Make Up Mania Newsletters
Volume 2, Number 5 - August 16, 1999
The Make Up Maniac
Volume Two
Number 5
Hello to all our Maniacs and especially to our new subscribers!!! The Make Up Maniac is the official Newsletter from Make Up Mania. The best place in cyberspace for Make Up & Accessories. See www.makeupmania.com for the latest and greatest in the art of beauty.
We hope we didn't scare you we have moved our e-mail newsletter publication date to every other MONDAY instead of Fridays. Make Up is always a great way to start the week. Right? So look for us coming your way every other Monday!
In this weeks Newsletter you'll
find:
Part Two in the two part series of Make Up Brushes
Zirh Skin Care for Men
Our New Events Section.
Gerda Spillmann
New What's In Store Section
Brushes 101 Part Two
Last time we talked about the way brushes were made and the different
styles. (if you missed last weeks newsletter, let us know and we can send
it to you.) This week we are going to talk about the care of your brushes,
how to choose the right brush for the job and a few pointers about brushes
in general.
Brushes are the make up artist's tools. Unless you are totally dropping everything to get into airbrushing - J - these tools will last your whole career or life. Especially the brushes we talked about last week. You know, the quality ones with hard wood handles and the hair glued and tied with the nickel ferrule with no seam. A quality brush that is.
First, buying the right brush for the right job will help keep your brushes in good shape. This is because you won't be torturing the brush to do what it is not suppose to do.
You know about the right hair and handle, we also talked about the type of hair for softness or firmness. I also believe in "quality of touch" when we use the brushes on people. For example with one brush you can apply the pressure very light light - or strong. Practicing this quality of touch is important because combined with they type of brush it is, you can achieve several different things. But basically softer hair or soft touch picks up less product and delivers less product and a stronger (or stiffer) hair or strong touch delivers more product faster. For example you want to set down a base or the eyelid (a very good thing to do because it helps to soften your darker colors for blending.) What brush would you use? Something with a stiffer hair (it would take forever for a soft squirrel brush to lay down a sufficient base color. Okay so a stiffer brush and what size? Well a "mini smudger" would also take a long time so something about as large as the lid. The chisel super deluxe fluff is the perfect one. The width of the brush is approximately the same size as the area we are working on and the hair is stiff and tight. We know the chisels are good because in last week's newsletter we explained how one hair is a bit taller than the one before so it picks up more powder.
Angles
What do you use them for? I like the angles for smudging a powder shadow
eyeliner along the lash line. Others like them for a wet line. (For wet
liner I like the "pointed taklon definer" or small round designed for
eyeliner.) I love the angles for brow work. You can direct the hair and
apply the color at the same time.
Rounds and flats
A good rule of thumb is apply with a flat and blend with a round. Also
the rounds and flats are excellent for theatrical or fantasy work. And
for wet work especially for mediums such as my favorite Aquacolor, a
water color for the skin.
Camouflage
These brushes are made of a stiff hair usually a synthetic, like taklon.
You need stiff brushes like this for working with thick cremes such as
concealers, Dermacolor or Dermablend. The hair will remain stiff while
picking up a heavy crème product and when laying it down. I also love
the camouflage brushes for lipstick lipstick is fairly thick, as you
know, and the cams are very strong. Also I like the cam 6, 8 and even
10 for medium to very large lips.
Specialty brushes
These are brushes that have different names and are being produced now,
especially in high end department store lines. But some brushes have become
standards across the board because of certain lines of cosmetics pushing
them. Two that come to mind is the "bullet brush" originally brought
out by Trish McEvoy. A great little stiff squirrel or pony blend that
has hair in the shape of a bullet. I love these brushes for smudging under
the eye and doing detail corner work on the eyes. On our page they are
called the Squirrel Precision One & Two. Another is the Kabuki brush that
has become quite popular because of the need to apply the new Mineral
Foundations such as Youngblood. The kabuki is a stiff round stubby brush
with a flat base that makes it stand on end. Cute for the bathroom.
If you have a question about a brush I didn't mention please feel free to e-mail me, eva@makeupmania.com
Care for the brushes
Okay so you have a nice set of brushes you have spent quite a bit of
money collecting your set. How do you take care of them? First, if you
have your brushes at home, or your carry them with you, you need to have
them in a suitable holder so they do not get crushes and ruined. For home
I just use pretty jars. For you purse I like the mesh bags. And for
taking to set or location as a professional, a brush roll is essential.
You can find all of these on The Artists' Supplies Floor (#3) in our online
store.
On set - on films and commercials it is common to be asked what is in your kit, to have on record as part of your kit fee. You know if you do this your brushes can tally up to the $200-$500 range pretty easy. But it always seems that you keep going back to your favorite five. You know what I mean? And because they are your favorites they get used more than any other brushes and seem to look worse than your others. But there is a way to keep your favorites, and the rest, in the best of shape.
First of all think about how much you use your brushes. Are you using them exclusively on yourself, or are you a pro using them one a week, twice a week or everyday? If you are using them on yourself I think cleaning them at least once every couple weeks should be sufficient depending how germ phobic you are. Ideally, a brush should be cleaned every time you use it but if you are not too oily or supersensitive you cannot really contaminate yourself with yourself. Also it is harder to harbor bacteria on a dry brush than a wet one. So powder brush may not be as important when it comes to cleaning where as a mascara or eyeliner. These you must be extremely hygienic about because these products tend to get infected easier and it is easy to infect the eye area. If you are professional - you have to clean them after every make over. And it gets into a lot more sanitation than we will go into here. When I was on the set full-time, I cleaned my brushes with a quick-dry cleaner after ever make up and at the end of the day. Once a week I would take them home and wash them in soap and water and shape and condition them.
A quick dry cleaner is something that is chemical based and you can let it dry in between make ups - usually about 15 minutes. The quick dry cleaner such as the Brush Off or Cinema Secrets that we carry, do not get embedded make up out. If you think your brush has at any time been infected with pink eye, staff infection or anything scary, you need to immediately set that brush aside and take it home and clean it with a cleaner that gives you the directions of what it takes to kills virus. Parian Spirit is a new cleaner that has a citrus base cleaning agent and scent. They have also come out with new great little pads that you can just wipe off your brush with. They will be up on our page soon. Email Michelle at michelle@makeupmania.com if you are interested in them. For my weekly, "get down and really clean my brushes ritual" I use Palmolive and water. I use about 30% Palmolive and 70% water. I dip the brush in the Mixture and brush it back and forth on the inside of my hand. Rinse so as there is no lather or soap. (soap left on your brush will streak the make up on the skin.)
Do NOT let water ever enter into the ferrule. Do NOT ever turn the brush upside down and let water run into the ferrule. Let the water run over the brush with the hair side down. Gently press the excess water out of the hair and lay your brush flat on a soft absorbent towel to dry. Do NOT set them upside down in a glass for them to dry this lets the water run into the ferrule and rot the glue. The best is the professional brush cleaners that hang the brushes, tips side down, for drying.
I try to use the Master's Brush Conditioner and Cleaner at least once a month. This is a cake that when your brush is clean and a little damp, you lightly brush the brush over the cake on all sides and gently shape the hair with your fingers back to the original shape of your brush. If it is a natural hair brush it can be used to save damaged or squished brushes. This will dry hard but just "break" the film off when you use it next by brushing it back and forth on the back of your hand.
I actually clean the handles with a moisturizer and tissue. I don't know why but it works better than anything else.
Now your brushes are cared for and conditioned. Just make sure you keep them in a safe place so they don't get squished. And don't store them until they are completely dry.
I hope this wasn't too long but I didn't think it warranted three parts. You can find all these brushes in our online store, Floor #3 Artists' Supplies. If there's anything you can't find, email michelle@makeupmania.com. Next newsletter's Make Up Tip will be Eyebrows and the following week is Multicultural Make Up. Stay Tuned and thanks for all the comments!!!!
NEWS
Exciting news this week - first of all new people. We are proud to announce our new Sales Manager Ms. Michelle Matthias. Michelle is our greatest newest asset. This extremely talented young make up artist started here and quickly took over all aspect of sales. She is so full of upbeat energy, don't hesitate to call on her for any of your needs. Welcome Michelle!!!
Also new this week two new areas in our Green Room. First is our Events schedule where you can check out all upcoming events. Not just ours, but anything about Make Up Events, Classes and such. Things you can access at any time, such as the upcoming class by Westmore Academy designed for Salon and Party Givers for this year's Halloween. How to promote Halloween in your Salon how to do quick, easy and effective Halloween Make Up. Kit is available. It is to be given September 24th and it will be given at the Academy in Burbank. Call Westmore Academy for details at 818-562-6808. Another class, that will be given in conjunction with Make Up Mania (Ian will be teaching part of it), is a repeat of Gore, Gore and More. Back by popular demand is a class we developed with Westmore to teach the gory fundamentals of horror make-up. Given at the perfect time of year this is for anyone who wants to see how this bloody stuff works!!! Materials are provided but BYOB (Bring Your Own Brushes), if possible. E-mail us, call us (1-800-711-7182), or call Westmore (at the above number) for more details. It will be given on September 24th also. Oh yeah and a big bonus to both of these classes is that Mr. Westmore will be teaching parts of both of them!! And it is a treat to learn from him!
The other new area to the Green Room is a section called "What's In Store". This is dedicated to new products that have come in but are not up on the web site yet. This way you can see these things and call for ordering and you can see our new stuff sooner! Check it out We think you will really like this update area for your shopping pleasure.
VIEWS
The time is drawing near for our virtual store going REAL! You have asked for it for quite some time and we have been busy decorating and stocking the first ever CYBERSHOWROOM. Make Up Mania is opening it's doors soon to let all you local cyber dwellers to come in a shop in store. It is a cute duplicate of our on-line store and our Grand Opening is August 29th. This is exactly backwards going on-line first and opening a store to complement the cyber store and we are very proud to be your favorite backwards retailer!! The invitations are coming in this week and if you haven't signed up to be invited it isn't too late it should be lots of fun champagne ribbon cutting ceremony, Make Overs 2 Day Tattoos Prizes Music and Food. Send us your snail mail address so you can be part of it.
REVIEWS
New products always abound on Makeupmania.com. The two newest are something new and something not so new (but highest of quality foundation). First we brought in something for MEN! Zirh skincare is the hottest thing on the market for men who are finally starting to figure out yes skin care does make a difference. But of course you talk them into using your skin care. Okay, once in awhile they will let you dab an eye creme on when they start to notice those little lines creeping up around the corners. And unless you have a following like Clint Eastwood it may not be the sexiest thing. So here it is designed for men's skin which is different from women's with award winning package design that is so ultra cool any guy will like the stainless steel look sitting on their bathroom counter - and best of all it works! The Starter Kit is $59 and is available in the Skin Care section of Floor #2 online.
A not so new, but spectacular product has come to Make Up Mania, Gerda Spillmann. If you have ever tried this you know it is a high quality crème foundation that is easily controlled by your favorite moisturizer. This classic is hard to find but we have it here. It is developed by a Swiss skin care guru and it smells of quality and class. Bio-fond is perfect for regular or dry skin, mature skin or for anyone desiring medium to heavy coverage. This is actually moisturizing and made from the highest quality ingredients. It is also a favorite of professional make up artists because all six shades are available in palettes. They also have an ethnic line available! This line will be found on Tia's Glamour Make Up Floor (#2).
Well, that's all for this newsletter, hope there was some gleaning of info here for you, please keep the comments coming they inspire us to keep looking for the best Make Up Information for you.
Until next time
Make Up Happily!
Your Maniacal Crew at www.makeupmania.com
