MAC Brush Cleanser

You clean your brushes, right? After every use, just like you're supposed to? If you're saying yes right now, I bet you floss regularly and iron your sheets too.

It's funny. When I'm painting on canvas, I clean all my paintbrushes right away. I suppose because I'm usually running out of the house shortly after I paint my face that my makeup brushes don't get the same quality treatment.

Now I always wash my brushes before and after I do a makeup job. Always. Other people's health and hygiene are stake. But when it's just me, I confess, I can go waaaaay to long between brush washings. Like weeks too long. And yeah, that's just kind of gross, but I know there are some people out there who just don't wash their brushes, ever. Ewww.

Brushes are lovely places for bacteria and other such evils to conglomerate. A quick washing and you're in the clear from all those nasties. I mean, think about it for a minute. You spend how much on cleansers, facial treatments, makeup and brushes trying to make your skin look amazing, but if you don't clean your brushes regularly, you might as well be washing your face with rats. Also your makeup goes on better as the colour isn't contaminated and you're not fighting with residual goop.

So now that I have you concerned about bacterial infections, breakouts and a nasty case of pink eye, let's talk brush cleansers. Since good brushes are made a lovely fibres like goat and boar hair, it's a good idea to use a very gentle cleanser. I'm a fan of the MAC brush cleanser. It costs about $10 and does a nice job. It's pretty easy to use and since most of my brushes are MAC, I feel pretty confident about it prolonging their life. I use paper towel or a clean tea towel to dry them off after rinsing and lay them out to air dry.

If you don't feel like throwing down $10 every so often, you can also use baby shampoo, as it's also tremendously gentle. Make sure you dilute it though. I tend to use it for deep cleaning. Benefit used to make a combination makeup remover/brush cleaner, which they discontinued a few years back. However, gentle makeup remover can also be used as a brush cleaner. It's still removing makeup after all.

What matters most is that you get your brushes clean, regularly. Make it part of your cleaning schedule and stop rubbing nasty old makeup on your face every day.

HRH

MAC 187 Duo Fibre Brush

Brushes generate some conflict in me. The pragmatist in me says "A brush is a brush. It gets the makeup on your face one way or another," and then the artist in me says "Just try it, feel the difference in applying make up with one brush. Feel it on your skin." And suddenly I'm throwing down $50 for a brush.

I don't always wear foundation. Even though I have foundation that I love, I'm trying to let my skin show through before I get old and splotchy. But there are times when I need to look polished or when hormones wreak havoc that I need to pull out the big guns.

Back in the day, latex sponges were all the rage and then the revelation came that a foundation brush would not only give you better coverage and more control, it would also cause you to use less product as the sponge tends to do what sponges do, absorb.

The MAC 190 Foundation brush has been good to me for awhile now. Upon reading a rave review of the 187 Duo Fibre Brush that made claims of pleasant application and gorgeous results I decided to give it a try.



The brush is a blend of goat and synthetic fibres. I've used it for applying foundation and pigments like blush and have been really impressed by it. It's so soft going on and it blends beautifully. It makes the 190 feel like I'm throwing paint on a wall with roller. So much so that my inner pragmatist has been fully silenced.

The only, only problem I have with it is that a lot of bristles fall out. Not a tonne, but enough to annoy me. Hopefully with more use it will happen less. It a drag to have this soft and even complexion with little black tufts stuck on the surface. I expect it will improve as I clean it more.

HRH

MAC Brush off

Sorry for the extended hiatus. Wedding planning was a boatload of fun, but consumed a lot more mental energy than I would have predicted. Anyway, back to products.

I've made a couple of recent purchases that have been pleasant additions to my kit. I got my hands on two new brushes. You really can't have enough brushes. Learning to use brushes properly is the key difference between makeup that looks like you don't wear it very often but you're trying it for fun and makeup that does what it should; amplify your beauty.

Being the eyeliner addict that I am, the procurment of MAC's 266 small angled brush has brought me to untold levels of glee. This brush will be your best friend this fall if you're trying to recreate any of the heavy-lidded Mod looks of the season. When using it be sure to wipe of an excess on the sides of the brush and keep the colour focused on the angled tip, then pull your lid to the side to make your eyelid as smooth as possible. This will help you control the line much better. It takes some practice, but once you've mastered it, there's nothing quite as sexy.

The other brush I've added to my collection is MAC's 150 large powder brush. Becuase this brush is about $50 it was always fell to the bottom of my beauty wish list. Now that I have it, I'm sorry that I'd put off buying it for so long. I'd forgotten about the polish that dusting your face with loose podwer gives you.

Of course now that I have new brushes, I only want more. There are some great brushes out there by Stila and, should I win the lotto, I'm heading straight to Shu Umera in NYC to buy a completely new set.

Still on my brush list are (all MAC):

• Short powerder/blush brush 129 (for travel)


• Small angled contour brush 162


• Buffer brush 182


• Square shader brush 259


• Medium angled shading brush 275

HRH

MAC: Lip Brush

While I live on the lip gloss side of the street most of the time and am a confessed lazy lip laquerer I have finally done the right thing and gotten myself a lip brush. I've been wearing makeup for a long, long time, I've learned lots, but I wish that I'd learned of this brush sooner. It's soft, it's easy compacted and covered for travel and it makes the lips look oh so luscious. Oh so.

Further prooving to me that no brush is a bad idea.

HRH