Sunday 10 December 2017

Washing Your Makeup Brushes.

Hey guys!
So today is a Sunday which means one thing - chill out time - however for me its been a tidying up day with a catch up of corrie in the backgrounds.
I shall admit it right now I haven't cleaned my makeup brushes in a while. I know gross and also shame on me. I keep meaning to do it and every night i get home from work and thing "I'll do it tomorrow" and of course tomorrow never comes.
When I first started wearing makeup which was around the ages of 16/17 - yes I was a late bloomer to the makeup world and would literally go to school with nothing on my face not even moisturiser some day because I simply wanted more sleep over looking dolled up for a place I hated - I didn't find may written blogs that told you about things like washing your makeup brushes and once I had given it ago for myself and got into watching makeup YouTube tutorials that I started to watch other people making beauty care videos.
Everyone has to start off somewhere and many people prefer to sit and read a blog than listen to someone talk at them so I thought I would type down how I wash my makeup brushes.
There are a few things you're going to need:
1. A Sink - I use the one in my bathroom
2. Your brushes - This is an obvious one as you need to clean them
3. Baby Shampoo - This is what I personally use. The brand is Johnson's Baby Shampoo. The reason I use this is because the formula is very gentle as it is used on baby's hair and just like their little heads the bristles of your makeup brushes need taking care of too.

Image from Google


You can also buy brush cleaning solutions and shampoos which can be quite costly or you can use your face wash if you prefer but as many face products can be expensive I wouldn't recommend using it and kept for just face use
4. Water - This is so we can lather and rinse the brushes
5. A towel - I use a towel that doesn't have any little bobbles on or anything that can shed. This is because I don't want things transferring into my brushes when I am drying them
 6. A brush cleaning mat/glove - This is optional. You can always just use your bare hands. I have a few different silicone apparatus for cleaning my brushes - I have 2 gloves and a mat - They all do the same thing really it all depend on how much you're wanting to spend and which you feel like would be beneficial to you. The mat sticks onto the bottom of you sink or on the side making sure that the plug hole isn't covered up and water can drain or a glove which is obviously worn on the hand or 2 fingers if you buy a smaller version. I brought mine off eBay for between £0.99 - £4.00. There are loads on there and are worth having a look at if you don't want to break the bank. You can however by them from high street stores like boots and Superdrug and I also think I have seen them in the body shop and Claire's accessories at some point bit they are from about £6.00-£15.00



Images from Google

Now that all the equipment is out of the way we can get into the directions.
Make sure during this whole process you're keeping the bristles of the brush facing downwards. Don't point the bristles to the ceiling if you can help it. This is to stop water getting into the handle of the brushes which overtime will wear the glue down that is holding the bristles in the handle and will cause your brush to start shedding or worse loose chunks of bristles.

Lets begin!

1. Squeeze a little amount of baby shampoo onto your mat/glove/hand.
2. Take your brush and give it a quick dash under the tap and start to swirl the makeup brush in the baby shampoo. This will cause the shampoo to start lathering and start to clean your brushes. You will start to see the makeup that has built up start to break down and leave the brush.
3. Give it a rinse under clean warm water. Make sure the water isn't too hot as this will cause the glue to start melting in the handle.
4. Squeeze out the excess water from the brush carefully and If needed for a deeper clean repeat steps 1-3 until the brush is running clear in the the water at step 3.
5. Swirl your brush on your towel this will allow the bristles to start drying and reduce the risk of water getting stuck the in the brush and going mouldy over time.
6. Dry your brushes - There are a few ways you can do this. The first way is to lie your brushes down on a table/dressers hanging off the side so the bristles have a chance to dry from every angle the air can circulated to. If the brush is flat on a surface the area on the table won't dry. 
The next way is to attach your brushed to a vertical panel. This could be a door/dresser/wardrobe anything really - I personally have a magnetic bulletin board in my room which I used to hang my brushes - I attach a little self adhesive magnet on the back which I got off eBay years ago and let them dry bristles facing downwards just like when we washed them. 
The third options is to buy a "brush tree" you can get these off the internet that are specially made for cosmetic brushes or you may be able to get a brush drying rack from a craft supply shop which is used for paint brushes which I'm sure would do the job just as well. The reason why I didn't include this into the equipment sections is because I personally don't use one of these.
7. Reshape the brush and allow around 24 hours for them to fully dry. You may be able to use them before the 24 hour mark just make sure that they're still not wet as it can cause extra bacterial to build. If you can't wait that long use a blow-dryer on a low setting and gently dry them.

And there you go!
Simple!
It is important to stay on top of washing your brushes regulatory to stop bacteria build up which can cause spots, blackhead, clogged pores and in some cases very server acne. There shouldn't really be an excuse as to why your makeup brushes aren't cleaned and cared for and I feel embarrassed by how long I have left mine. It is recommended to wash your main face brushed every 1-2 weeks and eye brushes can be done every 4-5 weeks depending on how much product build up there is on them. 
If you have any questions or advice you would like to add to the this post for other people to see leave them in the comments!
Take Care 
Post Soon! 
xx