THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEANING YOUR MAKEUP BRUSHES
The importance of cleaning makeup brushes is sometimes rather overlooked. What would you say if you were told there could be more bacteria lying in between the bristles of your makeup brush than on your toilet seat? I can see your face grimacing right now!
Dirty brushes accumulate oil, dead skin cells, bacteria and dirt. Ew. Each time you use a makeup brush that’s gone way past it’s due cleaning date, you’re passing this to your skin.
If this sounds familiar, you aren’t alone. 72% of the public are guilty of not cleaning their makeup brushes regularly enough. Ideally, you should be cleaning your makeup brushes every 2 weeks.
Here’ the truth about why you should clean your makeup brushes and how to clean your brushes in the future:
Reason 1: Breakouts
Pores are very clever, and if you are using brushes that are in need of a good clean, as explained above you are transferring dirt, grime, bacteria and dead skin cells back onto your skin. This is going to clog the pores. Your skin underneath doesn’t know if the pores are clogged or not, so the amount of oil that your body excretes through the pores will carry on happening. If it can’t escape through the pores, breakouts start happening. This is another reason to always use high quality mineral based makeup – as this won’t clog the pores either! So, avoid clogging your pores with clean makeup brushes and this will reduce the chance of breakouts, woohoo!
Reason 2: Clogged pores
As explained in reason 1, we do not want the pores getting clogged. The oil produced in the body needs to come through the pores to get out and work in the way it should. If you disrupt this process, you’re asking for trouble. Dull, lifeless and aged looking skin is lurking around the corner if pores get clogged. Let’s keep that well away by cleaning our brushes regularly! A daily spritz of brush cleaner to prevent build up and a good deep clean every 2 weeks will really help to keep your brushes as good as the day you bought them, as well as ensuring happy skin too.
Reason 3: Skin irritation
None of us want unnecessary redness or irritation do we?! If your skin is red and blotchy, it’s trying to tell you something. Not only will dirty makeup brushes create blocked pores and cause potential breakouts, if you have a build up of makeup on your brushes it can cause skin irritation. The bristles get harder and will create uneven makeup application, streaky and liney coverage that you then need to fix and uncomfortable skin. Your amazing skincare regime with the Environ products will be wasted if we aren’t treating the skin on our face with the gentle touch it deserves.
Reason 4: Uneven makeup application
As stated in reason 3, who on earth wants to have uneven makeup? We spend our hard earnt money on our well loved makeup essentials to make ourselves feel pretty and enhance our features. Why would we want to put that to waste if we aren’t able to apply it properly, or take even longer putting it on?! Let streaky, uneven and dodgy makeup be a thing of the past, if you clean your brushes regularly this will really help you being much happier with the end result after applying your face of makeup. One final point here, if you’re dipping your dirty brushes into your makeup (maybe your eyeshadow, or your favorite blush, all that bacteria from the brushes is going into your product pot! This will lead to the products going off…… we definitely don’t want that.
Reason 5: Decent makeup brushes aren’t cheap
Along with the spending good and hard earned money on high quality makeup, you also spend money on brushes too! Would you buy yourself a lovely new designer top and never wash it? Absolutely not. This is the exact same principle applied to makeup brushes. To keep them in good nick you need to give them a pamper too. Keep them feeling great and living their best life and providing you with the purpose you bought them for by giving them a good ole’ clean.
If all of this doesn’t make you want to go and give your brushes a spruce then the next section is a bit pointless. For those who want to, I’ll now talk you through how to clean your makeup brushes to get the best results!
You don’t need anything fancy, but try not to use anything harsh. Remember, although your brushes need a clean, you want to use something gentle to ensure you don’t harm the bristles.
Although washing your brushes with anything is better than nothing, I would never personally recommend using anything to cleanse your brushes that you wouldn’t be happy to use on your face directly.
A facial cleanser, ideally a sensitive one is by far the best option. The Environ Low Foam Cleansing Gel is the perfect option to get rid of the rubbish in your bristles and make your brushes super soft again.
Wet your brushes and then massage the cleanser into the bristles. You can buy specific brush cleaning silicone pads with knobbly bits on, and these are great at massaging the cleanser into the bristles.
Rinse the brush, and then repeat if there’s still product coming off.
Once they are done, you can leave them to air-dry. This will take approx. 12-24 hours depending on the density of the bristles.
You can also purchase specific brush cleaning tools that whizz your brushes around to dry them super-fast. I’ve used these before and they are really cool, but just take care that you aren’t using any chemicals for the cleanser – you don’t want to risk damaging the brush bristles! So, if you haven’t got one of these, that doesn’t matter. Follow the steps above and you’ll have beautiful brushes again in a jiffy.
I hope this has helped!
If there’s anything else I can help with simply get in touch with the salon on info@pureemporium.co.uk
Amy
Manager
Pure Emporium
(Did you know we stock Jane Iredale makeup brushes at Pure Emporium, as well as Environ skincare. Take the best care of your skin by using the correct products suited to your needs as well as high quality makeup and makeup brushes. Come and visit us in the salon and speak to our skincare professionals. See you soon!)