyeshadow to the lid of the eye and sometimes use it in the crease, I tend to use both these brushes more for concealing.


Laura Mercier Fan Powder Brush: This brush was specifically designed for the Invisible Loose Setting Powder. The only setting powder I ever use, therefore I cannot live without this fabulous brush.


Wish List:

Illamasqua Blusher Brush 2 | Illamasqua Highlighter Brush | Shu Uemura Foundation Brush/ Natural 18 Goat brush | Nars Yachiyo Brush| Nars Flat Concealer brush |

Ja-heeb-uss, that was just the face... moving onto the next section:

 Eyes

Brands in this section: M.A.C Cosmetics, Illamasqua, Laura Mercier, Nars and Chantecaille

217 Blending Brush: This is another by M.A.C Cosmetics and has to be my all-time favourite brush. It is by far the best I have used for blending eyeshadow, concealers, and applying highlighter. It is just a really versatile, long lasting brush! This is yet another that clients love as it feels so soft. An essential for every kit. 

Illasmasqua Eyeshadow Brush: Great for both cream and powder textures. You cannot go wrong with this brush.

Nars Smudge Brush: Another favourite of mine, this is fab for blending out eye pencil and defining the crease. Without fail I use this every time when creating a smokey eye. 

Illamasqua Eyebrow brush: This is really firm so great for when you want to create a really defined shape. I always use this with the Illamasqua Eyebrow Cakes - which can be used wet or dry. 

Illamasqua Angled Eye liner brush: Being totally honest, when I first started out doing freelance make-up I still hadn't mastered the art of eyeliner. The "cat-eye" flick was my worst nightmare. I sometimes panic about it now. I am such a perfectionist, when I found this brush it literally saved me. Perfect for using with a gel liner such as M.A.C Fluidline or a cheap alternative Maybeline Eyelasting Drama Gel Liner. I would not be without it. 

Chantecaille Eye contour brush: Perfect for those who do not want to mess about with lots of different brushes. The flat side can be used to add colour to the lid where as the edge of the brush can be used in the crease, it is also soft enough to blend. I use this mainly to highlight under the brown bone. I also have the Laura Mercier Angled Eye colour brush which is practically identical to this.

Chantecaille Eye Definer brush: Tapered slightly so great for the crease, but when I cannot find my 217 blending brush this is the one I would reach for next. 

Laura Mercier Finishing Eye brush: I use this for blending in concealer most of the time, but I also use it to catch fallen eyeshadow and blend outwards from the crease.

Laura Mercier Dual Eye Colour brush: This was in a palette I think, as I am not too sure where this brush came from. Great for cream eyeshadows. One that I don't really use so I wouldn't rave about it or suggest it is essential. 

TOP TIP: For eyes you can simply use your fingers to apply the eyeshadow and use your ring finger to blend outwards. 

If you are reading this and you are just after a brush for your own personal make-up  bag don't worry about having to have lots of different eye shadow brushes just one simple contour brush will help you create lots of different looks. 

Wish List:

Sigma Eyes Kit
All of the Tom Ford brushes 

last but not least... 

 Lips

By Terry Lip Brush: Now I have the old version of the By Terry lip brush  but would absolutely love the new one, or any of the new By Terry brushes as they look so expensive and glamorous. I have a niggling bug bare about lip brushes, I find they are the most difficult to clean as silly as that sounds. Especially after layering M.A.C Dazzleglass glosses on the lips, after three shampoos I swear that gloss still clings to the brush. 

That is all folks. That covers all of my brushes! I hope this helps! What I would say is invest in the brushes over expensive foundations, eyeshadows etc, and get a good brush cleaner. I personally love the Shu Uemura brush cleaner, and the M.A.C Cosmetics one is okay too. For a deeper clean just use a gentle shampoo.

See you soon, 

* See Disclaimer

Inside a Make-up Artist's Kit

Starting out as a freelance make-up artist can be pretty daunting. Finding work, networking with photographers, stylists and other creatives in the industry, I found to be scarier than putting up with the fire-breathing dragons that are your Retail Managers - the ones that nag you to hit your targets - Sell! Sell! Sell! 

There are times when you are super busy, and times when you feel like giving up! The one thing you can count on however, for me anyway, is your make-up kit. It is my comfort blanket. I look at it, and it reminds why I love my job and why I keep on going.

Now, putting together my first make-up kit was a nerve wracking job in itself. With no school of make-up training starter kit to give me the heads up and definitely no sign of a Hogwarts Equipment list to save the day, I literally had to start from scratch. 

I am sure many make-up artists would agree with me when I say deciding on what to put in your kit can actually boggle your mind! So many products and so many brands to choose from! My advice would be to work out a budget and then work into that the brands that you can sensibly use. Do not break the bank for a designer foundation that you cannot afford when there are many inexpensive products on the market which do the job just fine. 

I am going to start putting up regular posts on what I love having in my kit, note that I am not suggesting these are what every make-up artist must have, it is a personal opinion. I would also love it if other make-up artists and creatives reading this blog could suggest products that they love and would recommend.

So, the first post will be on Brushes. Watch out for it later this afternoon, and I hope you enjoy the posts as I update you throughout the upcoming weeks. 

On a more personal note, I read the entire Hunger Games Trilogy. It was amazing, Katniss Everdeen rocks! Being a bit of a book worm, I want to get hold of the latest craze: Fifty Shades of Grey. Every blooming person is reading it. When I tried to buy it at the airport it was sold out! Are there any other books my readers would recommend?

See you soon, 

Portfolio Update:

Hey Guys,

Just a quick portfolio update today. These images are from one of my recent shoots, with model Jess Davies and photographer Scott Ninness. To create the surfer-esque waves in her hair I sprayed my favourite Bumble&Bumble Surf Spray to texturise the loose curls, perfect for the shoot down on the beach later that day. Simple bronzed skin and a pinky nude lip for make-up.

A fab model to work with, hope you enjoyed the images.

See you soon,