Here is part 1 in my concealer series. Part 2 is all about why NOT to use your finger to apply concealer, part 3 is my 'every day' concealer tutorial, part 4 is the reverse triangle method for concealing under eye bags and part 5 is a run down of my favorite concealers from light to full coverage: every single one of them drug store! I am just going to skip the rambling, give a little background for new readers & then jump right into discussing the best under eye concealer brush I have ever used! I tend to get excited, rambling on & on to make sure I have covered every single detail about a product or tutorial to ensure you guys have no questions at the end but recently, I received an email stating that I talked too much. I'll try not to do that this time, to see if it is better for you guys!
You all should know my theory by now....THERE IS NO REASON TO BREAK THE BANK TO BUY BEAUTY PRODUCTS & TOOLS BECAUSE ANY PRODUCT CAN WORK FOR YOU WITH THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE AND TOOLS. Affordable makeup & tools are much better because not only are many, many drug store products high quality but with the money you save by not purchasing a high end product because of the name or because someone , you can build your collection quicker & try several products for the price of someone you admire mentions or endorses the product.
For example, MAC's Toxic Tale lipstick runs about $16.50. Did you know Maybelline Coral Tonic is an exact dupe for the MAC color, including being heavily pigmented & very long lasting? By purchasing the Maybelline product for $6.99, you can get an additional lipstick for the price of the one MAC!!
Shop wisely, beauties....I own high & low end brands, but for the last year, I have purchased nothing but drug store products for an experiment I did. I created a 12 month spreadsheet, including very accurate drugstore dupes for hundreds of high end products, including every product I have ever loved that was high end, that at purchasing time I thought was worth the money (wrong) & calculated the money saved! Click here to see the results and details of ALLLLL the great dupes I found! (The link won't actually work until tomorrow morning, as I am just writing my post describing my experiment & the results!)
Let's get started....after you hear all of these amazing pros to this Essential Tools brush, you will want to run right out and get it....best part is that it is super affordable! You'll get a set of 3 dual ended makeup brushes, which is 6 brushes total, for a total of $9. Trust me, every one of these brushes are amazing! I have recently been loving the Sedona Lace brushes but haven't touched them once since discovering the Essential Tools line. I have used every brand of brush from MAC to e.l.f. and not one of them have come close to the awesomeness of these Essential Tools brushes, especially the one discussed in this review. They are marketed as Hi-Def eye brushes, as you can see below. Here is what you get:
Picture courtesy of walmart.com
Brush 1: The first end is flat, semi-domed thin brush for packing on color or applying concealer with a medium sized semi-domed blending brush on the opposite end.
Brush 2: End one is a small pencil brush formed with bristles (many of the pencil brushes lately look & feel like a tiny sponge but I believe this new type of pencil brush is actually a smudge brush, some say smudge brush while others say pencil brush...think old school pencil eyeliners with the small sponge tip on one end) & the second end is standard blending brush, slightly larger than the normal eyeshadow blending brushes.
Brush 3- The first end is a a thin angled brush with a mascara wand at the opposite end.
There were no specific instructions regarding what each brush was created to be used for but all were listed as eye brushes & there was a description on the packaging that spoke about vibrant eye shadows, packing on the color, applying eyeliner with ease, etc. I don't follow instructions but instead I play around with brushes to find out what makeup product they work best for. After some trial & error, here are the ways I discovered to get the best usage out of each brush.
Brush 1: under eye concealer & setting powder
Brush 2: packing on, detailing & blending eyeshadow
Brush 3: eyeliner, eyebrow filling & eyebrow grooming/brushing
Now, for the very best concealer brush on the market (brush 1):
Concealers are hands down my favorite makeup product on the market. If I only had the option of owning & using one makeup product (that would be a sad, sad day to only own ONE makeup product for makeup lovers like myself), concealers would be my product of choice. Dab a little concealer on under eye circles, blemishes or redness & your face looks as smooth as a baby's bottom. (ugh what a bad expression!)
Boy, does this brush make applying concealer...any brand of concealer...a breeze, giving perfect coverage every single time. It gives a smooth, even application, blends in the concealer quickly & easily without rubbing it off and the coverage is much better than with my fingers or other brushes. Every single day for 2 weeks, I used this brush with a different concealer-both drug store & high end- to ensure that it was the brush itself giving these amazing results, not the concealer product, and the results were exactly the same with every concealer I tried....even light coverage concealers became medium coverage with this Hi-Def Essential Tools brush!
The small, flat end of this Essential Tools brush (lower left corner) is great for patting concealer on to the on top of blemishes, on any discoloration around the lips and into the crevices of the nostrils where women are prone to redness from hormones. But it is more than amazing for the under eye area. Soft bristles ensure a gentle touch to avoid damaging the delicate under eye area. The small, flat shape is perfect for patting the concealer on top of the discoloration under the eyes. It holds a lot of product so one pat into the concealer is more than enough to do the job, no matter what concealer you use. The angled tip of the brush is perfect for placing concealer into the small crevice underneath the inner corner of the eye & patting concealer in a downward triangle for complete coverage of severe under eye bags. Click here for my concealer tutorial using the triangle method (part 3 in the concealer series)
Because your finger tips are very warm with an average 98.6 body temperature, the heat warms the product to quickly. What happens to liquid based products, even those marketed as cream, stick or mousse are all simply different forms of a liquid base? Liquid based products melt when exposed to heat!! Although that can be a good thing for blending it out, the heat actually thins out the product extremely which significantly reduces the coverage you get. It is very simple ladies: the thinner the product, the less it will adhere to your skin & cover up that imperfection! Click HERE to see my entire post dedicated to applying concealer. (Part 1 in the concealer series)...but before you read the concealer tutorial (part 2 in my concealer line up), read about the experiment that discredits every single beauty guru online that swears using your ring finger to apply & blend concealer under the eye is the best method (part 1). WRONG!
Go grab this brush, if you are like me & steadily climbing that 30-something ladder with children & sleep loss that gives you wrinkled, dry, so-blue-its-almost-black under eye bags. The other side of the brush is a fluffy blending brush (lower right corner). Because of the severity of my under eye circles, I need a setting powder that finishes the job. Foundation smooths out your skin tone, concealer hides discoloration & puffiness and once you find the right one for your skin, a setting powder lies lightly over the skin, filling in fine lines and leaving the skin smooth and free of under eye circles plus locking in the concealer for coverage that lasts all day.
Most of you know I have started a love it or leave it series here on Your Infallible Beauty. If you don't absolutely love a product or tool & its results, why keep it? I have a fairly large makeup collection but every item gets used between tutorials for this blog, tutorials for the other to magazines (one online) that I contribute to, all my freelance makeup work & makeup on my kids for things like Halloween, pageants, etc. This brush is definitely a LOVE it...especially for us 30-something, mothers who spend more time bouncing teething babies at night than we do sleeping! Even though I work hard to cover my under eye circles so I don't frighten the world, I am still proud of these eye bags because they mean I was the one taking care of my own babies!!
Did I say I wouldn't ramble on, talking forever? Oops I forgot! Have an awesome day beauties!
<3 Missie <3
**I am not affiliated with Essential Tools. Essential Tools did not request this review. Essential Tools did not send me these products; the brushes were purchased with my own money. Every single word of this review is my own opinion, typed solely by me & is my honest thoughts on these products.**
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