Obviously I’ve made no secret of the fact that my skin is pretty rubbish (although, touch wood, things finally appear to be changing) which means I need a lot of coverage to make my skin look fairly normal. There are some spots that are just impossible to cover and the only thing you can do is make them flesh coloured (which is a bit counterproductive really as you’ll still be able to see the lump of the spot, just not the colour) but for things like surface spots, scars and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (post acne marks) you need a good foundation, a good concealer, a good setting powder and most importantly, good tools to work with.
I really do believe that you can have the absolute best make-up items in the world, but if you don’t have the right tools to apply them perfectly then there’s little point in investing in them in the first place. I also think that you don’t need to spend a lot of money on make-up if you have a great set of brushes. Soon, I’ll be doing a post on products that I rely on for high coverage, but in the meantime, here are the brushes I’ve found I depend on most for complete yet natural cover.
Real Techniques Stippling Brush, £11.99
This is the brush I use to apply my foundation with and it’s brilliant for buffing into the skin without leaving any foundation smears, yet it still ensures a high coverage. I use it by applying foundation to the back of my hand, dipping this in and working it around my face. If you use a light foundation or only need light coverage then this is all you’d need as you can use it to both apply foundation and buff it in for a great finish. However, I layer my foundation for high coverage, plus I use a fairly thick formula, so I do need to use another brush afterwards just to make sure the cover is worked fully into the skin.
Sigma Round Kabuki, £19.99
I think I’ve mentioned this brush on a previous love list, but this is just so good for applying concealer to large areas. I call this my stamping brush as I literally stamp product on to my problem areas and the finish is great. I apply concealer to the back of my hand, dip this brush in and stamp it on to the areas that need covering which is especially ideal for anyone who suffers from pitted scarring as it helps fill these with just enough concealer. I let the concealer settle in for a while (I usually work on my under eye area whilst this is happening) and I then buff the area with another brush (see below) to ensure the finish is natural.
Real Techniques Buffing Brush, (part of the Core Collection for £21.99)
There are a few brushes in this list that have many uses and this is definitely one of them. The main reason this gets daily use is because it’s really good for buffing product in without actually removing any from the face, but it’s also useful for applying powder when you just want to set make-up and don’t need powder to add as a further level of coverage. I use this to work in both foundation and concealer, and I also use this is I’ve overdone it with mineral powder or finishing powder.
BareMinerals Full Flawless Application Brush*, £24
I’ve always used very dense brushes for applying mineral foundation, but this brush actually gives a far less cakey finish without negating any coverage. I use this for setting make-up with either a mineral foundation or a setting powder and it buffs brilliantly whilst allowing you to slowly build coverage.
Jemma Kidd Pro Flat Top Foundation Brush*, £20
This is one of those brushes that I keep dragging out again and again and finding new uses for. Originally, I used it to work concealer into areas that needed concealer (it works really well with the Dermablend stick foundation) but I recently tried it as a spot concealer with mineral foundation and it works fantastically well. As you can probably see from the picture, it’s taken quite bit of abuse in the year or so I’ve had it, but it really is one of those brushes that will always get a lot of use thanks to its dense, flat top.
It would be wrong to write-up a list of brushes aimed at creating the perfect base without the inclusion of the Mac 217. I’d say this is probably the catalyst that started my brush obsession and I always have several on the go at one point. It’s particularly good for blending concealer under the eyes and working away any smears or smudges. I currently don’t use it for base make-up and instead use it for its original intention – blending eye make-up – but if anyone is looking for a really amazing concealer brush that almost guarantees a natural finish then you must absolutely pick this up.
Good to hear things are going well skinwise – fingers duly crossed.
My little ears pricked up at the mention of pitted scarring – I have one area on my left cheek (dry areas scar evilly, one reason I’m grateful that apart from the lithium episode my spots mostly stick to my T-zone) that really does look like the dark side of the moon. What kind of texture of concealer works with the stamping approach?
Thanks lovely, it’s definitely getting there! I’m sort of holding my breath as EVERY TIME I blog to say my skin is getting better I end up with a massive breakout…so far, so good though!
Texturally, I’d suggest something very creamy and liquid; as my skin isn’t particularly oily any more around the scarred areas, I get on really well with Clinique’s Continuous Coverage foundation, although I use it as a concealer as it’s way to heavy for all over the face. As grim as it sounds, I think the best way to approach pitted scarring is in the same way you’d level out a wall crack; a good primer and lots of thin and well blended layers to fill them in. Benefit’s Porefessional is really good for pits as well as pores but if you’re dry then don’t use too much as it will definitely cake up. Setting in place with a slightly shimmery (but tread carefully as you don’t want anything to OTT) mineral powder or setting powder will also diffuse the look of the pits, but only after you’ve layered up some decent coverage.
Hope this helps and let me know how you get on. Really glad to see you’re keeping an eye on the blog as I love hearing from you! xx
Great post. I really want to build up a decent brush collection and real techniques kit seems to be a good place to start. x
Thanks sweets; Real Techniques are actually really good in fairness, although I’m surprised they haven’t released a cheaper version of the Mac 217, especially considering it gets a lot of use in the Pixiwood vids! xx
I love the real techniques brushes Im slowly building up quite a collection of them! 😉
Leanne @ Leanne-Marie.com xx
They do a really good selection and I like the fact that there are lots of options for base brushes xx