Do Not Buy More Of
MUA (Makeup Academy) Professional BB/CC Cream Brush
Normally I start my Keep In Mind posts with the thing that I enjoyed the most, but today I am starting with the one I liked the least. The reason for this is that the use of this brush after using the one I want to Keep In Mind made me realize how bad this brush really is. It is not unusable, but in comparison to the brush of a similar purpose that I also used this month, this brush was no where near as enjoyable.
The first problem with this brush has to do with shedding. The bristles on this brush are still shedding. I have used this brush at least a dozen times, washed it at least a dozen times, and it still sheds every time I use the brush to apply foundation and every time I wash it. I use this alternating with the other foundation brush that I am going to talk about in this post so that each brush gets more than 24 hours to dry after being washed. This brush does not require 24 hours to dry, but I would rather use the other brush so it gets more than 24 hours in between uses. I initially tried to use this every time I applied foundation for the month of October, but it didn't take long to start dreading using this brush because I like the other so much more because of having to peal bristles off my face after using it, and it has never been a small number of bristles, honestly I am amazed at it still seems as dense as it does.
The second problem with this brush is the feel. It is not a soft brush. It is not a painful brush to use, but it is scratchy, while my other brush is very soft. If this brush had not had the shedding problem, I would have been able to live with the less soft bristles with no problem. I still would not want more brushes from this line, but I would be happier with continuing to use this brush from them for the length of the review period.
During the month of October I learned that there are brushes that I actually look forward to using and that help to make me excited to apply my makeup. This was not one of those brushes, in fact, when I knew this was going to be the brush I was about to use, it made me consider skipping all of the face makeup for the day so that I wouldn't have to use this brush for the foundation. I now have another brush from a different company to use in rotation with my favorite brush, hopefully the new brush will be more enjoyable than this one. I will be retiring this brush early and only bringing it out again if I need a foundation brush to use that might get damaged in travel or application.
Keep In Minds:
Coastal Scents BR-110
This is the brush that inspired the Keep In Mind for this month being about brushes. My husband purchased this brush from Coastal Scents during a sale to get the total up to $50 so he could get free shipping. I am not sure what inspired him to pick this particular brush, but it has become one of my favorite brushes to use and I look forward to using it every time it is ready to be used. It is a very soft brush, I only lost a couple of bristles in the first washing and then never again since then, when I use this the foundation looks better than with any of the other brushes I have tried it with. This was the first brush that every inspired me and excited me to the extent this one did and I have a feeling it will stay in the brush rotation for a long time.
The Pure Benefits Professional Contour Brush from Ross
This is another one of those brushes that once I started using it, all of the other brushes of a similar function stopped getting used. I use this as a blush brush, not a contour brush, and it applies blush more smoothly than any of the other blush brushes I have used so far. Blush has always a problematic thing for me to use because I am often not sure if the pink of my cheeks that I am seeing after applying it is from the blush, or from the brush lifting the foundation off my cheeks and my naturally red cheeks showing through; with this brush I know it is the blush showing and not my natural flush because the blush color show more true when applied with this brush than with any of the other blush brushes I have used. I can get a sheer, smooth, well blended blush application when I use this brush. It is a soft brush, that does not move the foundation and powder I use, when I am applying my blush. This was a random find by my husband at Ross, but if you happen to see it, I would recommend it.
Wet n Wild Eye Shadow Brush
This eye shadow brush turns out to be the best brush for me to apply the MUA eye shadows I am currently testing. In my previous round of testing with Colormates eye shadows, a flat shader brush was the best thing to use, but with the MUA eye shadows, flat shaders actually do not work that well. This brush is able to, with one swipe in the pan to the lid, apply a wash of the shadow over the entire lid and blend it out at the same time. This has become my go to brush for eye shadow during the month of October and will continue to be until the end of 2015 and possibly longer if it continues to work well with whatever eye shadows I test next. It is a soft brush and I have not had any bristles shed from this brush during application nor during washing. This is the first brush I asked my husband to buy several more of because I have been using it so much and it always works well when doing swatches for pictures.
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