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Wednesday, 8 February 2017

Highlighting - Five Brushes, Five Ways


Everyone loves a good bit of highlight, don't they? The glowy look has been super-popular for ages now and I have to admit, I certainly count myself as a lover of all things highlighting-related too. Whether it be a minimal look (or as 'minimal' as you can be with highlighter - you know how it goes) or quite literally slathering nearly my entire face with it - I love a good glow-giver for adding some extra radiance, dimension and just extra 'glam' to my makeup. I have many, many favourites in terms of products - as I'm sure you'll all know - but I also have probably just as many top picks when it comes to brushes for the task in hand, too. Surprisingly, there's a lot of different ones out there that are either catered especially for the task in hand, or that you can use for it anyway and over time, I have built up quite the collection of favourites. They all do the same job of highlighting, but all in slightly different ways and with varying finishes too. Wanna take a look?

THE FAN BRUSH (Real Techniques Fan Brush) - Honestly, my go-to brush for highlighting my face on an everyday basis is a good ol' fan brush. Since finally trying the whole concept out perhaps a year or two ago, I have been fully converted. This makes highlighting my face - especially the tops of my cheekbones - a literal dream. The size and shape means you get a slightly more diffused application at first, but you can really build it up at the same time too. It sweeps the product on, almost blending it out as you go and meaning there's no harsh lines in sight.

...AND THE MINI VERSION, TOO (Real Techniques Mini Fan Brush) - Recently, I have fallen head over heels for the smaller version too. For smaller, more precise highlighting I used to rely solely on a small, fluffy eyeshadow brush - or something like that - but nowadays, this is the guy for me. When I want to add some glow to my browbone, cupids bow or bridge of my nose - this is the brush I reach for. The size and shape allows complete control over where I place the product when dealing with those tricking, harder-to-reach areas that a larger brush just wouldn't do justice and I love it.

FLAT, TAPERED BRUSH (Real Techniques Setting Brush) - If you're after something to really pack on the pigment, super quickly - I love using a brush like this. This brush in particular is slightly tapered towards the end, making application much more precise and the overall size of brush is much smaller - again, putting more emphasis on accuracy. The bristles are more densely-packed and so gives you the option of a really full-on finish if that's what you're after, but they're still moveable enough to buff it in, blend it out and give a more lighter wash of glowy goodness.

ROUND CONTOUR BRUSH (Real Techniques Contour Brush) - I love using brushes for tasks other than what they're supposed to be used for and this has to be one of my favourites. While a brush like this makes for an amazing contouring companion, it's equally as good at applying highlighter too. This is even more dense, giving the most pigmentation of all the brushes here and while the rounder tip may make application less precise, it covers more surface area and so gives more of an even, overall glow - much like the fan brush, just with more pigmentation.

BEAUTY SPONGE (Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge) - Last, but certainly not least - a good ol' makeup sponge. I mean, is there anything one of these cannot do? There definitely is, but applying highlighter sure ain't one of them. Obviously, with this one, it's certainly targeted more at the creams and liquids rather than the powder formulas - but for the former two, it is a dream. You basically use it in exactly the same way as you would to apply your foundation or concealer - dampen it slightly and use bouncing motions to blend things in. Not only does it blend it in, but it also really meshes the highlighter with the skin and makes it look as one. You can still get a proper glowy, glowy look, but if you want to, you can make it uber-natural (probably the most natural of them all) and really make the finish completely seamless. I loves it.

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