Back a few months ago, I sucked at putting on eyeshadow. I mean, I did enough to get by but it was never anything spectacular. Honestly, it was basically a two-color affair. Lid. Highlight. Done. How exciting can that get? Not much, believe me.

Then I started watching tutorials on You Tube, and I got a little cocky.

I made a mistake. I admit. In my defense, those gurus made it look so simple. Add a little shadow in your crease. No big deal! Define your outer V. Easy peasy! Highlight your inner corner. Piece of cake!

I drag out my arsenal of makeup brushes, or rather the single solitary sad lonely one that didn’t even have a brand name on it. It could’ve been a preschooler’s plastic watercolor brush for all I knew, and not even a Crayola one.

My attempts to duplicate the gurus’ techniques was a sad state of affairs to say the least. I couldn’t create a smoky eye to save my life. On the upside, I made a perfect prostitutey eye. So there’s that.

I kept at it, however. Practiced some more. Got a little bit better. Not amazing, mind you, but verging on something in the less-hooker-like category. An improvement, yes.

But it wasn’t enough. I wanted those other eyes. The art pieces. It became my mission.

Enter the Sigma brushes.

There’s something to be said about nice brushes. They truly do make such a difference. See that first brush, the E30 Pencil brush? Does amazing inner corner work. Also stunning bottom lash lining. And a detailed outer V? Absolutely.

The next three brushes, the E25, E35 and E45 are amazing blending brushes. My crease has never (seriously, never) looked so good.

The E56 Lid Shader is awesome at detailed work. I use it for the outer third of my lid or for precise perfecting of my crease.

And that E05 Eyeliner brush makes gel eyeliner less scary.

Best thing about the whole deal?They’re only $12 each. Yes! Quality brushes at a great price. All my trusty gurus use them. And they have helped out my eyeshadow application by about a billion percent. What’s not to love?

Nothing. There is nothing not to love. Buy these immediately.

The first time, and I mean the very first time I used these brushes, I created something I wasn’t ashamed of. I made art! Granted, it was elementary school art, but more like 5th grade, not 1st grade. Although it still took about 15 hours to get it just right. Well, OCD sucks sometimes. But my point!

My point is that I did it. And that’s a very very good thing.