Last year I began a series on my Top five brushes for this, that and the other. For one reason or another I took a break from the brush posts but I have decided to get the ball rolling again and pick up where I left off - with the eyes. This month its all about lining...
Lining the eyes well is not the easiest of things. I remember that when I began my make-up training my tutor at the time insisted we practised our eyeliner stokes; we were were doing stage make-up I recall, so strong lines created from cake eyeliner (tricky stuff for a beginner) were necessary to create a classic stage make-up. Determined to get it right I sat in my room in the shared student house, perfecting lines on the back of my hand and on on my own eyes until I had mastered them.
Lining the eyes well is not the easiest of things. I remember that when I began my make-up training my tutor at the time insisted we practised our eyeliner stokes; we were were doing stage make-up I recall, so strong lines created from cake eyeliner (tricky stuff for a beginner) were necessary to create a classic stage make-up. Determined to get it right I sat in my room in the shared student house, perfecting lines on the back of my hand and on on my own eyes until I had mastered them.
Quite a few years on, I still prefer creating a liquid/gel/eyeshadow eyeliner line to a pencil one, so here are my Top Five brushes for mastering that perfect line...
Eyeliner Brush(es) from Louise Young Cosmetics
I could actually create this entire post using just the five Louise Young Cosmetics eyeliner brushes - but I won't. I own all of these five brushes and each is very different; with varying degrees of bristle density from standard through to ultra fine for true precision application. Perfect, however you like your lines!
Left to Right: LY24, LY24A, LY25, LY23, LY24B
Angle Brush from Make-up International
Make-up International are cruelty free pro range created by Award winning make-up legend Wally Schneiderman (The Elephant Man, Labyrinth, The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen... Personal Make-up Artist to Ingrid Bergman & Bette Davis - need I go on?). These synthetic angle brushes (also a fixture of my kit) are a delight to use and are perfect for eye liner, brows and special effects!
£4.75 - £5.75 from Make-up International
Concurve Liner Brush from adesign
If trad ain't your bag then maybe this is. Created using synthetic Natrafil filaments, the concurve brush is a twist on the conventional straight bristle brush and has an arched line to fit neatly into the contours of the eye and brow.
Currently just £3.95 from Cocktail Cosmetics
Eyeliner Brush from AntonymWhen I started out on the road signposted Make-up Career, super thin liner brushes were pretty hard to come by - bristles tended to be a standard length and thickness. Frustrated but the lack of variation I used to purchase brushes and then pull out some of the bristles in a bid to get the brush I wanted... Thankfully this is no longer the case and this liner brush from Atonym is pretty damn fine! With synthetic bristles and sustainable bamboo handle, it is also vegan friendly.
Travel 715 Smokey Eyeliner Brush from Bdellium ToolsIf you aren't one for fine lines or liquid liner and prefer to wear a thicker, softer line then take a look at this liner brush. The short synthetic and tapered bristles are perfect for applying and blending eyeshadow along the lash line, outer corner and into the socket.
£6.50 from PAM (Precious About Make-up)
Main image:
Body images: Louise Young Cosmetics, Bdellium Tools, adesign, Antonym Cosmetics Make-up International
Thank you for this post! I'm still shopping for a pointed liner brush - didn't know there were so many variations! It's great to get brush recs from a makeup artist.
ReplyDeleteHey Kath
DeleteI am glad it is helpful to you. I am a brush obsessive so I take my brush purchasing very seriously :)
Let me know which one you go for in the end
L x