Help a newbie

[krazykatie955]

I am 100% new to makeup. What are some pallets and brushes you can recommend for someone who knows nothing about makeup. I also have hooded eyes so that's made it harder for me to learn 😞

[faeriegirl]

@krazykatie955 I love the Sephora Collection brush sets. They are great quality for the price. The Urban Decay naked palettes are great for beginners.

[krazykatie955]

Lol both are currently in my cart

[ChescaCat]

I have a few brushes, although it is an odd assortment that I pieced together. Elf has some decent brushes for cheap, although I also like a brand from Wal-Mart called Still Spa Essentials. I have never tried Morphe, but my friends rave about them. I usually look for brushes that are soft enough I would use them with my watercolour paints, if they would destroy my painting I don't want them anywhere near my face. I really love Anastasia Beverly Hills palettes, but her shadows can be a bit tricky. I learned on elf and Morphe.

[sunny1903]

Most of my brushes are by Ecotools, available in US drugstores, Ulta, Target, Amazon etc. They're cheap but I really like the quality... I do watercolor on ceramics and I use goat, camel (blend of squirrel, ox, pony, and goat), and sable (weasel) brushes. Ecotools brushes are just as soft as my watercolor brushes while being slightly stiffer with a little more spring. They aren't scratchy on my eye and because they're a bit stiffer, they dont lose shape throughout application or after cleaning. I also really like Urban Decay complexion brushes. They feel most similar to my natural hair paintbrushes. Sephora collection complexion brushes are also nice. Some eyeshadow palettes come with brushes too. The brush that comes with ABH palettes is scratchy and splays pretty quickly... it's the kind of brush I would give to toddlers to mess around with and ruin. I have never bought an ABH brush because of the poor quality from the palette brushes but some people have said they enjoy their individual brushes. Brushes that come with UD palettes are hit or miss, some are soft and lovely to work with, others are stiffer and good for one specific application technique -their stiff flat shader that comes with the Naked palettes is best for applying shimmers and glitters, wet and dry, and that's it. Natural hair eyeshadow brushes exist too but I don't have any because they are ridiculously priced when compared to my paintbrushes. Some people buy natural hair paintbrushes and cut the handle to be shorter for makeup application. Generally speaking, natural is best for powder application and synthetics (Ecotools and most "affordable" brands) are better for cream and liquid application. For beginner palettes, I recommend Kevyn Aucoin Contour Book 2 if and only if the colors suit your skintone. You get a proper contour shade (a lot of "contour" shades out there are rather orange/bronzey) and the highlight is subtle. The eyeshadow colors are for a more natural look. Overall, this palette is a good way of getting introduced to techniques while having wiggle room in case of mistakes. You get to nail down eyeshadow application and contouring. Once you're more comfortable, switch out the neutral eyeshadow colors for bolder colors or use glittery highlighters. I prefer UD Naked palettes over ABH for beginners. UD is chalkier but that's because the shades are more gray-toned. Mid-chroma (gray-toned) colors offer balanced color that is day and work appropriate for most people. They are also buildable and the satins and shimmers can be buffed to a more matte-like finish. ABH shadows are weird, in my opinion. They tend to have dull colors that are super pigmented to the point that it makes blending almost impossible. I know a lot of people rave about them but they are too unpredicatble for my liking. I generally like their color schemes but everything just shows up duller than in the pan. Not to mention they fade within an hour on me, with primer. Ciate also makes some lovely eyeshadows. They are buttery like ABH but work more like UD. Easy to build and blend with more saturated colors. Huda eyeshadows are good too, although they do tend to look a little different on the eye than in the pan. My favorite brand though is Pat McGrath. Expensive but it has a finish like no other and her shimmery-type shades are my favorite. If you can, pick up a beginner palette and 1 Pat McGrath 6-pan palette. Her color selection in her palettes is limited but they play well with other brands. Her formula is also made to not hardpan with wet brushes so it's good for experimenting with different application techniques.

[darlyndar]

Welcome to the world of Beauty, @krazykatie955!!! It’s fun and very addicting. Lol. 

If I were you, I would start off with Morphe. Especially for brushes. Eye brushes start around $5, while face can start around $9. They also have great kits available. If you can find the Jeffree Star brush kit, it’s amazing and has everything you need to start for $48. It comes with a case and is pink. 

For eyeshadow, you can definitely go with Morphe as well. I would recommend the Jaclyn Hill Palette. It has every shade you can think of and work great. 

As far as foundation, powder, primer and concealer...that all depends on your skin type and concerns. Are you oily? Dry? Do you want full coverage or sheer? Do you have dark circles? That is where you can get the most confused. For that, I recommend YouTube. I personally love Thaatayla, Jessica Braun, Nicole Renee and Stephanie Nicole. They’re fun to watch and are very informative. 

[Brutalitops]

@krazykatie955 Sephora has some makeup videos here and on youtube specifically for hooded eyes that may help with application!

Otherwise if there's a store near you I would suggest either waiting for an eye makeup class in-store where you can play with some brushes and they walk you through application tips for your eye shape- I have attended two classes myself and they are always super fun and informative. If you don't want to wait you could always schedule a makeover and use it as a learning session. I think that would probably be the best way to figure out which tools work best for you and then you might be able to pick out a brush set better suited to your needs. I personally use a foundation brush (47 &/or 55), a big powder brush, a blush brush, and precision powder brush (79) for my face, though I have a few others I switch in sometimes.

For eyes I have big powder, small powder, crease, smudge, and pencil brushes- I can't say the numbers I got almost all of them in the rose gold brush set though I had a few before that. I'll probably purchase a liner brush this year, but it really depends on what you want to do.

Palette wise, and again it depends on what you want to commit to, but I feel like you can't go wrong with the naked palettes or tarte's amazonian clay/ in bloom palettes- very beginner friendly with very wearable everyday shades. Sephora has a couple nice palettes (vivid earth I think is one of them) that have great color ranges and include a primer. I haven't tried them yet but I'm definitely looking to pick one up during the sale in the next week or so

For face.... IDK. It really depends on what you're willing to try/go through. When I was first starting out I used a powder foundation/blush/bronzer set from Bare minerals which was super easy and fast to apply and blend and came with all the major brushes I needed (I got it at Ulta though). These days I'm pretty strictly a BB cream (IT cosmetics)/ Tinted moisturizer (Nars) gal just for the ease of it and because I think it gives a more natural finish/ doesn't dry my skin out as much. I'll use a setting powder and a bronzer(Hourglass/Fenty), blush (Nars blush Palette), and cream highlighter (burt's bees, trestique, Milk Makeup) if I'm feeling particularly motivated, but generally mascara and a tinted lip balm and eyebrow gel is all I bother with.

Again, I would try to get to a store (really any store with a selection of makeup brands) and play around to see what formulas work best and I personally would hold off on purchasing primer/foundation/lipstick until you see how it wears for a few hours. I will go in to try on a new primer/ foundation by applying it on my face in store when I am going to purchase some other item, see how it wears for the day, and then decide if I want to order it or pick it up on my next visit