If you don’t already follow Kelli Anne Sewell on Instagram and TikTok, I highly recommend doing so—like, right now. The NYC-based makeup artist and content creator regularly shares expert application tips and tried-and-true product recommendations with her combined 625K followers. She also shares in-depth tutorials and master classes on her app, Makeup by Kelli Anne. She juggles all of that while her celebrity clients count on her for red carpet makeup. I’m talking about names like Alex Cooper, Madison Beer, Alix Earle, and Kelsea Ballerini, among others.
Today marks a milestone in her career. Sewell just launched a brand-new makeup-brush collection in collaboration with Real Techniques, and she’s on a mission to educate everyone on how best to use them to elevate their makeup routines. Yes, that even goes for makeup-sponge loyalists.
As with the rest of Real Techniques’ portfolio, these makeup brushes are affordable and accessible, which is why this collaboration makes so much sense. Sewell is a makeup artist for the people, translating top-level techniques and insider expertise into digestible, easy-to-follow advice. Meanwhile, Real Techniques takes high-quality materials and luxe-feeling bristles and offers them at a budget-friendly price point. The intersection seems obvious.
I caught up with Sewell ahead of today’s launch to talk about the brush collection, the TikTok beauty trends she loves and hates, and the one makeup tip she wishes everyone knew. Below, read our exclusive interview.
(Image credit: Real Techniques x Kelli Anne Sewell)
Talk to me about your partnership with Real Techniques, why it was such a good fit, and why you wanted to release a brush collection.
When I was approached for this opportunity, it was a no-brainer. I’m a self-taught makeup artist, so as I was building out my kit of tools and brushes and things that I could use to teach myself, I was walking into Walgreens, Target, or wherever it was, and I was picking up a Real Techniques brush.
I’ve had brushes from the brand in my personal collection for over a decade. It’s so nostalgic. You think of the hot-pink packaging or the orange packaging, all of the bright colors. I found videos of me using them from 2017 and 2018. I was like, “Now, I’m going in with my Real Techniques brush.” I’ve always loved them because they’ve always felt like really high-quality brushes, and the price point is incredible.
I’m being exposed to so many amazing resources and connections, and I’m learning so much. I’ve always wanted to channel my artistry into the hands of the everyday girl, and that’s what I do on my app. I want to educate. I want to take everything I’m learning as a celebrity makeup artist and funnel that to anyone who loves beauty. So I feel like partnering with a brand that is so accessible to so many was, once again, a no-brainer. It’s allowed me to put my artistry into the hands of everyone, and I love the idea that you don’t need to spend $70 on a brush to be able to look and feel your best. I’m so excited for this because they’re such a good price point, and the quality is insane.
I don’t know if this is hygienic or not, but I have Real Techniques brushes from when I was maybe 16, and I’m in my 30s now.
As long as you’re washing them, who cares?
As a celebrity makeup artist, was it easy to envision an essential brush kit, or was it deceptively difficult? How did you choose which brushes you wanted to be a part of this?
It was honestly daunting. For our first meeting, they were like, “I want you to show up with 30 brush ideas.” I felt like the stakes were high because this is my first time really putting something out into the world that isn’t a video.
I want these brushes to land with the makeup artist, but makeup artists want entirely different things out of brushes than the everyday girl wants. So I was really like, “How can I—knowing the struggles of the everyday girl when it comes to learning makeup and then the gaps in the market when it comes to being an artist—blend those two to create what I have?”
You’ll notice throughout the collection [that] certain things appeal to the everyday girl, and then certain things are a nod to the makeup artist. Through communicating via DMs, at my master classes, and really talking to my community, I think girls feel really overwhelmed with what to use their brushes for. Two things that I was super adamant about with the brushes were, one, there is a brush for every step in your routine, and it clearly labels what it is. You have your skin-prep brush. You have your foundation brush. Another educational point was whether it’s for creams or for powders.
My whole theory behind the brushes is that you have one for every step in your routine and that each dual-ended brush allows you to do your cream side and your powder side. The cream side has a little diamond indicator. You’re able to pick up and, in two seconds, know what you’re using it for.
I think my audience on social has definitely caught on to this, but I’m a big “light layers” person, which is the thought process behind what we’re calling the Light Layers Premium Set ($65). If you want really natural, long-wearing makeup, you work in light layers. When you break that down even further, it’s a lot of switching between creams and then a light layer of powder and then continuing to build from there.
Then we have two individual SKUs, which are called the Everything Brushes. These are to appeal to the minimalist girl. You could pick up these two brushes and do a full face. You can travel with them because I don’t like traveling with a ton of brushes. They’re sold individually, and I think that if I were someone who was new to makeup, this would be a little less overwhelming.
(Image credit: Kelli Anne Sewell; Real Techniques)
Definitely. What are a few standout brushes from the collection that you’re really proud of?
There are two brushes that I think fill such a gap. The one that I’m the most proud of is the first-ever Skin Prep Brush. It’s the only silver one in the collection. I’m really big on the idea that your makeup is only as good as your skin prep. I also love doing lymphatic drainage on myself, so I was really adamant that I wanted a brush that would allow me to sculpt my face while I’m putting on my moisturizer. It pushes fluid out while you’re using it. There are videos of me in the Real Techniques office, where we’re on the third iteration of this brush, and I was taking scissors to it in the office, being like, “No, it needs to angle like this.”
A lymphatic-drainage Skin Prep Brush is brilliant.
And you flip it around and do eye cream. You basically just apply your moisturizer, and it sculpts your jawbone, the cheek… You can feel it moving and helping with de-puffing. You obviously have to drain the fluid down your neck and practice all the lymphatic principles, like opening your lymph nodes, etc., but I love that this brush will allow you to do that.
My second favorite brush is the Lip Contour Brush. I cannot go a single glam without this. One side looks like a normal flat brush, but it is the thinnest, most precise brush, and I like to use it in two ways. I prep my client’s lip with a lip mask, but at the end, I’ll actually work concealer into this, and it cleans up the lip really nicely. The best part, though, is the little blur brush on the other end. It’s meant to blur out the edges after lining your lips. It’s the perfect shape.
I’m still not over the lymphatic-drainage Skin Prep Brush. Some people are intimidated by the thought of using makeup brushes if they’re used to only using, let’s say, a makeup sponge or even just their fingers. What are the benefits of using a brush, and how can it elevate one’s routine?
That’s such a great question. It really is personal preference. I get it. Some people are so used to using a sponge, but what I always say about sponges is that I think it’s just a different type of makeup application. People that like sponges are the people who are using way too much product. What a sponge does is absorb the product off your face. That’s why it softens the look of things on people who are using too much product. Using a sponge is actually a makeup-artist technique to remove and take things off.
The whole point of my artistry and what I want people to understand is that it’s easier to slowly build makeup on your face. You don’t need to go in with 10 pumps of foundation. You don’t need to draw on everything with your concealer. Once again, if that is your technique, I understand the sponge, but how I like to do makeup and what I encourage everyone to do is work in light layers. I think it’s really achievable with these brushes to slowly build up the coverage and to really treat yourself like you’re Picasso.
I love that.
Because of the softness of the bristles, you’re not going to get brush streaks. I actually have been doing this technique with the Adjustable Powder Puff ($10). You get two of them. I actually used one on a client today.
With the old powder puffs I was using, I felt like I always had to pinch them to get that really nice roll. If you’re a makeup artist, you’re always putting them on your pinky so when you’re working on a client’s face, you don’t get fingerprints, and you can steady your hand. These puffs would fall off because they’re so big, so we basically made a little “bra strap” on the Powder Puff so you can adjust it. It won’t go off your hand, and it gives this little roll.
At the end of doing my makeup, let’s say I look in the mirror, and I’m like, “There’s a little too much coverage” or “I’m too matte” or whatever. I’ll actually take the Rhode Glazing Mist ($30) or any sort of hydrating spray, and I spritz the puff. Pressing it right into the skin at the end gives it the most hydrated blur.
This is so intentionally designed. I know you mentioned using the Powder Puff on a client, but have you had a chance to use and test all of your brushes on clients?
Oh yeah, I’ve been throwing them in there. I want to see what brushes I’m gravitating toward in a sea of them. I’ve given them to clients as touch-up brushes. I’ve been trying to get them in the hands of people that I work with and hope to see them using them.
(Image credit: Kelli Anne Sewell; Real Techniques)
Okay, let’s talk foundation application specifically. I’ve always struggled to apply full-coverage foundation with a brush because it reads so heavy on me.
Let’s say I’m using the M.Ph by Mary Phillips Le Skin Weightless Serum Foundation ($49). She’s the queen of underpainting, and a huge part of her underpainting technique is the last step: foundation. She likes to take a fluffy brush and almost feather it on the face. So for me, as a makeup artist, with the Foundation Brush, I see it as a way to apply foundation in two different ways.
Let’s say you wanted the most coverage. I would use the denser cream side and really just stamp it on and buff it onto the skin. You’re going to get really nice coverage. But say I was underpainting and I wanted to just feather on a really lightweight, sheer wash of foundation. I would use the other side of the brush. Basically, the denser the brush, the denser and more compact the coverage. With something fluffy and large, you’re getting a fluffier and more sheer finish.
This makes so much sense. It’s opening up a whole new world for me. I love a sheer, natural-looking foundation, so I’ll have to try this.
If I were you and I had a full-coverage foundation but I wanted to get a more natural look out of it, I would take a tiny pump. You could even add in a pump of moisturizer to sheer it out from a formula standpoint, but then I would take a really fluffy, big brush, and I would work it into it, and then I would literally feather it over the skin. You will get the softest wash of the product.
I’m going to try that immediately. What’s another makeup tip you wish everyone knew?
I think understanding the difference between bronzer and contour is a huge unlock. A lot of people think bronzer and contour are the same, and they’re not. Even with our brushes, there is a very clear difference between the contour brush in terms of shape and density versus the bronzer brush.
If you think about where you would apply bronzer, it’s where the sun hits you, so [it’s] where you look sun-kissed, which is why you want something that has more of a warm undertone. … You can have a more generous placement, in comparison, with contour. With contour, you’re carving and creating shadows, so the placement is actually super precise and more in the hollows of your face.
I think that powder has gotten a bad rep because people [don’t] apply it lightly enough. I think everyone needs powder. It actually extends the longevity of makeup and makes your makeup look more natural. A lot of us get caught up in all these dewy products, putting them all over our faces, and then we look oily. Your natural skin finish is not overly dewy everywhere; it’s a little bit matte in some areas and highlighted in other areas. Learning how to layer your powder in strategic ways and with a very light hand—hopefully with my brushes because that’s what it encourages—makes you look more natural, and your makeup can last way longer.
One hill I’ll die on is that powder blushes are just as good as dewy ones. I feel like everyone just wants a dewy blush right now.
It’s like how we’re seeing the trend of mousse products. Everyone’s getting sick of all the dewy stuff. A mousse basically dries down to the texture of a powder. It blurs over your imperfections and makes you look poreless, and that’s what powder does. Powder is forever going to make you look more airbrushed, especially in the summer when people are like, “My makeup’s melting off my face!” I’m like, “Are you setting your makeup with powder?” They’re like, “No.” Why do you think that something liquid would not melt off your face?
There’s a video on my app called Sweat Proof Base. I was in Mexico at a wedding, and it was the hottest and most humid climate I had ever been in—worse than Miami. I have to do 12-hour makeup because I was a bridesmaid. So I did this layering technique of powders to last me this long.
Are there any specific TikTok makeup trends you love?
I’m obsessed with Aussie girl glam. … I feel like I’ve seen a lot of no mascara. I love a no-mascara look. And mousse makeup! We all did the overly matte, and then we all did the overly dewy, and now, I think mousse is that perfect hybrid. It blends like a cream, works for all skin types, and blurs and finishes like a powder, so I feel like it’s approachable for everyone. I’m sickly obsessed with the Prada Touch Cream-to-Powder Soft Blur Longwear Blushes ($42). Westman Atelier just came out with a mousse-like bronzer. I’m seeing it everywhere.
On top of that, I feel like people are really allowing themselves to create again and have fun with makeup. I think people are so tired of wearing the same look every day. Self-expression is always going to stand. We’re seeing grungier eyes, even on the fashion runways, per Gucci. Those always lead to these looks and movements, like party girl—smoky eyes, fun lips, etc. It’s all about not taking life too seriously. Obviously, all of this works together, fashion and beauty trends. It’s like you need to go out and live life. It’s okay if you’re hungover on a Saturday and your eyeliner is smeared—make a look out of it.
Shop Kelli Anne Sewell x Real Techniques Makeup Brushes
Real Techniques x Kelli Anne
Everything Eye Makeup Brush Set
Real Techniques x Kelli Anne
Everything Powder Brush
Real Techniques x Kelli Anne
Everything Cream Brush
Real Techniques x Kelli Anne
Adjustable Powder Puff 2-Pack
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