All young artists started off painting pictures with their fingers. I’m sure we all remember those days in junior school too. But as we progressed to high school, we will have learnt the different grades of pencils, types of paint brushes and how sponges and palette knives can give a much more sophisticated overall look to our artwork.

Well, the same can be said for the art of makeup too. Applying makeup with your fingers, however still provides an important application method and all of the World’s top makeup artists will use their fingers in some aspect of the application process for their clients. Using fingers to apply makeup can give you a more concentrated application and the natural warmth of finger application can provide easier blending in some areas of the face too.

These days though, brushes, sponges and applicators dominate, and those famous beauty bloggers on YouTube and Instagram have shown us all how these magical tools can transform our look and provide a level of flawless finish not see before in the beauty world.

Dubai based makeup artist, Abi Malik, has learnt the benefits of each tool over time and her advice to us is to buy quality long lasting tools and ensure all brushes, sponges and applicators are thoroughly cleaned regularly to maintain hygiene and a perfect result.

‘My number one advice is to use a sponge for your foundation and make sure the sponge is a little damp too. Sponges allow you to build coverage and give an even distribution and blend particularly around the jaw and neckline. Brushes are okay for foundation application too but you need to be more light handed with a brush to attain that non caked-on look. My personal favourite sponge to use is the Miracle Finish Sponge from Real Techniques by Sam & Nic and my go-to foundation brush is the Ecotools Classic Foundation Brush because of its nicely tapered bristles and it is 100% vegan too. Oh, and I keep them both clean by using Lottie London Soap Star Solid Brush Cleanser’

Carrying all of your makeup tools around when travelling can be a problem and there are some great solutions for multi-use tools to keep your packing light. Bare Minerals have designed a dual use cheek and eye brush in one – BM Expert Application Cheek and Eye Brush, that solves this problem.

For lovers of the contoured looks so favoured by the Kardashian clan then, Real Techniques by Sam & Nic also have a brilliant streak free applicator called Blend + Blur for the perfectly symmetrical chiselled look.

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