My Tools of my Trade as a Make-up Artist
Make-up brushes in a zip-up case
I have a selection of different size and shape brushes for different purposes. (I will discuss the different types of brushes further on).
I keep them in a zip-up case with holes to hold the brushes in, as it protects the brushes from damage during transportation to and from jobs. I always wash the brushes with anti-bacterial liquid soap and water before taking them on jobs. This prevents infections being spread from one model to the next, and ensures that the colours I use come out as intended as there aren’t any residual colours on the brushes mixing with the colours I use. I tissue-dry the brushes after washing them, and then leave them to air-dry.
Tweezers
These are good for plucking out stray eyebrow hairs and other unwanted facial hairs, as well as for picking up and applying false eyelashes.
False nails and nail glue
I frequently stick these onto models' nails if they have short nails or if their nails aren’t nicely manicured.
Nail polishes, nail files and nail polish remover pads
I bring nail polish remover pads in case a model already has nail polish on that needs to be removed. Pads are a better idea than a bottle of nail polish remover, as pads can’t leak in my bag.
I usually like the nail polish to co-ordinate with the eye make-up or lip make-up.
Cleansing wipes and moisturiser
I use cleansing wipes to remove the make-up that models sometimes already have on before I do their make-up, as well as to remove the make-up I’ve done when the job is finished (unless the model wishes to keep the make-up on).
I moisturise the models' faces before doing the make-up. Moisturiser acts as a base for the foundation and helps the foundation glide over the face and blend in more easily.
I use the kind for sensitive skin to minimize the risk of skin reactions.
Foundations
I keep foundations in a wide range of colours, so that if I’m working on a natural look I can get foundation the same colour as the skin on the model’s jawline, so that it vanishes in when blended in. If I don’t have the right colour foundation, I mix two or more foundations together on the back of my hand, using a cotton bud, to get the right colour.
Foundation brushes
I use foundation brushes for blending foundation in over large areas such as the legs, but for blending foundation in on the face I prefer to use either my fingers or a sponge.
Cosmetic sponges
I sometimes use these for blending in foundation on the face, (but I usually prefer to blend the foundation in using my fingers).
Concealers and colour corrector
I cut all my concealers out of their tubes, and put them into palettes, so I can see all the colours at a glance without having to rummage through my bag or take any lids off. This saves time, and is lighter to carry around in my bag.
Concealers are good for hiding dark under-eye circles, to make models look less tired. For hiding dark under-eye circles I use a concealer one shade paler than the model’s skin on her face. However for hiding acne spots, rashes, spider veins or capillaries, pigmentation marks, scars, bruises, and other skin marks I use concealer the same colour as the model’s skin on her face. I apply the concealer with a brush, and then pat it gently with a finger to blend, and then set it by applying powder on top using a powder puff.
The light green-coloured one in the bottom right hand corner is a colour corrector for toning down redness in the skin. (Green is the opposite colour in the spectrum to red, so it cancels red out).
Under-eye concealer brushes
I find these well shaped and soft for applying concealer with accuracy to the delicate under-eye area.
Blemish concealer brushes
These are well shaped with a small tip for accuracy for applying concealer over acne spots, rashes, spider veins or capillaries, pigmentation marks, scars, bruises, and other skin marks.
Powders
I keep a range of different coloured powders for different skin colours.
I apply powder all over the face on top of foundation and concealer, using a powder puff, to set the foundation and concealer in place. It’s particularly important under the eyes to set the under-eye concealer. I blend the under-eye concealer out of any lines or wrinkles around the eyes using a finger immediately before setting it with powder, so that the under-eye concealer doesn’t collect in any lines or wrinkles and emphasize them. Powder is also necessary for mattifying the skin (unless a shiny/dewy skin is required). I re-apply powder to models' faces as the day goes on if their faces begin to look shiny again, in order to mattify their faces. I apply it using a powder puff, and then brush away the excess powder using a powder brush.
Powder puffs
I use these to apply the powder evenly all over the models' faces, pressing gently.
Powder brushes
I use these to gently brush away the excess powder (once it has been applied with a puff).
I also use powder brushes to apply bronzing powder over the nose, tops of the cheeks, and forehead, where the sun would naturally hit.
Fan brushes
These are the perfect shape for applying powder under a model’s eyes before doing the eye make-up. (Any flecks of eyeshadow or glitter that fall below the eyes when the eye make-up is being applied will accumulate on top of the powder, and can be brushed away with a powder brush when the eye make-up is completed, without the fallen flecks marking the skin below the eyes).
Eyeshadows
I keep a wide spectrum of eyeshadow colours. But to me the most important colours to have are: a) a white or another pale colour such as ivory, to use as a highlighter on the brow bone, or for all over the area from the upper lash lines up to the eyebrows, or to highlight the inner corners of the eyes; b) a black, dark brown, dark grey, dark green, dark blue, or dark purple, to use for lining the eyes and/or for defining the socket lines, and/or for darkening/extending the outer corners of the eyes; and c) a bright colour or mid-tone colour such as gold, silver, copper, grey, brown, green, blue, pink, purple, orange, yellow, or lilac, to use on the top eyelids as far up as the socket lines, to give a nice pop of colour.
Eyeshadows often come with their own sponge applicators, which are sometimes good, but other times I require other thin-tipped eyeshadow brushes, in order to apply the eyeshadows to sharper points or to draw sharper lines.
Large eyeshadow brushes
These make the job a lot easier for applying eyeshadow or highlighter to brow bones, or for all over the area from the upper lash lines up to the eyebrows.
Small eyeshadow brushes
These are good for getting into small corners of the eyelids, for lining the eyes with eyeshadow, for defining the socket lines with eyeshadow, for creating “cat-eyes”, or for drawing sharp points or lines with eyeshadow. Their thin tips provide good accuracy.
Eyeshadow blending brushes
These are good for softening the effect of eyeshadow; softening the edges of it; blending eyeshadow colours out gradually; and blending different eyeshadow colours together, to create a gradual blend from one colour into another colour.
Glitters and mixing medium glue
I use glitters on both eyelids and lips. They stick to lipstick or lip gloss easily, but to make them stick to eyelids I squeeze a bit of MAC Mixing Medium (which is a glue designed specially for this) onto a small thin-tipped eyeshadow brush, before using it to apply glitter to the eyelids. This way the glitter adheres to the eyelids nicely.
Eyeliner brushes
I find these work best for lining the eyes with eyeshadow used wet. I dip the eyeliner brushes into water, and then brush them over the eyeshadows. The effect is bold, similar to liquid eyeliner.
Liquid eyeliners
These give a similar effect to eyeshadow applied wet, for bold impact.
Eyeliner pencils
I keep a few of these for a bolder effect than dry eyeshadow for lining the eyes, but not as bold an effect as wet eyeshadow or liquid eyeliner.
Inner rim eyeliner pencils
I keep a white one, and an ice pink one. They're great for making small eyes appear larger/wider, when applied to the inner rim of the lower eyelids.
Eyebrow pencils
I use these to make the eyebrows look more dramatic or darker, to fill in gaps in eyebrows, to thicken sparse eyebrows, to change the shape of eyebrows, to draw eyebrows on if somebody doesn’t have them, or to draw eyebrows on in a different position or shape if I’ve blocked the natural eyebrows out with make-up.
Pencil sharpener
I use one for both thick pencils and thin pencils, as I use both thick and thin pencils.
Diamantes
I like to make shapes or patterns with them. I put false eyelash glue onto the flat backs of them to stick them onto the face.
Eyelash curler
I sometimes use this if a model has short straight eyelashes, (which is quite often the case with oriental models), in order to make the eyelashes show up more.
I use mostly black mascaras. I also use brown, purple, blue, and green mascaras.
Eyebrow brush and eyelash comb
The brush on the left side of the head is for brushing the eyebrows in an upwards and outwards direction after applying eyebrow pencil.
The comb on the right side of the head is for combing through eyelashes after applying mascara in order to separate the eyelashes and remove clumps of mascara, to give the mascara an even distribution through the eyelashes.
False eyelashes and false eyelash glue
I keep several different kinds of false eyelashes.
I apply a thin slick of false eyelash glue along the roots of the false eyelashes, and then hold them against the model’s lash lines for a few seconds to get them to adhere.
Bronzing powder
I brush it lightly over the forehead, nose, and tops of cheeks, using a powder brush, if the model is looking too pale once I've applied the foundation, concealer and powder.
Blushers
I keep a range of colours to suit different skin colours.
I like to use blusher on the apples of the cheeks to give a “baby doll” or rosy-cheeked look; or otherwise at the sides of the face along the undersides of the cheekbones to emphasize their structure or to make the model’s cheekbones look higher; or otherwise along the tops of the cheekbones and curving up and over the temples to give a pretty and healthy colour to the face.
Blusher brushes
I keep separate blusher brushes, (as I find they work better than the small blusher brushes that come with blushers), for blending the blusher over large areas without leaving streaks, for softening the edges of blusher, and for creating a rosy-cheeked effect. I also find that separately bought blusher brushes give me better control of where the blusher goes, as they tend to have firmer hairs, so they are better for defining cheekbones.
Lip liner pencils
I use these for drawing an outline around the edges of the lips before painting them within the outline with lipstick. Otherwise I use lip liner all over the lips in place of lipstick, or all over the lips before applying lipstick. The thin tips to the lip liner pencils enable me to get an accurate and sharp outline to the lips.
Lipsticks
As with the concealers, I cut all my lipsticks out of their tubes, and put them into palettes, so I can see all the colours at a glance without having to rummage through my bag or take any lids off. This saves time and takes up less room in my bag and is lighter to carry around.
I keep a plethora of colours for a wide range of looks.
These give lips a glossier look and are more moisturising for dry lips than the matte lips look.
Lip brushes
These help me apply lipstick, lip gloss and Vaseline to the lips with precision.
Cotton buds
These are brilliant for wiping away small bits of make-up that have gone astray. Their thin tips provide good accuracy.
Mineral water vaporizer
I sometimes spray a fine mist from this all over the face after doing the make-up, to give the make-up a dewy look. I hold the vaporizer at arm's length when spraying it, so that only a small amount of water vapour lands on the face in very fine particles, (so that it doesn't cause the face to look wet, and doesn't cause the make-up to run either).
Photography of my make-up tools: done myself.
