I have a dirty little beauty secret I am going to share with
you for the greater good of your beauty tools. One of my worst beauty sins is
make-up brush negligence, and, as indicated by some casual polling conducted
among friends, I am not the only one committing this cosmetic offence. How many
of you have splashed out and purchased a perfectly plush (and pricey) bundle of
bristles from the likes of MAC or Bobbi Brown only to let them become matted
and motley? I plead guilty and I know many of you do too. I should know better
and have no excuse, but for those of you don’t know how to, how often, what to
use, or just need some encouragement, read on so you can return your tools to
their former crowning glory.
1. Clean as you
go with a brush cleanser
This is a great option if you are a professional make-up
artist or just plain pedantic about brush hygiene and like to clean your
brushes after every use. MAC make a product called, you guessed it, BrushCleanser (NZ $24) that you can use to keep your tools clean and sanitised. Pour
a little bit on to a paper towel (or, to be more economical, transfer it into a
spray bottle and spritz instead) and gently rub the brush head through it until
it’s clean. Depending on how much product is in the brush you may need to do it
a few times. This product is great if you are going to want to use your tools
again within the next half hour or so as it contains a little bit of alcohol so
the brushes dry off quickly, fresh, dis-infected, and ready to use again. I
like this as a short term solution and certainly suggest you incorporate try my
“spa” option (below) into your brush maintenance routine once a week to keep
your brushes pleasant. A thing to note is that the clean as you go method won’t
work too well on brushes that have a lot of existing build-up (say, you have
used it more than three times), however its perfect for keeping them clean
on-going, post “spa”.
2. Treat your
tools and take them for a spa
This is my favourite way to clean my make-up brushes. If you
don’t have the time or patience to clean as you go (don’t feel bad, I
definitely don’t possess such a diligent trait) then try to clean them once a
week in this sweet little spa scenario. This is a chore for me as I have a lot
of brushes to clean but if you have less than say, ten brushes feel free to
skip steps 1 and 2 as you will probably find this a quick and painless
experience.
Step 1: Try to coerce a friend/family member into chatting
to you as you clean – cleaning brushes can be a lonely experience, hiding away
in the bathroom with the cold tap running. TIP! Do it in the kitchen so you can catch some
conversation and companionship.
Step 1.5: Failing step one, play some music, load up your
favourite show, do something/anything to take your mind off what a boring task
this can be.
Step 2: Ideally you will have a tap that lets you filter hot
and cold water together so your mits don’t get too chilly. If not, sorry,
you’ll have to use the cold tap.
Step 3: Grab a shampoo and conditioner and two saucers and
squirt a small amount of each product onto a saucer each. Product choice: Can
be anything. Doesn’t have to be your favourite parabran free Pureology, can be
cheap and cheerful (and so fabulously fruity fragranced) Fructis. Just whatever
you have and are happy to use.
Step 4: Holding your brush with the bundle facing downwards*
dampen brush so it is soaking wet. Dip it in shampoo, create a nice thick,
foamy lather and massage it until the water runs clear. If your brush is
particularly grubby you may have to do this two or three times. *It’s important
that you face the brush downwards so to avoid getting soap and water in the
ferrule (the silver part that contains the bindings of the bristles.), as this
will loosen the glue that binds the hairs, making them fall out faster.
Step 5: Now that your brush is freshly shampooed and clean
dip it in some conditioner, massage it through and set it aside while you
repeat step four on the rest of your brushes. Conditioning your brushes is a
secret little tip that will make such a difference. They’ll last longer,
they’ll feel nicer, they’ll apply your product better, they won’t feel as
scratchy. Trust me and do it. Just like the hair on your head, the hair on your
brushes will really benefit from some kind conditioning action. Feel free to
skip this part on your brushes made from a synthetic fibre (like a foundation
brush, or brushes designed to apply liquid products) as they won’t benefit from
the condition-y goodness in the same way your natural fibred brushes do.
Step 6: Rinse all of the conditioner out.
Step 7: Dry the brushes off with a towel and dry lying flat
in a nice warm place (hot water cupboard, sunny spot…) until they feel dry.
Don’t just stick them back in your brush holder as the left over moisture might
drip down into the ferrule.
Step 8: Let your face enjoy the softness, freshness and
cleanliness of brushes that have enjoyed some time at the spa and stop feeling
embarrassed of your brushes resembling road kill when your friends come over.
It really is worth
cleaning your brushes regularly – they will last a lot longer (and hey if you
have shelled out on a $50+ brush you’ll want to protect your investment) and
you will get a much better finish to your application. It’s not really worthwhile
letting them get gross for a few good reasons. After a few uses you have
physiologically changed the shape of brush bundle by letting product settle
into it and the hairs move around and get matted – kind of defeats the purpose
of using such a perfectly designed tool to do a job. Brushes also harbor
bacteria so if you break out even semi-regularly, you are risking on-going
infection.
Cleaning them once a week is a good goal to aim for. I’m
guilty of often going months without cleaning the poor things (I know, I’m
gross. A disgrace), but it’s like all jobs you put off, they’re never as
dreadful as they daunt, and you feel really, really good when the job is done
and reap the benefit of doing so. Happy cleaning.
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