Indonesian Fashion Spot!

Tools are very much as important as the product itself in terms of make up application. If you have a very good product on hand but with the absence of a good tool, then the best results can’tbe achieved. If you happened to be a newbie that visited the Make Up Tools thread I’m sure you’re confused at the rate of the different numbers of brushes mentioned there. FD forum member Kirana asked me a while ago, what are the starting must-haves for building brush collection? Basically, you will need brushes covering the three fundamental elements: face, eyes and lips, but I will skip the lips here because you have your pinky finger salready! Here are my top five picks:

1. Duo Fibre Brush or the infamous stippling brush, is a good start for your face brush. With this brush you can apply foundation with ease, yet achieve a flawless result. You can use this brush for powder and also blush. Learn more on how to use this brush here. Splurge on MAC 187 or get a great value bargain, at one-third of MAC’s price, with Make Up Show (MUS) duo fibre brush. Alternatively, you could also get Coastal Scent or Sigma duo fibre brush.
2. A good eyeshadow brush will make all the difference in the pigmentation result of your eyeshadow. Get yourself either MAC 239 or its “dupe” (i.e., duplicate or a very similar product) from MUS. This brush has short bristles with medium density. Use this brush to deposit eyeshadow, and can also be used for minimal blending by stroking lightly on the border of eyeshadow colors.
3. Blending brush for eyeshadow is surely a must. If need be, splurge on 2 pieces of MAC 217 as it will come handy. Alternatively, you could trade one 217 for MUS eye-blending brush. Why do you need two? Because this brush is not only good for blending eyeshadow, but is also excellent to be used with cream product. To blend eyeshadow, lightly stroke your MAC 217 brush in circular motion on top of the different colors of your eye shadow until you can’t see clearly where one color end and the other begin. This brush can also be used to deposit eyeshadow products before you blend it. It’s a bit stiff and the size is tad big, and therefore smaller eyelids will probably find it harder to use for blending. This brush is also good for applying cream eyeshadow, such as the beloved MAC Paint Pot. I also use this brush for applying my concealer, which why I have two pieces of this brush. The key is to always apply in circular motion to get flawless result.
4. For applying blush I choose MAC 116. The brush with very soft and fluffy bristles is perfect for any blush finish, whether it is pigmented or sheer. To apply, tap the brush onto the product, and then tap the handle to remove excess powder to get natural results. Apply your blush from the hairline to the apple of the cheeks so that the product would not appear concentrated on the apple part. You can apply the blush in one continuous stroke, or for more natural results, apply it in small strokes until you get the desired effect.
5. MAC flat definer brush 212 can be used for kohl, cake or gel eyeliner. It’s a great brush to venture your way into the eyeliner business. This brush can be used to draw thin stroke or a beautifully-made winged-tip eyeliner. Learn more about eyeliner-for-beginner tricks here.

*Image courtesy of pro.corbis.com