I'm not going to babble too much and get straight into the post. It's
pretty common knowledge that makeup brushes need to be washed -
especially face makeup brushes. You don't want bacteria building up and
if you're doing makeup on other people, you don't want their face oils
and germs on the brush when you use it next right? Same goes with eye
brushes although the concern is more that when you use different colors,
you'll have residual from the old shade you used and well, that's no
good if you've got black shadow mixing with your highlight. So yes it's
clear that makeup brushes need to be washed. But using what?!
Store
bought cleansing solutions are expensive aren't they? So most people
have come to realize that well... olive oil is great at removing makeup
from the face and doesn't clog pores. And dish washer soap is supposed
to kill 99.999% of bacteria. SO.. if you take the two and mix them
together, you should get the perfect makeup cleansing mixture right?
CORRECT! I think that's also pretty common knowledge (I think all the
Youtube makeup gurus I watch use this solution). It's cheap (well olive
oil can be pricey but it's def worth it) and effective. I've used it
since I started getting into makeup and have never had any issues.
However..the only one problem is really getting out ALL the makeup from
some of my denser brushes (ie. the Sigma F80 kabuki brush). Sometimes
the foundation really gets stuck in and even after multiple scrubs on my
hand, I find there is still residual foundation spots left on the
brush. I know other people have had this problem because Sigma designed a
tool to help with this: a brush cleaning glove! It has ridges and bumps
that are supposed to help you "deep clean" all your brushes quickly and
efficiently.
I think it's a cool idea especially if you have a ton of brushes..
However, for someone like me who only needs to wash a few (5-7) brushes
every so often, $39 is a pretty steep price. So I discovered my own tool
to help me deep clean and it's something I think most people will have!
A ginger grater! Now
I know what you're thinking (okay well I don't) but does it seem weird?
Well a ginger grater also has little small raised bumps to help you
grate a ginger into tiny shreds of pieces. It's not too sharp like a
knife or a cheese grater, and it's on a flat surface (like the one shown
below).
It's
definitely improved the cleanliness of my brushes and speed of the
whole process so I thought I'd share it with all of you. All you have to
do is move your brush up and down or in circular motions and you'll see
all the pigment and gunk from your makeup foaming up off your brush. I
do this as many times until the soap bubbles are clear or when I rinse
the brush under water and wring it out, the liquid drainage is clear.
To
dry my brushes, I use a dry and clean dish towel or hair towel and lay
it vertically. I roll up one edge so that it creates a raised roll that I
can prop my brushes against so that they lay at a downward slant to
promote the drainage of water as they dry. This is important to prevent
the bristles in your brushes from falling out. In the below photo
they're propped upward because I had just dipped them in my
oil+detergent mixture. They're currently propped the opposite way since I
just finished cleaning them. I like to use a hair towel because they're
long enough to roll up and still have extra towel room to cover my
brushes when they're drying to prevent dust or random stuff falling on
them and dirtying them (if that makes sense)
I
hope this post was somewhat useful for you and please give it a go! It
might seem weird at first but it's quite effective! If you have any
questions, feel free to leave them down below!
