8 essential beauty tools: what you need in your cosmetic bag to help perfect your makeup technique - beauty in action

Shape, Nov, 2003 by Daniella Brodsky

Picture Rembrandt trying to create a masterpiece without his brushes. Almost impossible, right? The same holds true for makeup application. Sure, in a pinch, you can smudge a dab of shadow onto your eyelids or some blush onto your cheeks with your fingers, but for a professional, polished look, the right tools are indispensable. "It's hard to get perfect makeup application without the right brushes," notes New York City-based makeup artist Sonia Kashuk, founder of Sonia Kashuk Cosmetics. Yet choosing the right tools can be confusing. With so many materials, sizes and shapes, it's hard to know exactly which ones should be in your makeup bag. Here, tips from top makeup artists about the tools they can't live without:

Foundation brush once you see the natural finish a brush gives to a liquid or cream foundation, you'll never apply your makeup using sponges or your fingertips again. "Dab foundation onto the back of your hand, then use a foundation brush to apply it using downward motions, feathering out at the edges by the hair and jaw lines," suggests Susan McAlarney, a New York City-based makeup artist for Chanel. "You can apply cream cheek color in the same way." With foundation brushes, look for synthetic bristles (rather than natural hair like sable); they'll soak up less foundation, which means less waste. Try the aura science brush with a feather-light Lucite handle and its own plastic carrying case ($19; 866-AURA-777) or Paula Dorf's Foundation Brush ($35; pauladorf.com), a celebrity favorite.

Concealer brush Use a small-tipped detail brush--made of either sable or synthetic bristles--to dot a tiny amount of concealer on and around a blemish to camouflage it. We love the Kevyn Aucoin Concealer Brush with its tiny spray of silky, firm sable bristles and its full-sized handle ($24; neimanmarcus.com). To erase dark undereye circles, choose a brush that's narrow at the tip (so you can apply the concealer exactly where you need it), but wider at the base for effortless blending. A best bet is the Prescriptives Concealer Brush ($17; prescriptives.com).

Blush/powder brush When it comes to this tool, the bigger, the better. A brush with a generous, dome-shaped head does double duty: Use it to apply blush or bronzer, then dust it off to apply your translucent face powder. In fact, applying loose powder with a brush will give a sheerer finish, explains liana

The right brushes are key to achieving a flawless makeup application.

Harkavi, a New York City makeup artist and founder of II-Makiage. (Look for sable brushes in this category; they'll absorb just the right amount of powder for easy application.) Makeup-artist favorites: Becca #16 Large Powder/

on-the-go kits

* By Terry Jewel Case Lip Gloss ($134; 888-8-BARNEYS) comes in a velvet pouch and contains a retractable sterling-silver lip brush and golden gloss.

* Chanel Brush Up On Beauty ($85; gloss.com)is packed in a sleek black case

* and contains a sculpted shadow brush, a shadow/eyeliner brush and a blush brush.

* Revlon Beauty Shapers Mini Essentials ($8; at drugstores) houses five mini tools: an eyelash curler and tweezers, plus lip, shadow and blush/powder brushes.

* tarte suede brush roll bag ($222; sephora.com) includes nine pink-handled brushes packed in a lush purple suede roll.

Bronzer Brush ($60; beccacosmetics.com), Nars #1 Loose Powder Brush ($50; sephora.com) and Lancome Bronzer Brush #5 ($35; lancome.com)--all are designed to deposit a fine dusting of powder-based cosmetics on the face. For touch-ups during the day, opt for Bobbi Brown's Face Brush ($30; bobbibrown.com), a minihandled, chubby goat-hair brush.

Eye-shadow brush An eye-shadow brush made of sable is the best brush for cream or powder shadows. (Makeup artists prefer the absorbency of sable for picking up and applying just the right amount of product.) "You also can use it to highlight the brow bone with a light-toned matte or pearlized shadow," explains Mally Roncal, Sephora's New York City-based celebrity makeup artist. We like L'Oreal's Makeup Artiste All Purpose Shadow Brush ($8; at drugstores). If you want more intense color, choose a dense angle-cut brush, like Trish McEvoy Brush #23 ($36; 800-431-4306).

Eyeliner brush These ultrafine brushes are best for creating definition along the top and bottom of lids with powder, cream or liquid liners. (Look for sable brushes if you typically use powder eyeliners and for synthetic materials if you're applying liquid.) Chanel's tiny, blunt-tipped #4 Shadow Liner Brush ($24; gloss.com) is a best seller and even works to create the illusion of voluminous eyelashes if you smudge a slim line of dark shadow just above the lash line. Another favorite: II-Makiage Sculpture Brush ($17; 800-722-1011), which makes precise application easy. An angled brush like Shu Uemura's #6 OB ($26; 888-540-8181) also can be recruited to fake thicker brows; just use it--along with an eye-shadow powder that matches your brow shade--to fill in and define sparse hairs.