My Most Used Brushes & How I Clean Them!

Brushes are perhaps not the most glamorous beauty purchase you can make, it's not as much fun going to buy a blush brush as say going to buy a new lipstick.  There aren't any fun colors to choose from, no swatching to be done; it's basically a grab and go situation with them.  Plus, I find it a lot harder to fork over $20 for a new brush than for a new make-up bit.  However, brushes are something we all need and shouldn't be a neglected purchase!  So, I thought I would share my most used brushes and how I clean them :)

These are not all of my brushes, I have a lot more, actually, ranging from cheap ELF brushes, to the more expensive MAC ones, but the ones you see here are the ones I tend to use on a daily basis.  Also, as you can see, I store them in my empty Jo Malone Blackberry & Bay Candle, which I converted into a brush holder (if you want me to do a post on how I converted it, please let me know and I'll be sure to put that up!).

These are my base brushes.  I tend to use my fingers when I apply my foundation, as I find that it works best with my favorite foundation - Burberry Sheer Luminous Foundation, but if I decide to use a different foundation or go for more coverage than usual, I always use the Real Techniques Buffing Brush (part of the Core Collection, $17.99), which really gives a flawless finish to your foundation and buffs it into the skin really nicely (hence why it's a buffing brush).  Then I use the Real Techniques Blush Brush ($8.99) to powder my face, I find that this brush is too big for blush, but I know a lot of people use this for bronzer, too.  I also use the Real Techniques Setting Brush ($7.99) to put powder over my concealer, both under my eyes and on blemishes, this is also really nice for when I don't want to powder my skin and just want to powder certain areas.  Honestly, if there's one brand I can recommend for brushes, it's Real Techniques, the quality is fantastic, they wash really nicely, and they're inexpensive - you can pick them up at ULTA!

Now, onto face brushes!  I like to use this bronzer brush from Ecotools (part of The Everyday Collection for $10.97) for when I apply bronzer onto my cheeks instead of using blush; however, I don't like to use this for my contour.  This was actually the first brush I've ever owned, so I've had it for about 3 years or so and it still works great, Ecotools is definitely a brand to look into if you want good, affordable brushes! For the days when I do want to wear blush, I really like to use the Real Techniques Multi-Purpose Brush (part of the Travel Collection for $17.99), I seriously don't think I could live without this brush, it's fantastic and worth getting the set just for this!  Next, I like to use the MAC 109 Small Contour Brush ($35) to apply my highlighter, you could also use this for blush, but my face is too big for that; however, I also wouldn't use this as a contour brush, as it's not tapered enough for that.  Finally, the Real Techniques Contour Brush (part of the Core Collection with the Buffing Brush for $17.99) is my preferred Contour Brush, it just fits perfectly into my cheek and applies my contour color perfectly and makes it a much easier process; however, I've also heard people using this as a concealer brush if it's too small for you to use as a contour brush!

Eye brushes have got to be my favorite to buy, I just find them a more glamorous purchase than say a concealer brush (which I'm actually on the hunt for, if anyone wants to tell me they're favorites, I would really appreciate it!).  I like to use the MAC 208 Angled Brow Brush ($20) to apply my eyeliner, as I use a black eyeshadow to line my eyes everyday, this brush is amazing and one of the cheaper ones from MAC.  I also like to use the Burberry No. 11 Eye Shaper Brush ($38) to sweep eyeshadow all over my lid.  This is my most expensive brush and also one of my favorites, I just couldn't resist the shape of the brush, it's really unique and gorgeous.  If you can afford the high price tag, I would highly recommend this!  Then I have the most hyped-up brush in existence, the MAC 217 Blending Brush ($23).  This brush is worth the hype, it's amazing.  If you can only have one of these brushes, get this one, it does everything you could possibly need it to!  I use this brush everyday and I'm thinking about picking up a couple more because it's just that good.  Next is the MAC 219 Pencil Brush ($25), I use this both for applying color to my crease and for applying eyeshadow underneath my eye for when I'm doing more of a smokey eye.  It's really great, but not a necessity.  Finally, the ELF Eye Crease Brush from the Essential Line ($1, yes, you read that right - $1!!) is amazing.  If you can't afford the MAC 217, get this.  It's not a dupe for it, but it does very similar things.  I use this particularly to apply my highlighter to my browbone and then blend it into my other eyeshadow.  It makes blending a dream, it's not as great as the MAC 217, but for $1 you really can't go wrong.  I really like the ELF brushes, which you can get at Target, as they're extremely cheap and work and wash well.

My Brush Cleaning Routine:

I wash my brushes about (this term is used loosely) once a week, by running them under the faucet and only getting the bristles wet - don't get water into the shaft (I think that's what it's called) as that can make the glue break down and will damage the brush.  Then I rub it into some baby shampoo on my hand and blend the color out, swish it in the motions of the shape of the brush, so if the brush only moves up and down (like with the MAC 208) then only move it in that direction, if the brush moves in all directions (i.e. a blending brush) then move it how you would move it if you were blending something out.  Once most of the color is on my hands, I run it under the water and get the shampoo out of the brush and then wipe it onto a towel to make sure all of the color and shampoo is out of the brush!  After the brush has been washed, I try to reshape it and then let it dry but letting the brush head hang over the edge of my desk, so the brush dries in the shape it's supposed to be in :) It's a pretty basic way to deep clean your brushes and it only takes a minute or two for each brush to be cleaned.

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