Today's Makeup Brushes

.....are from Ikea. I can't believe i am going to include Ikea in my makeup blog tags.

Basically i've eyed these brushes a long time ago but never mustered the strength to pick up a drawing brush and use it as a makeup tool. After watching EnKore's YouTube video i almost slapped myself...and today i got 'em.

The set is Ikea Måla (Swedish for 'to paint') and contains six brushes- three uber-soft and three made of harsh plastic i couldn't possibly use for anything so they're off my list (..perhaps i'll use them to clean my hair brush? who knows). The soft ones exceeded my expectations, they're really perfect for makeup application and i'm thinking perhaps they are too soft for actually painting with them... I was checking out Smashbox's blending brush, the fluffy rounded one, but i didn't want to shell out 25 euros....for a brush, a small, eye brush.

Smashbox #10 Crease Brush

The Ikea ones are soft (already said that but seriously, you have got to try them) and the handles are a bit too long- that's my only problem with them, i don't know how am i going to chop the excess off. Chainsaw, anyone?

The bristles are quite long and densely packed, they don't shed hairs, no wacky smell or other nuisances.  I trimmed the stray hairs with my nail scissors- they had some three or four bristles that looked a bit messy but problem solved. The price for the entire set was 20 Swedish crowns, which means approximately $3 or £2. Nice deal if you ask me.

The three (workable) ones are a small, a medium and a large. I'd say the small and medium can be both crease brushes, eyeshadow, contour and concealer, while the largest one could be an undereye powder brush, blending brush (wherever i feel necessary) etc. Too small for blush/bronzer (obviously), a bit large for the eyes but perfect for an overall lid wash-champagne eyeshadow, bases, you know. Perfectly universal. 

The medium-sized

Small

Large

The medium one seems to be the least perfect in the sense that the bristles are a couple of mm longer than the usual crease brush; i guess it's a bit harder to be precise with this tool, especially if you're doing some millimetric makeup look. I think it's perfect for adding color all over the lids, blending, and even applying concealer and powder on top of it. It's not very dense either, so i am not sure this is a tool a professional makeup artist would praise as much as i do. But it's perfect for me and my needs, so i figured i'd blog about it. I'm actually surprised by these brushes and very satisfied with having purchased them. Definitely recommended if you want to experience the 'fluffy blending brush' feeling without having to hemorrhage money at some Smashbox/MAC counter.