Brush Cleaning

Hi all,

I've developed a wonderful case of conjunctivitas in my right eye so I am currently unable to do tutorials. I'm using eye drops for it and I am hoping it will clear in about three days with any luck but if it doesn't I'll have to see my doctor. Until then I am not allowed to wear eye makeup or put anything in my eyes (like my lenses) so I'm unable to make tutorials at the moment since they involve me putting eye make up on. It's very annoying because I have three I wanted to be put up but I don't want to risk my eyesight so instead I thought I'd do a blog about how to care for your make up brushes.

What you will need:

(If you have sensitive skin) Some very mild baby shampoo or unscented, unfragranced soap. Basically the most natural soap you can find. Tesco have their own brand soap which is cheap and I've used it on my brushes and it has been fine. If you use any kind of cleanser or face wash beware that you will use your brushes on your eyes afterward so make sure whatever you use has a gentle formula.

Latex gloves (If you're allergic to latex you can buy non-latex gloves): It might sound silly but repeatedly washing your brushes in your hands with soap can cause rashes or dryness so these are purely to protect your skin. If you have lots of brushes to wash these will most definitely come in helpful!

A sink or bowl full of luke warm/cool water


How To Wash Your Brushes

First take a little baby shampoo or soap in the palm of your hand (gloved or not - it's up to you) and mix it into a little bit of a lather with some water.

Then take your brush, wet it with the water and then gently sweep the bristles of your brush into the soap back and forth without too much pressure. Try not to be too rough because this can cause the bristles on your brush to fall out/fray over time. You may have to rinse your hand and use a little more soap. Once no more colour shows in the soap, rinse the bristles in clean water (being careful to keep only the bristles under the water as excess water can seep into the brush handle and cause the glue to break down over time) and then squeeze the bristles to remove excess water.


Drying your brushes

After washing my brushes I gently sweep the bristles of my brush back and forth on an old towel to help remove excess water/dampness.

Lay your brushes flat to dry. Try not to leave them near a radiator as the heat from a hot radiator can melt the glue inside the brush. Place them in a warm, dry place. Larger brushes may need a whole day to dry whilst smaller ones will take anywhere from 2 to 5 hours.

Drying your brushes flat ensures they will keep their shape. Don't dry them in an upright position. Always lay them out flat because if you dry them upright the water will run into the glue that attaches the bristles to the handle and it will eventually cause your brushes to shed or break.


How Often Should I Wash My Makeup Tools?

Washing your brushes is important because your skin builds up dirt and grease during the day and this leads to bacteria build up. Everytime your brush touches your skin it picks up some of this bacteria so it's important to keep your makeup tools clean so that you don't end up with any nasty rashes or eye infections.

The makeup on your brushes will eventually start drying up or going off within the bristles so it is important to get rid of the makeup that is stuck to your brushes as soon as you possibly can. If you don't the bacteria in the dried makeup will eventually start giving you spots or nasty infections.



Alternative Brush Cleaning Methods

You can buy jars with special scouring sponges in the bottom either from cosmetic stores or arts and crafts stores and what you do is add some brush cleaning formula (this you can buy from cosmetic counters) to them and clean them that way. Brush cleaners often have conditioners in them to help your brush bristles last longer. They will also clean them thoroughly. This saves you having to get soap and water on your hands at all but the pain in the arse part is having to clean the sponge regularly!


How To Clean Mascara Wands

You might not think it's very important to clean your mascara wands but trust me, it is. Your mascara wand touches the one part of your eye that is specifically there to catch dirt so you can imagine how it will build up over time on your mascara wand.

To do this you can use a little mild soap and basically follow the same procedure of dipping the wand into the soap and then rinsing with clean water. As long as the dried excess mascara is off then it'll be fine. You can go ahead and dry the wand off with a paper towel and put it back into the tube right away because you don't want your mascara to dry out.

Tips

I always keep some babywipes nearby for when I have finished applying eye shadow or when I want to use another colour on the same brush/applicator. Just clean the bristles over with the wipe a couple of times. This will help keep the colours from mixing and it will help keep your brushes cleaner until you are ready to wash them. I got 80 babywipes for about £2 at Superdrug but you can get them at any drug store or supermarket equally as cheap.

Brushes Part Two: How To Use Them

Now that I have covered the types of brushes you will need I would like to go into how and where you use each one. For someone who is very new to makeup it can be overwhelming and confusing trying to use new brushes when you aren't even sure how you're supposed to do so. I am going to make this as simple as I possibly can.

Basic Eye Shadow Brush

Use in a dabbing motion if you are using eye dust (loose powdered eyeshadow) but with regular shadow you can just use a small sweeping motion on your eyelid.

Tip: Using a slightly damp eye shadow brush and dabbing motions will help the colour stick better. This particularly applies when you're using eye dust which tends to 'fall out' a lot. It will help the dust to stick and the colour to look stronger.



Fluff Brush

Use in circular motions along the eyelid.

Crease Brush

Use a 'windshield wiper' (dragging it back and forth following the natural shape of your eyelids) motion where your lid meets your brow bone toward the outer corner of your eye with this kind to create a defined look with your shadow.

Liner/Smudger Brush

With a liner brush using small strokes is best because if you aren't good at lining to start with you can end up making a mess by trying to go all in one so take your time and apply the liner/shadow bit by bit.

Smudger brushes are extremely simple. You just use a back and forth motion to smudge your liner. Be sure to go inbetween your lashes so that the liner doesn't appear gappy or broken up and so that it looks soft.

Blusher/Bronzer/Powder/Kabuki Brush

Blusher: Smile and look for the fleshy part of your cheek. That's where you apply your blusher. Avoid going up toward your hairline as it will just look like a streak of colour that never ends. Once you have found the fleshy parts of your cheeks use your blusher brush in patting motions to apply the colour and then small circular motions to blend it into your foundation if you wish.

Bronzer: Generally you follow a similar technique with applying bronzer as you do with powder. Dab your brush into your bronzer and go in circular motions to blend it evenly all over your face. If you are contouring your cheeks (which means applying a darkish coloured bronzer to the space underneath your cheek bone to emphasise your cheek bones. Suck in your cheeks and you apply it to the hollow part.) you use a 'back and forth' motion. Bronzer goes all over the face/neck. Use a little at a time rather than lots at once because once this stuff is on it's tricky to remove without having to start over again.

Powder: Take a little powder on your brush and tap off any excess. Powder goes all over the face or in any 'shiny' areas you may have. Sweep outwardly so start inward at the nose and sweep out over the cheeks, chin and forehead.

Kabuki: Use fairly active circular or sweeping motions with one of these all over the face.

Brushes

This is for those who are new to make up brushes and want to start buying some. The key to good looking make up is to use the right tools for the right job. Here I have outlined the different types of brushes and their uses. Bear in mind that there are hundreds and hundreds of types of brushes out there so I can't possibly cover every single one of them but here are the main ones you will find useful.

Basic Eye Shadow Brush

Eye shadow brushes are used to deposit colour all over the lids. They can be fluffy, dense, small or large. Depending on how you want your brush to deposit the shadow depends on which type you should buy. Usually a dense eye shadow brush is a good place to start because the denser the bristles, the more colour the brush will deposit onto the lid. If however you only want a light wash of colour you may find a fluffier brush more suitable.

Blending Brush

A blending brush is usually large and fluffy. These are used to blur out the eye shadow colour - useful for a smokey eye for example. They can also be used to deposit a light wash of colour over the entire lid or brow bone.


Crease Brush

These are specific brushes for targetting the crease area. (The crease is the line where the eye lid meets the brow bone or where the eye socket sinks in if you have mono-lids.) A crease brush adds definition. They are usually very small and very dense. Meaning the bristles are usually very short so that when you place shadow with them, the shadow appears more colourful (darker and more defined).

Liner Brush

A liner brush is usually very thin, small and compact. Its purpose is to apply eyeliner along the lash lines (although you can also use them to line your eyes with a dark eye shadow). They can be slanted or straight. Slanted brushes are often easier to work with and can produce different line weights (thick or thin lines) whereas a pointed, thin liner brush would produce a very thin line.

Smudge Brush

A smudge brush will soften eyeshadow or eyeliner. They often come on the end of eye pencils and they are useful if you like wearing a smokey eye or if you just want your liner/shadow to look smokey.


Blush Brush

These are usually fairly dense but can also be larger in size. They are used to sweep mineral blush over the cheeks or in some cases, cream blush over the cheeks.


Powder Brush

Used for mineral or cream make up such as pressed powder, loose powder, pressed foundation or loose mineral foundation.

Again, powder brushes can be fairly dense or fairly large and fluffy in size. If you want a powder brush that picks up a lot of pigment quickly and deposits a lot of colour then you should choose a dense powder brush (useful when you want to apply pressed or loose foundation and still get good coverage). If you want something to use to, for example, set your foundation, you're better off using something large and fluffy so that the powder does not cake your makeup.


Bronze Brush

Used to apply bronzer. Some are smaller to contour areas like the cheek bones but for the most part, bronze brushes are larger in size.


Kabuki Brush

Can be used to apply powder or bronzer. Often very fluffy and large in size. Some have dense bristles. It all depends on what kind of finish you desire. Larger, more fluffier kabuki brushes will obviously produce more subtle results compared to denser ones which will pack on the colour quite well.