Released just in time for Christmas is the Louise Young Limited Edition 5 Piece Short Handled Brush Set! THERE ARE ONLY 50 AVAILABLE!!!! This is an instant gift, it’s beautifully boxed, with the brushes housed in a rich brown brush roll that’s nestled inside thick brown tissue. You only need add a bow, then pop it under the tree! The 5 brushes though, and that’s the bit you want to... 

Silver isn’t as simple as just being silver.  It could be a chromatic version, or a shimmer wash, a sheer wash of colour, or a wet-look metal.  Wear it all over your mobile lid for a wow impact of colour, as seen here, created by Ellis Faas using her Lights shadow, or just a flash of colour across the inner half of your lash line.  Add it to a lipstick to give that a hidden inner glow, or... 

Black, White, Grey.  Potentially the hardest colours to work with, possibly the most basic colours to start a kit with, definitely the most versatile colours in a kit… International Makeup Artist Kenneth Soh has given MAF exclusively, some suggestions on what to do with black, white and grey.   “White, grey and black are colours that are always with me in my kit. And I use them in... 

Cozzette Vegan Brushes Easy on the eye, easy in the hand, easy on the conscience. Vegan brushes are the latest must-have product to hit the ethical beauty market. Not made from animal hair, not tested on animals, they’ve been nowhere near any living creature! Is this what makes these brushes so appealing? If you take out the ethics, does the brush still hold up? Certainly the ‘Vegan’ tag makes... 

It’s that time of year again! As the days of summer and sunshine get closer it’s time to freshen up your make up with the nudes andneutrals of Spring/Summer 2011. There’s a lot to be said for toning down your make up and achieving a fresh, sun kissed look that looks fresh, pretty and enhances your features without going completely bare and avoiding the dreaded ‘washed out’ look. So to ease... 

So many pinks, so little time!  With every shade available, where do you look, which should you use, and which one actually suits your skin tone? Nadira V Persaud,  leading Make-up Artist with over 16 years of beauty expertise, who has generated work in beauty and fashion editorial, celebrity and advertising internationally and most recently worked on Marie Claire UK, You Magazine and Adidas has... 

There’s something about a set of brushes that puts a girl in a good mood.  You can have all the amazing makeup in the world, but if your tools aren’t up to much, then there is only so much you can do with even the best quality makeup.  Beauty-Boxes have stepped up to the plate and created a set of brushes that are ready for both the novice makeup wearer and the experienced makeup artist.  With... 

Red.  A colour that some run scared from, and others embrace with wide open arms.  Red is everywhere in Beauty, from nails to lips, eyes to cheeks, to perfumes and brushes. As a red fan, I had to take some time to see who’s got what out there, and build up a list.  When the list first started, it was quite small.  Its now huge!  Just have a look! But it’s not just me, or MAF that’s... 

As any makeup artist will tell you, it’s not just about the product, but it’s about the tools too.  You can take the most amazing formulation of eyeshadow, but if you’ve only got fingers or those nasty bristly stubby brushes that we all get given by our grannies, there’s only so much you can do.  Yes, you can do smudgy smokey looks, and a barely there look, but you can’t... 

Having recently broken the handle of my current makeup kit case, thus making it impossible to carry, only wheel (sounds good, impossible to get in and out of my car, up or down stairs/steps etc), www.Beauty-Boxes.com very kindly sent me a Sahar to keep me going. I was a little sceptical that my huge kit would fit into the drawers, but I am very impressed.  Its like a mini TARDIS!  The drawers are... 

So, you have the makeup, you have the brushes, but where do you keep it all? All makeup artists work in different ways, out of different kits and like different things. For me, I like to be able to open a case or a drawer and see all the cosmetics at a glance, but I know that many of the MAF makeup artists prefer to work out of one large space, with clear pencil cases inside, housing perhaps all their... 

      Since I became a MUA I’ve always used a MAC 190 as my main foundation brush and always been pretty happy with that. I have 2 of these, along with about 4 others (Mac and other brands) but have never really been 100% happy with any of them. I’ve found that over the past few months my 190 isn’t performing as well as I’d like it to and last month the head came away from... 

I have used these lashes before when I lived in London and they were readily available from my local beauty wholesalers, but it was nice to be able to try them again. You get two pairs of lashes in a pack for £2.99 which is excellent value. I wore these today with the glue that came with them. I’m not a fan of the white glue that comes with lashes as I tend to use Duo glue, but I put them on with... 

Ruby & Millie have got a fantastic selection of makeup brushes, in both pro length and makeup-bag length. In my own makeup bag I have the large eyeshadow brush, for sweeping nude base over my lid and for blending colours together.  The medium eyeshadow brush is a really versatile one.  I’ve got about 5 of these for layering various colours onto my lids. In my pro kit, I have even more! ... 

This is such a great product!  Makeup Artists the world over are well used to ‘stippling’ techniques, using a stiff tipped brush and dabbing the makeup on.  Well, this ups the game and brings the old technique into the modern age. You use the sponge (which is a very very dense sponge, we’re not talking bath sponge here!) by bouncing it on the skin and rolling where necessary! It... 

Every woman has something in their makeup bag or medicine cupboard that she pulls on whenever there is a cut, bruise, bash, blemish, dry patch or irritant etc.  For years, I’ve used Virgin Vie’s Guardian Angel balm, but I’ve not been as keen on it since they took it out of the tub and put it in a tube, and seemed to change the formula.  Recently, I discovered a cheaper and better... 

Sam Donald www.SamDonald.com As we all know, you have to have great products to achieve a great look, but you also need good tools behind you to get soft yet clean lines, without fallout and wasteage. I’m a brush junkie.  I find it irresistible to walk past a cosmetics counter without having a good look at their brush range and buying at least one. I have a brush kit with around 100 brushes... 

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that I am a clean queen as far as makeup hygiene is concerned.  If you’re in the dark, just take a moment to read the Safe Beauty article at the top of this page. In the last 2 weeks, I have been the makeup artist at 4 weddings (total number of faces 21) and attended a Leukaemia Research Fundraiser offering makeovers and the like (total faces made over...