Q: There seem to be tons of brushes out there to choose from. Do I really need make-up brushes to apply my make-up?
A: No matter what a salesperson may tell you, it really depends. If you have a basic make-up kit or use a minimal amount of make-up (i.e. a routine of powder, lip gloss and mascara), then brushes will just be added fuss and useless to you.

If you do anything more, a good set of brushes is an absolute necessity in my opinion. The product glides on better when you use good-quality brushes. Brushes can last you a long time provided that you take care of them properly - I've had some of mine for ten years! It may seem like a lot of money to spend initially, but it pays off long-term, as you won't have to spend on little applicators, sponges, etc.

Some basic brushes that you need:
1. powder/bronzer brush
2. blush brush (i prefer an angled type)
3. eyeshadow brush - medium, dome-shaped
4. eyeshadow brush - crease, smudging brush
5. eyeshadow brush - slanted (for filling in eyebrows or doing eyeliner)
6. lip brush

See here for more details.

Price: $8
Where to find: drugstores
Review: love it, kitessential

Filling in the brows is a trick I had to master at an early age, as my fascination with tweezers began when I was the tender age of 12. My brows never recovered - instead only to grow back in areas outside of where I would need them to (isn't that how it always goes?!). I didn't get the technique and the product right immediately, so there is past photo evidence out there of my brows looking either caterpillar thick (in an attempt to overcompensate for over-tweezing) to pencil thin (bad early 90s trend). I was pretty much filling in the brows before I actually knew how to do it properly, but fortunately, with experimentation and experience, there were gradual improvements.

Aside from the technique, one of the integral components to getting a great set of brows (if you don't have them already naturally) is to buy the right eyebrow fill-in product. I swear by Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Brown for my own applications and for clients with brown to black hair colour*. The Rimmel pencil in Dark Brown is perfect for a natural eyebrow look. The texture of the pencil is more waxy (and less creamy) which aids in achieving those light, feathery strokes when filling the perfect brow in. It also helps to ensure that the brow is not drawn on too heavy (think of those permanent tattooed brows that look obviously unnatural). The price point of $8 means you don't need to spend an arm and a leg on an expensive 'eyebrow kit' to resurrect your brows to their previous glory.

*The pencil also comes in a Hazel colour for those with lighter coloured hair. For blonde haired ladies, I would suggest an ashy blonde

TIP: Use a matching coloured matte (no sparkles allowed for this one) eyeshadow with an angled brush to blend in the pencil and give it a softer look. The powder also helps to set the look and make sure your great brows take you from morning to evening!

For more tips on how to fill in brows, check out this previous Beauty 101 post on the Power of Good Brows. See the before and after of Cheryl (pictured above).

A beautiful last Sunday of summer with the gorgeous Scerena - what a nice way to end the weekend! Not many people can wear the bold red lip colour well, but Scerena pulled it off effortlessly making it all come together with her outfit and accessories. She kept her clothes neutral (mainly black and white), and then added accents of colour with red accessories (and lips!) for an extremely classy look.
The same advice applies to make-up when dealing with bold colours: If you're going for a bold lipstick colour, pair it with a softer eye make-up look (and vice versa pair a dramatic smoky eye with a neutral lip colour). Keep this in mind and you'll avoid having that "too much make-up" look that just never looks right!

I'm still tweaking the blog with my limited technical aptitude (and limited patience for html code), so you will likely see a lot of changes throughout the upcoming week. If you see anything that needs fixing (typos included!) or have any suggestions to improve the blog, please feel free to email me at rhia@artistrhi.com.

I look forward to hearing what you think!
-Rhia

Here are some of the pics from Marites' bridal trial this weekend. Marites' wedding is coming up this October, and I can't wait to doll up the beauty on her big day!