De-mystifying the Fan Brush

As I've mentioned earlier, it's holiday time. That means you'll probably get lots of gifts you don't want or like or know what to do with. As a teenage girl, I always loved getting makeup sets or kits as a gift, and they never failed to have this one crazy looking brush that I had no CLUE what to do with: the fan brush. For a while, I just had like 3 or 4 of these brushes sitting in my bathroom, collecting dust, because, surely, if they came in this makeup kit, they must serve some purpose related to makeup...right? Now I'm down to just one, since it's not one of the brushes I use every time I put my face on, but there are a few good uses for this mystical brush that I thought I would share with you.

1. Use a fan brush to lightly apply loose powder to your eyelashes before putting on your mascara. This fattens up your lashes a bit and acts as a base for your mascara, which also helps your lashes look longer and fuller. You don't need or want much powder on the brush, though, so just dust the brush in loose powder (pressed compacts really don't work here, in case you don't have loose powder already), close the eye you're applying the powder to (duh) and give the lashes one good swipe with the brush flat against the lashes. Voila! Mascara primer. Who knew?

2. Often when I apply my shadows, some of the pigments fall from the brush to below my eye and end up just above my cheek. I have tried to swipe this shadow snow away with my hand and it only leads to a big smear of color across my face, and unless it's Halloween or you're auditioning to be a backup dancer for Lady Gaga, that is probably not the look you want to achieve. Use your fan brush to gently brush off the excess powder without making a mess.

3. I am a girl. Therefore, I love glitter. I want to put glitter all over myself, at all times. This is not always appropriate. The fan brush comes in handy when I want to stealthily add some shimmer to my hair without looking like I fell in a vat of glitter (omg, how amazing would THAT be??). Use a shimmer shadow or loose glitter and very lightly dust your fan brush in it - then apply to the hair around your face (this is NOT the time to wear your heavy hands, though...chances are your mom will just make you get in the shower and wash it off if you go overboard. I speak from experience!). Proof that subtle CAN = pretty!!