I don't know why exactly but Japan is on my mind these last few days. I've been obsessively checking flights, hotels, and the weather on my preferred dates. Honestly I'm starting to feel a wee bit crazy. Why now, why so suddenly? It's like an urge that just dropped down my gut.

I'm trying to convince my parents to go with me this year, but if that doesn't happen I will most likely go by myself. Is this what they call lovesickness? Well. I suppose so!

In any case, here's a little piece of Tokyo for us: the Canmake Cheek Brush (P600)! This is part of the brand's Spring collection and I'm loving it. Not as a blush brush but as a - wait for it - foundation brush. It's the perfect shape and density for applying liquid foundations and BB creams.

Don't let that cute, toy-like design fool you. This is a crazy soft brush with fine synthetic bristles! It's quite small yes but it's about the same size as the Shiseido Perfect Foundation Brush. They work pretty much the same way except this is only 600 bucks. ;)

They say expensive brushes are some of the best investments you can make if you're serious about getting your makeup right. That may be true five years ago, when only high-end brands would make brushes fit for the high strandards of makeup enthusiasts and professionals alike. But it's different today. It's easy to find good brushes without going over a thousand, maybe even 800 bucks a piece.

You can go even lower, if you like! Take for example this Ecotools 5-Piece Mineral Brush Set (P549 at Kalm Cosmetics). This travel-sized brush collection is a great buy for beginners and those who like to apply their makeup on the go! It's specifically created for loose mineral makeup but it can definitely be used with traditional pressed makeup as well.

The set contains a Mineral Powder Brush, Concealer Brush, Eye Shading Brush, and Mini Kabuki Brush. They're mainly for applying powder base makeup. The synthetic bristles are super soft and dense where it counts, thus turning your makeup into a smooth, even layer all over your face.

I've been intrigued about the Real Techniques Duo-Fiber Brush Collection (P1,149) ever since it came out, more so after I read the good reviews! I finally nabbed my own set, thanks to Kalm Cosmetics. This store is the official distributor of Real Techniques here in the Philippines btw, so check it out if you want a better deal or if you're interested in selling wholesale.

Anyway! The RT Duo-Fiber brushes are a great addition to your collection if you want a finer, soft-focus finish to your makeup. If you're the sort who hates having sharp lines of color on your face, cakey makeup, or having to consciously use a light hand every time you apply color, the this set is for you!

Weighted handles and metallic white ferrules make for a luxe feeling, even though the brushes aren't that expensive

The duo-fiber (well, technically these brushes don't have "two fibers" - they're just two different colors of synthetic hair) material of these brushes is super soft and plush. They don't feel scratchy at all (although the eye brush has a couple of pointy bits). The sparse white tip picks up a small amount while the black, dense hair at the bottom blends it. Pretty handy.

Here's a quick rundown of what each brush is for!

I have a new hobby - crafting. I love doing things with paper, but I'm partial towards cardmaking. It is ridiculously fun! It's like I'm building my makeup collection all over again, this time with cutting tools, adhesives, and paper. It allows me to indulge in the process of creating something with my bare hands. I don't often get to do that in my line of work, but I believe that making something - any thing - is crucial to my sanity and happiness. So I do it when I can.

Anyway, while I was looking for more supplies to add to my crafting collection, I came across this set of Royal & Langnickel art brushes. I found them in Deovir in Megamall (Megamall A, 5th Level)! I wanted to have reaaaallly precise brushes for my acrylics and gouache paints; these three taclon brushes look perfect. And guess what - I only paid P120 for the whole set!

Royal & Langnickel is famous for their cosmetics brushes, but their other business is art tools. Their basic makeup brushes actually aren't expensive, but the ones from the luxe lines - whoa. They're gorgeous and will gouge a hole in your wallet. I wish they're available here though! I would love to try them someday. For now I'm happy to have these three.

So wait why am I writing about these art brushes in my beauty blog? Three guesses. ;)

Remember my Real Techniques Core Collection Brush Set? I still abuse those brushes regularly. They've kept their shape well through repeated washing, and still have soft bristles even though they've been mercilessly rubbed and wiped on different products. Not a bad deal considering they're only P1,100 for four full-sized brushes!

I told myself I'd get more RT brushes when I get the chance, so here are two new ones I've managed to add to my collection thanks to Stuff In Style. ^_^

I have here the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush and Blush Brush (P600 each). These brushes sport an interesting shape and size for what they purport to do, but I swear, they do the job quite well. That's what I like about Real Techniques - the brushes are real solutions to real makeup application problems. 

More details on each brush below!

We all started with pencil eyeliners. But the more we learn about makeup and application techniques, the more we crave for precision and different effects for our eyes. If you're a bit advanced in makeup then I'm sure you're starting to explore (or have already explored) cream/ gel eyeliners. This post is all about the basic brushes you can use for those wonderful pots of cosmetics!

For your reference, the gel liner I used below is the Kanebo Kate Gel Eyeliner (it's amazing and affordable too!). Please also check my tutorial on applying eyeliner, with a short stub on how to do a cat's eye. ;)

The flat angled eyeliner brush can be difficult to master at first, but it's probably the best brush for that perfect winged or cat's eye line. It draws the outer line thicker so if you have round eyes (like I do) then this brush can elongate them and make them look narrower.

This brush can also be used for shading the eyebrows with a wet product (such as wax or eyebrow gel).

You can use good quality brushes for half a decade or more if you take care of them well. They should even be able to withstand a level of abuse, because that's why you're paying so much for them to begin with! But no matter how expensive or cheap your brushes are, you'll notice that some of them will start to have fly-away bristles after frequent cleaning. How do you prevent this?

Simple! Just use a brush guard. :) It's basically a fine plastic net that you place on top of your brushes while you're drying them. It keeps all the bristles in good shape while still allowing them to dry properly. I'm sure you've heard of this before, but you probably think it's something you can live without. Well, yeah you can, but your brushes need one!

The one I have is called the Charm Makeup Brush Guard (P250). It contains twelve pieces of brush guards - in different sizes but any size can fit even the biggest face brush. You can even cut them up to use with your smaller eye brushes. 

Last night I held a blogger event for Zen Zest. After weeks of planning, everything finally came in place! I'm so happy about the turn out and it does look like everyone had a nice time. Whew. I was so worried and nervous the day before so I am super relieved that everything went well. I'll blog about it once I have photos, as usual. For now I have a blurry Twitpic from my Blackberry. 

Sorry about that. Anyway, before I rush off to my meetings for the day, I want to talk about the new love of my makeup life: the Charm Travel Pointed Foundation Brush (P399). I'm absolutely infatuated with it because it works much like fingers would when it comes to applying makeup. If like me you love using your fingers for applying face makeup but hate how the stuff sticks to your digits (and everything else you touch) then this is for you!

This brush is dense enough to blend foundation and concealer seamlessly. It's also just the right size for tighter areas like under the eyes and around the nose.

To be honest, I don't actually spend a lot of money on makeup. I've been running this blog for four years, and in that time a lot of brands have come to support it by sending free stuff my way. I'm very thankful because this allows me to write regularly and of course discover products that I will keep on using waaay after I finish my first tube or jar.

That's why it's a big deal (for me) whenever I buy any beauty-related product. I may not need it per se - not at this point in my collection - but it must be so good that I just gottahaveit. My best seal of approval comes with personal purchases. If I bought it, then it must be worth the money.

One of my recent beauty purchases is the Studio Makeup Pro Shadow Shading Brush (P745 from Beauty Bar). I first saw it in an event and promptly fell in love. It looks like a MAC brush I've been seeing around but it's much more affordable, so I just went ahead and got it!

I have many other similar brushes but I like it because it looks professional with its the sleek black handle and sturdy-looking silver ferrule.

I am a big believer in fingers when it comes to applying concealer and liquid foundation, but for other products, I have a small coterie of brushes that I prefer to use on a regular basis. I have other similar brushes that I reach out for but this set is always my first choice! 

If you're into makeup for personal use, then you don't really need an elaborate set of specialized brushes to apply your products. Just get few basic brushes and you're good to go for everyday looks. Like me. :P

So, here are my favorite brushes!

From left to right: Sigma E55 / E40 duo, Estee Lauder lid brush I got from a set, fake NARS crease brush, Charm blending brush (from the Charm Travel Pro V3 brush set)

While I LOVE the Charm Travel Pro V3 brush Set, I don't take all of the brushes with me to use out of the house. If I need to apply makeup outside, I probably won't have the time and space in my bag to do something elaborate; a few key brushes and my fingers should be enough to do a full face. Same thing when I need to retouch.

What's in my travel kikay kit

As you can see, I just bring along a blush, eyebrow, eyeshadow, and powder brush when I'm out. These are my essentials when it comes to brushes! That's why it seems that Sophie read my mind when she made the Charm Pocket Brush Set (P500): it has everything I need and a little bit more.

What I love about the product

• Has multi-purpose brushes to save space and cost. There's a powder/blush brush, eyebrow/eyeliner brush, eyeshadow/concealer brush, lip/liner brush, and a lash/brow comb. 

I'm a huge fan of Sophie's brushes. Not because we're friends, but because I know that her product is something she thought long and hard about, painstakingly honed to near perfection. She's a little bit OC and a workaholic, which is what makes her a successful businesswoman AND the ideal person you want working on your brushes.

Thus, I'm very happy to present her new tools: the Charm Vegan Brushes. She has been developing this for a year! She explained that the synthetic vegan hairs are a challenge to get as stiff or as soft as you need them to be. If you've tried synthetic brushes before, you'll notice that they're harder to control than animal hair brushes especially if you attempt to use them with powder makeup.

That's not the case with these vegan brushes - at least, from what I've tested so far.

I'm sure that you've already seen the blogger raves for the Charm Travel Pro brush set. All I can add to the conversation is that yes, this is a great set that you really won't regret buying. It's expensive at P2,200 for the whole set, but then again it's an investment that you'll probably use until you're sick of it. ;)

What I like most about this set, aside from the portability, is how useful ALL the brushes are. Some brands throw in brushes just to pad the set and make you pay more for them, but in the end you just use five out of say, ten brushes. That's a waste of money. But this Charm set has a well thought out selection with no repetitive or ineffective brushes in it. 

Now, like the Version 2 set, this set is not exactly for makeup beginners since the brushes are designed for precision application. But I hope that with this post, you'll learn how to maximize this set whether you're a beginner or an advanced makeup enthusiast!

Face brushes

Eye brushes

The Concealer Brush (top) is perfect for hiding spots, eye bags, and uneven discolorations in your skin. It's best used with cream or liquid concealer.

When I first saw the Bobbi Brown Tortoise Shell Collection in Temptalia a couple of months back, I was floored. I like the theme and the fact that this collection is targeted towards women who wear glasses (me)! You see, it's a more difficult to use makeup when you wear glasses since they bring focus to the eyes. You don't want to be caught dead with droopy or tired-looking eyes, right? The Tortoise Shell Eyeshadow Palette is specifically designed to highlight our peepers without them looking overdone or trying hard. 

Aside from the palette, a set of mini-brushes with tortoise shell handles will be making a debut. If you've ever wanted to try Bobbi Brown brushes but can't afford them, this set is your best bet since you won't have to pay full price for them to get the same quality. It's P3,000 for the set but that's considerably less expensive than the normal size brushes which can go up to P2,000 a piece.  

Click after the jump to get more tips from Bobbi Brown on how to wear makeup with glasses on!

Before I ever got interested in cosmetics, I was into drawing and painting. If you've been following my blog, you know that I love colors - how we pick them to adorn ourselves and our surroundings, how they work together to look even better, how a good color story can change moods and create inspiration. Now you know where that came from!

Doing makeup and painting are not that different. Both are mediums of self-expression, using colors, brushes, and moods to create a story about who you are. They follow the same principles of color and technique. In the end, the only difference is the the canvas used.

I stopped painting when I was in college though.

I'm always hovering in department stores in the hopes of scoring something great, something other people may have missed. Last Tuesday, I hit gold! I visited the department store at Market! Market! to buy nail polish when I spotted this awe-inspiring, crazy cheap powder brush right across the nail polish aisle:

It was incredibly soft, had shiny hair, had the right density and - best thing EVER - it only cost me P119! I've been mooning over a high-quality powder brush from Suqqu since I saw Lisa Eldridge use one in a video. But since Suqqu is not available here and I probably can't afford it, I'm happy that I found a nice alternative. It's not the same shape but guys, you really need to feel how soft this P119 brush is. <3

This brush has fine synthetic hair very similar to the one Ellana uses for their brushes.

Sophie, our friendly neighborhood beauty blogger and consummate businesswoman, has just opened the pre-order for the latest version of her best-selling Charm Travel Pro brush set. The new set has got a lot of things going for it aside from the cute hot pink packaging!

I am smitten with the face brushes, for instance. The brushes look very lush, soft, and dense. Can't wait to touch them when I see Sophie next.

I was so surprised when the super chic Sophie handed me this brush as I was about to leave Makati Shangri-La that night. It was very touching, to say the least. For years now, I've followed both her blog, Beautynomics, and her business, Beauty & Minerals. She's one of the bloggers and online entrepreneurs that I really admire!

Enough gushing. Now, meet the newest addition to the Charm Luxe Collection - the Flat Top Brush!

The first thing you'll notice about this brush is its softness. I've never touched a brush as soft, smooth, and dense as this one! I'll stake my name on that. The synthetic bristles are closely packed to ensure that your makeup is spread evenly, with a natural, non-cakey effect. 

Why I love this

• Extremely soft. It feels like a dream on my face! The hair is silky and never scratchy.
• Dense. The closely-packed synthetic hairs pick up powder and liquid/cream makeup well and buffs them evenly. I don't get streaks or patchy application.
• No shedding when I washed it.
• Just the right size for my hand and face.
• Pink n' cute!