To achieve a beautiful finish and a flawless looking eye design, you need good brushes. There is no way around this.

If you purchase an eye shadow compact that contains those little sponge applicators, throw them away immediately.

Even a simple wash of colour will look ten times better applied with the correct brush.

If you want to splurge on a brush or two, these would be the best to invest in as the detailed work around the eyes requires quality and precision.

There are many different eye brushes to choose from, and here’s where it gets tricky.

Use larger, fluffier brushes to apply base colours to the eye lid and blend colours together. Smaller brushes are better for applying colour along the lash line and into the crease of the eye. 

Remember if you have an angle brush (see brush lesson #1) then you already have a brush for upper / lower lash line powder application.

Blending brushes
A dome shaped blending brush with lovely soft natural bristles will work perfectly for laying down your base shadow right up to the brow bone (nude, cream or taupe shades are great base colours).

You can also apply bright colours or pastels with this brush to give a soft “wash” of colour over the eye lid. Stop the colour at the crease and blend the edge well to avoid it looking too over the top.

Blending brushes are also necessary for a smoky eye. So after applying your dark colour of choice to the lid and / or crease (black, brown or navy are all good options), gently blend any hard edges away with a medium size blending brush.

Small, light circular motions over the line will soften it easily. If you’re not sure if the look is finished, just blend again. Using a tiny amount of a medium shade to blend over a dark shade will give a lovely graduation of tones. I like to use brown or aubergine over black smoky eyes to soften the look.

If you can afford it, purchase two blending brushes, a large and medium size.  Try the MAC brushes #224 and #217. This will allow you to complete almost any look with ease. You can also purchase much smaller dome shaped brushes which are fantastic for blending colour along the lash lines.

Flat eye shadow brushes
These come in many different sizes, with larger ones useful for all over eye lid application, and smaller ones for concentrated colour on the lid and crease. Choosing a medium size flat eye shadow brush will allow you to pat colour on to the lid, along the lash line (using the edge) and in the crease.

These dense brushes are great for patting on loose pigment powders, and are also fabulous used wet. Lay down your colour with these and blend it out with a blending brush. Try MAC brushes #252 and #228.

Brush brands worth checking out:

MAC (in MAC stores and Smith and Caughey)
Bobbi Brown (Smith and Caughey)
Smashbox (Ponsonby Road Store and selected boutiques)
Eco Tools (Pharmacies / Farmers)
QVS UBU (Pharmacies / Farmers)
NARS (Mecca Cosmetica Ponsonby / Newmarket)
Becca (Glamourpuss and Lucy and the Powder Room)

Stephanie Coulter