My Favourite Brushes Part 2

Eyeliner Brushes
My 'go to' brushes when I want to create a sleek line are Bobbi Brown fineliner brush and Chanel no13.

I got the Bobbi Brown brush when I first purchased Bobbi Brown Long Wear gel liner as I was advised by the SA that it was the brush to use. If it hadn't been for that advice, I probably would never have even looked twice at it due to it's unconvential design but I am glad I have it. The brush is quite difficult to handle; the length of it is massive - I occasionally find it difficult if I am applying without wearing my lenses as I need to be closer to the mirror and this brush gets in the way. The tip is kind of like a caligraphy pen so you can create all different thicknesses just by simply rotating the handle when you are applying. The tip is also quite firm and is almost more like a sponge tip applicator you tend to get in bottles of liquid eyeliner.

The Chanel brush is a much more conventional style and will work brilliantly with both liquid and gel liners. I don't tend to use cake liners, but I suppose this would work with them too. This tends to drag the product a little less as the bristles are more flexible than the BB brush, meaning you are less likely to get a streaky application.

Brush Cleaner
I clean my brushes about once a week (eyeliner brushes get cleaned more often and brushes I use on others are cleaned before and immediately after), using generally whatever gentle detergent I have to hand whether that be silk handwash liquid, baby shampoo etc. However I find the BB Brush Cleaner an excellent product to have handy - especially if you don't have that many brushes. You use this in between proper washes just by spraying a small amount onto a tissue and then wiping the brush onto the tissue. The amount of product that comes off always amazes me!

Finally, I thought I would just say a few words about how much I dislike this brush! I think I got this about 18months ago and unfortunately I was unable to find out what the bristles are made from but from the irritation on my eyelid after using it, I'd suggest a kitchen broom would be more gentle. It is dreadful at picking up and retaining pigment long enough to get the brush from pallette to eyelid and then as soon as it touches your lid, all the remaining pigment discards onto your cheek. This is like trying to put E/S on using a hairbrush. It is absolutely beyond me how a team of experts would have tried this out and decided it was a good idea.

Anyway, hope that's been useful!
Amanda xx