Essential Make-up Brushes

Get the tools right and everything will follow – Your magic wands BRUSHES

Good quality brushes are ESSENTIAL for anyone who regularly wears make-up, especially for a working make-up artist. This is one profession where you really can blame the tradesman really can blame the tools. Each brush is made for a specific use, but that doesn’t mean you have to use it for that. You will find ways of working with your brushes that work for you and for the product you are using at that time.

1.     Fine tipped eyeliner brush.

Perfect for creating precise lines and also excellent for concealing tiny areas.

2.    Large and Medium rounded eye-shadow brush.

Rounded brushes are perfect for working into the natural contours of the eye and giving a soft blended edge. A square edged brush will give a more solid, harsh line.

3.     Small rounded eye-shadow and concealer brush.

This is used for applying loose pigments, creating socket lines and for working with smaller detail. It is also a little stiffer than the larger brushes and works brilliantly as a concealer brush.

4.     Flat Foundation Brush

This is the traditional foundation brush and will always be an essential make-up kit item. It gives a smooth finish and is great fro getting right under the eyes, contouring, shading and highlighting. Best used with cream and liquid foundations. If using liquid, you may find it easier to apply to your face and blend with the brush.

5.     Fibre-Optic Foundation Brush

This is one of the newest brushes around and is my ultimate favourite. I have only been using one for around a year, but adore it! When using the brush it gives an almost airbrushed finish. The fine white bristles are very, very porous, so its best not to apply liquid foundation to the brush but to the face and then blend with the brush. Apply foundation sparingly and gradually build. It is easier to add than to take-away.

6.     Lip Brush

You can get very thin, soft brushes or thicker more rigid brushes. Which you use is a personal preference. They both create the perfect lip line.

7.     Fine tipped brush

Perfect for concealing, getting into the awkward under eye and corner of the eye area and applying liquid eyeliner.

8.     Large Blush Brush

Great for using with blushers and bronzers and blending for a natural look

9.     Contouring Brush

An angled brush, smaller than a blush brush. Used for contouring and highlighting.

10. Fine angled brush

One brush you cannot live without. It is great for filling in brows and keeping them looking natural and also perfect for creating any kind of eyeliner look. It is fairly stiff (but not hard or sharp) and slim, so allows you to get right along the lash line.

11. Disposables – Lips Brushes, Mascara Wands, Eyeliner, cotton buds, foundation sponges, cosmetic pads

Hygiene is the utmost important thing when working in make-up. With so many faces being worked with there are hundreds of opportunities to spread germs. DO NOT ALLOW IT TO HAPPEN! Use disposable wands for mascara and NEVER DOUBLE DIP. This means once you have touched an eye with a wand then trash it, do not ever put it back in the mascara tube, and use a new wand.

12. Brush Cleaner

You can buy specialist brush cleaners, which will sanitise and clean brushes, you can also use antibacterial shampoo/hand-wash and surgical spirit to sanitise.

Wedding Mania

So wedding season is rapidly approaching, along with the mayhem of wedding fayre planning and organisation. This is great news as it means a good regular income, but it can be a tiring time. Some brides, bridesmaids and mothers of the brides can be complete divas, therefore making life of a make-up artist, hairstylist, wedding planner or anyone else they come in contact with utterly manic. That is the downside of the job. I have been extremely lucky so far, I have not had any crazy bridal parties to deal with.

I thoroughly enjoy weddings. I get a chance to be a part of someones "special day" and to make them feel stunning and confident. The feeling of satisfaction is immense when a bride looks at her finished look and beams with delight. It makes the little stresses all worthwhile. I like to give each bride a personalised look and not opt for the standard bride look. I ask each bride to fill in a booking form and questionnaire upon booking their trial. This is to find out their likes/dislikes, skin type/tone/colouring, what they usually wear and what they want to achieve. I then go to the trial fully prepared and the brides feel comfortable with what we are about to create. At the trial it is a chance for them to play with the look until it is totally perfected and also allows them to test the products and ensure they last and do not have any adverse affect on them. Once the trial is over, if the bride is happy with her trial and wants to continue with a wedding booking I then go on to design the look on a face chart and email it to the bride, along with any other looks for others that are required. If she wants to make changes then she has the look to refer to and to remind her of the trial.

The other side of wedding make-up is advertising. There is no better way to advertise than  word of mouth and recommendations. I have also found that getting a spot at a wedding show or wedding fayre is also a great opportunity to meet potential customers. These fayres can be expensive, but if bookings are gained then they pay for themselves in no time. I love the process of designing the stand and the promotional materials for each event and meeting and greeting the exciting brides. It is a great opportunity to showcase my skills, I tend to take a "model" along for the day or weekend and have them sit for me while I give them make-overs. The brides seem to like seeing me at work and it encourages them to hang around for a little longer.

I have attended one show this year and have a spot booked at the largest show in Essex booked for late in 2010. I am extremely excited and can not wait to get the Worby Ltd brand out there for the world to see! Along with my bridal work coming up, I have several fashion photoshoots in the pipeline, am planning a major new move into the world of business (will disclose more when the time is right!) and networking like it is going out of fashion!

Transformations

As well as being a total make-up junkie, I have recently become photoshop Bonkers too!

I love the fact you can make an image look so dramatically different, not just make people look perfect! You can create art! I thoroughly enjoy playing around with the tools and seeing what I can come up with.

Here is some of my recent work. I am currently working on some SFX images which will be ready in the near future so keep your eyes peeled.