Hi everyone!
A few weeks back I bumped into two of my friends in a stationery shop in which my mum works in. We were just having a little catch up in front of the paint brushes and we started talking about how each paint brush looks strangely similar to high end makeup brushes. This got me thinking: can you actually replace high end makeup brushes which paint brushes which are 1/4 of the price?
(Special mention to Chloe & Katrina for giving me the idea for this post, maybe you two should try it out next!)
A few weeks back I bumped into two of my friends in a stationery shop in which my mum works in. We were just having a little catch up in front of the paint brushes and we started talking about how each paint brush looks strangely similar to high end makeup brushes. This got me thinking: can you actually replace high end makeup brushes which paint brushes which are 1/4 of the price?
(Special mention to Chloe & Katrina for giving me the idea for this post, maybe you two should try it out next!)
Eyebrows
Just a quick note: I am AWFUL at my eyebrows and I try so hard to make them look "Instagram worthy" but it rarely goes that way!
For my usual makeup routine I would normally use a Real Techniques brow brush with a comb on the other end. I use a mix of gel and powder for my brows and finish them off with brow gel (which I haven't done in the image above!)
I found this angled paint brush which was sort of similar to my usual brush...so how did it look?
For my usual makeup routine I would normally use a Real Techniques brow brush with a comb on the other end. I use a mix of gel and powder for my brows and finish them off with brow gel (which I haven't done in the image above!)
I found this angled paint brush which was sort of similar to my usual brush...so how did it look?
The paint brush worked rather well in my opinion! It was more fine with the brush I would usually use and if I was talented enough in makeup, it would be perfect for creating some extra hairs in the rather sparse spaces on my brows.
Would I be using this brush again? Probably.
Would I be using this brush again? Probably.
Bronzer/Contour
How does contouring even work?! I realise the shade I use isn't the right colour for my skin, but in all honesty I have NO idea how to match my pale skin with a contour colour - so if someone would like to point me in the right direction that would be fab! I rarely contour as I prefer to go for a more subtle look and my chubby cheeks are seen from miles off, so I'd rather use my free time of my morning routine to go eat some more breakfast.
The brush I would normally use to contour (when I can be bothered) is one that comes with a Maybelline bronzing kit and then I would blend it out with a big fluffy brush. For the paint brush alternative, I picked up this Decopatch glue brush as it looked most similar to the brush which I would normally use! The results?
The brush I would normally use to contour (when I can be bothered) is one that comes with a Maybelline bronzing kit and then I would blend it out with a big fluffy brush. For the paint brush alternative, I picked up this Decopatch glue brush as it looked most similar to the brush which I would normally use! The results?
(Just to clarify I haven't blended the product to see how it would come out.)
As you can tell the paintbrush was AWFUL in this situation. It couldn't pick up the product very well and the end was so fine that the lines were incredibly straight and it was a struggle to blend out. One bonus though: the brush is SUPER soft so I would love to find an alternative way to use this brush on my face.
As you can tell the paintbrush was AWFUL in this situation. It couldn't pick up the product very well and the end was so fine that the lines were incredibly straight and it was a struggle to blend out. One bonus though: the brush is SUPER soft so I would love to find an alternative way to use this brush on my face.
Highlighter
Again, highlighting isn't my forté and I actually didn't have a proper highlighting brush, so I would normally just use a Real Techniques buffing brush which I use to use for foundation. For the paintbrush I grabbed this twist grip fan brush to work as my highlighting tool. But did it work?
I feel like it works in a similar way as the brush I'm already using, so from above I see no difference! I will most likely be using the paintbrush and go back to using the other brush for foundation. One slight issue with the fan brush is that a lot of hairs did fall out during application and it was rather scratchy - so if you are going to use paint brushes I would soak them in oil beforehand!
Eyeshadow/blending brush
I absolutely adore blending eyeshadows when doing my makeup. It's fun to play with different colours and get different looks each time! I usually use a Kiko blending brush (number 211 if you're wondering) to get right in the crease of my eye and blend it out smoothly. For a paint brush alternative I will be using the twist grip deerfoot brush - did it work in the way I desired?
In this part I will be using the W7 Smokin' palette.
Other than scratching my eye horribly, it actually didn't do such a bad job! I've recently soaked this brush in oil to make it a lot softer. I probably wouldn't use this brush again as my blending brush is super soft and does the job a lot easier for me.
If you are on a tight budget and would like to get your hands on some brushes, then I honestly do recommend looking into some of these alternativs in your local arts & crafts store. Since creating this post I have been using the fan brush and the angled brush as part of my morning routine!
See you in the next blog post,
See you in the next blog post,