In with the New, Brushes.

So, hopefully you took my advice and cleaned out all of your old makeup. While digging around through all your beauty goodies, you might have decided to toss a few brushes. Am I right?

Starting the year with a new set of basic eye and face brushes can be money well spent. And if you invest in high quality brushes, the investment will be definitely worth it.

My favorite brushes come from MAC, Bobbi Brown, and billy b beauty. Some are newer as I stock up on the MAC Holiday brush collections and toss older eye brushes, but my main stay brushes, especially those for my face and foundation, are a few years old now. And they are in perfect condition. Now, taking care of your brushes is another post in itself, and it is one I plan to elaborate on soon. Just know that taking care of them is important to get the proper use and many, many years out of them.

Here are my must have brushes I use almost everyday:

billy b beauty
Three - I love this for my bronzer and/or highlighting powder.
Four - I use this to apply loose powder under my eyes to catch eyeshadow that falls. I then use it to clean up and set my concealer.
Eleven - This one is perfect for using with a dark shadow as an eyeliner or with a cream eyeliner for a more Cleopatra eyeliner look.

Bobbi Brown
Face Brush - This one is for my compact powder to set my makeup.
Concealer Brush - This is small enough to apply creamy concealers to where I need it perfectly every time.
Eyeliner Brush - I use this with most shadows for eyelining.

MAC
129 Short Handled Brush - For loose powder and sometimes highlighter, or when I add a pop of blush color to my cheeks.
169 Angled Blush Brush - This is probably the softest brush and is perfect for contouring or just applying blush to the cheekbones.
187 Duo Fibre Face Brush - I am addicted to this one for powders, and liquid and spray foundations. Used correctly, it leaves a perfect airbrushed look.
190 Foundation Brush - This brush is great for heavier foundations, liquid or cream.
217 Blending Brush - Can't get enough or a more perfect eyeshadow blend than with this brush. I have probably five or six of these for all different shade ranges.
227 Large Fluff Brush - For any powder application, this one is perfect.
239 Eye Shading Brush - I have so many of these two and try to keep them for different shade ranges as well. This is the easiest brush to apply eyeshadow with - hands down.

Out with the Old - Makeup, that is.

As the year comes to a close, it is a great time to think about cleaning out your makeup bag or drawer. Beauty products do expire and go bad over time. I know it is hard to think about throwing away something that may have barely been used, but for safety sake, it really is for the best.

There are lists all over the web about what to toss and when, but I am getting this advice right from the master, Bobbi Brown. As listed in her new book The Makeup Manual, these are Bobbi's suggestions. Your products will expire in the following amount of time after first opening.

Liquid and Cream Foundation - 2 years
Concealer - 2 years
Powder - 2 years
Mascara - 6 months
Lipstick - 12 to 18 months
Lip and Eye Pencils - 12 to 18 months
Eye Shadow - 2 years
Powder Blush - 2 years
Cream Blush - 2 years
Moisturizer - 2 years
Eye Cream - 6 months
Sunscreen - 2 years
Face Cream - 2 years

Purchase The Makeup Manual, which would be perfect to get your new year and new you off to a fine start.

Beautiful Makeup Search Top Ten Things I'd Like to Forget.

Oh yes, things are not always beautiful, now are they. There are obviously some items I did not talk about this year or things that I just wish were not so - blah. This is the "Things I'd Like to Forget" edition of 2008. Please feel free to chime in after the post (in the comments) with what beauty related items of 2008 you would like to forget.

1. The Economy - I wish the economy were just not so bad right now. I have known for over a year that we were in a recession and those money people are finally admitting it. It is really tough on a gratuitous industry as beauty. Besides people in the beauty industry getting laid off (CHANEL just reported they are laying off 200 people!), women are giving up their manicures/pedicures, facials, massages, even hair care services. And this affects those in the beauty service industry and the small salons that we will probably see close during the year.
2. Moving Mascara Wands - This still scares me. I know that Oscillation set records for being the fastest selling mascara ever, but I still don't see the point. A good mascara and a steady hand always works - no moving parts needed.
3. NY Times Article Bashing Beauty Bloggers - The end of January, the NY Times pegged beauty bloggers as product whores or just in it for the swag. I don't think I ever wrote about how I felt about the article, but simply put: I started Beautiful Makeup Search in 2001 before blogs were even called blogs. I wrote here for years and years with just a passion for writing about beauty products and that is still why I write it. Yes, there are plenty of bloggers that have started since then just for the swag, as they say, but when those said bloggers realize that the swag just doesn't come, you see their blogs quickly disappear. 
4. Black Lip Gloss - These black hued lip glosses sold out - yes, sold out. I think they sold out for the collector's aspect, as I never EVER saw anyone wearing black lip gloss. There is simply no way to (in the word's of Tim Gunn) make it work.
5. The Posh Bob - Need I say more?
6. Splendicity as a Community No Longer - The wonderful community of beauty, fashion and style bloggers that I put together for b5media was dissolved with no reason except to use the name for something else. It made me mad, but now I am just sad as it was a fantastic community of bloggers. I do cherish the friendships I made through the bloggers though, so if anything good came of it, the friends I found was definitely it.
7. Diversion - I never realized how much of a problem that diversion was until I started seeing Bare Escentuals at Target and the best of hair care brands at cheap variety stores. This is not necessary just to save a buck/make a buck. Please only buy beauty products from authorized retailers.
8. Overpackaged Products - Products with oodles of extra boxes or cartons are not doing us any good. A pretty bottle or compact is all I need. The extra layers of outer packing on beauty products is getting ridiculous. Even though some of them are pretty, the environment would be much better without so much extra packaging.
9. Zit Zappers - I have tried most of the over the counter gadgets this year, and not on myself. I enlisted my hormone raging 13 and 16 year old for numerous tests and trials. Unfortunately, there is not a single one that I would recommend.
10. Imitators - From beauty innovators to magazines, to those of us who author beauty and fashion blogs, there is always someone trying to copy someone. Or something. Yes, imitation can be a form of flattery, but we can do without most imitations. The products and people rarely live up to the hype.

Again, share your worst beauty products/trends/moments in the comments.