Adventures in Fingerpainting (3 Advantages to Doing Your Makeup With Your Fingers)

Makeup artists are often quoted as saying that the key to perfected or editorial-style, makeup application lies in the use in good quality brushes and having the right kind of brush for every makeup job. Undoubtedly brushes do have their place in most every makeup look, but they can be expensive and also need cleaning, or otherwise, replacing often. Lately, I have been experimenting more and more with going sans brushes for more steps in my makeup routine--sometimes even doing my whole face without them-- and have discovered a few positives of going brush-free.

Seamless Blending: For foundation and concealer application, using the fingers works brilliantly. The natural heat of your skin will warm up the product, making it easier to smooth across the skin and become one with it. This means not only that the effect will appear more natural but the finish will be less streaky and potentially cakey. Using the fingers also gives you greater control in working the product over areas that you might want to add more coverage. Though these advantages are most noticeable with liquid and cream formulas, loose powder foundations can also work the same way. You will just need to use more of a patting motion for those rather than a swiping and blending one.

Better Eyeshadow Impact: Have you ever noticed that sometimes that sometimes an eyeshadow will look very rich and vibrant in the pan but does not show up that way on your eyes? One reason for this is that a lot of eyeshadow particles--ironically especially those of brighter colors-- will get trapped inside the hairs or within the wells of brushes and not get transferred onto the eyelid. Also, swiping color on with a brush automatically diffuses the product making the finished look less bold. So if you want the maximum punch of color from your colorful and rich shadows, patting them on with your finger is a great way to get them to show off their true colors. A patting method also will help any glittery eyeshadow show the color underneath them as well as their shine and also will help more of the glitter stay in place on the eyelid and not fall down onto the face.

More Versatile Lip Looks: Though lip brushes do exist for applying lipcolor, most of us do apply it straight from the tube or with the wand in a gloss or liquid lipstick. Yet, pressing any lip formula into the lips with your fingers really amps up the range of looks you can get out of just one shade. For instance one swipe of color smeared across the lips, leaves a pretty flushy stain while patting it in with light taps gives you an instant blotted lip effect without the need for a tissue. Another great thing about using your fingers to apply lipcolor is that working it into your lips allows the color to melt more into your skin, giving you longer wear time, and for extra longwear, especially with a bold color, try applying a layer or two of color with your finger and rub your lips together, then follow with another coat of the same color applied from the tube in the traditional way. This will give you maximum pigment that has sunk fully into the lips that can stay with you all night long.

Brushes still will always be important in makeup application, but for certain effects or amping up the performance of our products, our fingers can be equally as useful and easy of tools. Really, what can be more fun than fingerpainting? So go ahead! Get your favorite products out and your fingers in the paint, and just see what you can create!