Whoever said making up was hard to do? It”s a cinch, especially with all of the makeup brushes available now.
I can remember when I was a skinny little kid with freckles, cutoffs and an insatiable curiosity for my mama”s makeup vanity. One thing that captured my attention then, and gives me a chuckle well into my adult years, was this enormous makeup brush. With its powder blue wooden handle and its gigantic arrangement of soft powder blue bristles, it was by all accounts fabulous! I sat curled up on Mama”s king-size chenille bedspread, mesmerized at the reflection of her through the mirror of my childhood.
It wasn”t long ago that she became ill for just a while, and I was cleaning out the cabinets of old perfume bottles, bath powder boxes from Christmases past, and there in the far rear corner of her vanity I found that old powder brush. It was still light blue, though the paint was worn and tattered on the handle, still just as magnificent as my memory. Sometimes we find reverie in the simplest of things.
An evolution
Well, today there are just as many options for makeup brushes and then some. The old adage, “You”ve come a long way, baby,” rings true here because the industry has evolved when it comes to the tools we add to our arsenal of beauty. Powder brushes are dome-shaped with shorter bristles for a face powder touch-up that is truly flawless. The bristles are made of natural fibers that are as soft as a baby”s skin.
Your mama”s old brushes take a backseat to the newer, modern ones with ergonomic, sleek handles, and makeup artists worldwide put in their “two cents” enough that beauty manufacturers finally got it! Eye shadow brushes in different shapes and sizes, because we need a contour brush that is angled and a blending brush that works for us and not against us, right? Done. Plus, the newer foundation brushes are genius. Foundation lasts and lasts when using one of these innovative inventions, and the coverage is splendid.
One of my favorites is the angled eyeliner brush with its special shorter bristles that are flat and help me to create a perfectly lined eye every time. But we should not forget about the lip brushes that are retractable, keeping the lipstick on the brush and not all over the inside of your makeup bag or counter. Love that! Another glorious find is the concealer brush — small enough to get into the inner corners of the eyes and gentle enough not to damage the delicate skin around our eyes.
Cheeks are blushing for all the right reasons these days with fantastic blush brushes introducing longer bristles, but cleverly designed to dust the apples of the cheeks with just the right amount of beautiful. Last but certainly not least are the bronzer brushes that are simply to die for as they come in a variety of shapes and sizes for that bronze goddess in all of us.
So, whether you are reminiscing much like me about powder blue brushes in giant-sized memories of a day come and gone, or arming yourself with the latest makeup brushes that will be popping up everywhere this spring, remember to use those brushes to paint the town, and yourself, beautiful!
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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