My Daily Essentials: Makeup Brushes

I shared my daily makeup essentials a little while back and as promised, here is my set of essential makeup brushes that have elevated my routine–without cleaning out my bank account. 

(Fair warning, these are all Real Technique brushes–

they are seriously amazing and the price can't be beat!)

(From right to left)

1. Real Techniques Expert Face Brush: Hands down the best liquid foundation brush ever, and I do mean ever. I have recommended this brush to at least two close friends and now it's the only foundation brush they use too. It blends liquid foundations seamlessly (say goodbye to brush strokes) and looks so natural while still giving full coverage. I also love using this brush with powders like my Bare Minerals foundation for a medium to full coverage look.

2. Real Techniques Blush Brush: I love my blush so if I can find something to make it look even better than count me in. This brush adds just a whisper of color to your cheeks and applies the color smoothly and evenly.

3. Real Techniques Multi-Purpose Brush: When I received this brush as a gift for my birthday last year I wasn't really sure what to do with it. It's too dense for a powder brush and not dense enough for liquid foundation. I've found it to be very good at contouring and highlighting and that is now it's official job.

4. Real Techniques Powder Brush: The newest addition to my collection, this powder brush may just already be one of my favorites. It's big, fluffy and so soft! It allows for a light dusting of powder to set makeup without looking cakey and also helps to blend out any too harsh contouring or blush. Sometimes I like to tap it into my [The] Body Shop Matte Bronzing Powder and dusting it all over my face for a nice tan glow.

5. Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush: My favorite way to use this one is for all-over lid color. It's a little more dense, which is good for packing on eye shadows making it ideal for lid colors.

6. Real Techniques Domed Shadow Brush: Best crease brush alert! The Domed Shadow Brush applies shadows into the crease with ease while still blending well.

7. Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush: Have you ever wondered how people apply darker shadows at the outer corner of the eyes? This brush is your ticket! It's pointed tip allows for precisely placing shadows in the outer corner and the flat sides help with blending it over the outer edge of the lid and up into the crease.

You can find Real Techniques online (www.realtechniques.com) or at Ulta stores.

What are your favorite makeup brushes?
Check out the rest of my daily makeup essentials here.

Face of The Day || Spring Look

 

Products Used:

FACE:

-Revlon Colorstay Foundation in 150 Buff buffed in with Real Techniques Expert Face Brush.

-Maybelline Dream Touch Lumi Highlighting Concealer in Ivory used to cover my dark circles.

-Physicians Formula Concealer Rx in Fair Light patted over blemishes with clean fingers.

-The Body Shop bronzing powder in 02 Fair Matte lightly contoured with Real Techniques Powder Brush.

-NARS Orgasm Blush applied with Real Techniques Blush Brush.

EYES:

-Sephora Nano Eyeliner Pencil in Black smudged at the top lash line with my fingers.

-L'Oreal Infalliable Liquid Liner in Black applied close to the last line with a slight flick at the outer corners.

-L'Oreal Butterfly Effect Mascara in Black.

-Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette Naked 2 & Faint mixed together and worked into the crease.

-Maybelline Define-A-Brow in Taupe used to shape and fill in my brows.

LIPS:

-Neutrogena Revitalizing Healthy Lip Balm in Sunny Berry.

I wore this look in a haul video I recently filmed, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vOpxSIIrnU

Face of the Day || Filming New Video

Hey y'all! It appears that my "Face of the Day" posts are proving to be quite popular, so I am going to continue posting them!

Today I filmed a new video for my YouTube channel–JessicaFashionFix about the struggles of picking a career after college. Check out the video here.









FACE: 
-Revlon Colorstay Foundation in 150 Buff (I wear this almost every day.) Applied with the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush.
-Maybelline Dream Touch Lumi Highlighting Concealer in Ivory under my eyes.
-Rimmel Stay Matte powder in Natural to set my foundation.
-Urban Decay blush in Quickie on cheeks.

EYES:
-Covergirl Flamed Out shadow pencil in Ginger Flame on the lid, then Urban Decay Naked 2 in the crease, and Urban Decay Venus in the inner corners of my eyes (Brightens the entire eye.)
-I lined my upper lashes with Sephora Nano Pencil Eyeliner in Black and applied Neutrogena Healthy Volume Mascara (which I don't recommend...review coming in a couple of days.)

LIPS:
-To finish off the look, I used Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm in Sunny Berry (Has SPF 30!)

**Click pink words for links to the products**

Face of the Day || All About Eyes

For today's look, I used the Covergirl Flamed Out Shadow Pencil in Melted Caramel Flame on my enticed eyelid and into the crease. I deepened the crease with Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow in Bad to the Bronze, then lined the lash line with my favorite black ELF Cream Eyeliner. I finished the eye area with the Covergirl Flamed Out Mascara.

On my face I used Revlon Colorstay foundation in 150 Buff, Physicians Formula Concealer in Fair Light on blemishes, and Maybelline Dream Touch Lumi Highlighting Concealer in Ivory under my eyes. I did a little bit of contouring with NYX Matte Bronzer in Medium and used NARS Orgasm blush.

To finish the look, I used Covergirl Smoochies Lip Balm in #Sweet Tweet. 

For hair I did a french braid through the front of my hair, continuing the braid into a high ponytail. My beaded headband is from Forever 21.

What do you think of this look?

Xoxo Jess

Queen Helene Mint Julep Face Masque Review

Fall in Love February is all about taking time for yourself and treating yourself to little indulgences while working to become your best self, and I think this face mask fits the bill.

The Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque has been a staple since I was in high school. My mom used it when she was in high school and introduced it to me when I was in my teens. I have have been using it since and have convinced many friends to become avid fans as well.

It is the classic thick green clay mask that dries to look like a desert on your face (if you have used clay masks you know what I'm talking about.) It dries out any blemishes, shrinks your pores, and makes skin soft and smooth while also helping control oily skin. I love this mask because while it dries out blemishes, it doesn't leave your face feeling tight and dry afterwards.

The best part? It is only about $6 at the drugstore so it will help you put your best face forward without breaking the bank.

xoxo Jess