NARS No. 15 Smudge Eye Shadow Brush

Several weeks ago, I finished trying out all the looks that were provided with the Tarte True Blood Eye Shadow Palette.  When in the process of these reviews, I went through my brush collection to find the best ways to apply the dense pigmented shades the create the more dramatic eye looks.  When working with these shades, I rediscovered an old eye makeup brush of mine, one that I haven't used for quite a while and had almost forgotten about.  One of the best aspects of this palette was that I refound this brush and now know that I can really use it to create the perfect smoky, smudgy eye. 

I have long raved about NARS eye brushes, with the No. 3 being one of my favorite brushes that I have ever bought (and still is to this day) and No. 15 is to exception to this rule.  No. 15 is actually the first NARS brush that I had ever purchased, I bought it to work with the Night Series Eye Shadow shade in Night Clubbing.  I used it several times to work with this shadow but found that I needed a smaller brush to use it as a liner, I pulled it out a few times after I realized this but this brush pretty much fell to the bottom of my traincase as a result.  Until I needed something to create the more dramatic looks in the True Blood palette...

NARS states the following as a description of the brush itself, "The Smudge Brush is perfect for applying eye shadow close to the lash line for a smoky lined look.  It is ideal for smudging or softening pencil lines or placing powder over pencil for added depth and wearability.  Made from Pony Hair, deemed the best hair for depositing dense pigments."

This brush works best when it is tapped straight down into the eye shadow itself, I found that it picks up pigment the easiest this way and doesn't create any mess.  The pigment needs to be deposited right where I want it on the eye and then I can smudge it to soften the line.  One of my favorite aspects of this brush is that the bristles are very stiff and I can easily place the pigment right up to my lash line, creating the perfect line to start a smoky eye.  Personally, I hate when I have a gap between my eye shadow and my lash line and this is the perfect tool to fill in this gap and give my eyes the perfect sooty, smoky look.  I have tried to create a smoky eye without using this brush to smudge my eye shadow and it just never looks right.  When I wasn't working with this brush as much, I often had issues with that look but I was able to pull off the dramatic eye looks from the True Blood palette really easily thanks to this brush.

I recommend having this tool in your traincase if you like to wear a deep smoky eye at night.  This is the best brush to help smudge the shadow and help create the sooty look that I love during the fall and winter months.  There is no downside to this brush, however it is only to be used for smudging shadows so it can't create any other type of look. I have also found that it is a bit too large to really use it to line the eye.  This is not the most versatile eye makeup brush that I have but is one of the best as doing its job very effectively.

photo courtesy of NARS