Thursday 17 March 2016

Clean Brushes, Clean Mind



Hi guys, I've just uploaded a post recently in collaboration with Fatimahearts on nude makeup trend (go check it out!!), so today I just wanted to keep it chill and cashhhhh around here and talk about makeup brushes. When I first dabbled into the makeup, the first product I got was Laura Mercier's Foundation Primer and Tinted Moisturiser - hence, no makeup brushes needed. And then it was concealer, translucent powder - again, no brushes needed. But then as I moved up into the more complex side of makeup - doing the eyes, and brows, and cheeks and whatnot, my makeup brushes collection grew with it - and I absolutely had no idea what was the ideal way to wash them. SO. I tried and tested every single way of cleaning them and finally found my most ideal way to keep them clean, bacteria-free, silky soft and in shape at all times. Lets go and get started.

1. Cleanse

There are many brush cleansing solutions out there, so many brush shampoos etc but I essentially cannot vouch for brush cleansers/shampoos because I just think it's a waste of money and unnecessary as the best makeup artists out there don't even bother with using it. I do believe in gently washing the brushes so anything that won't be harsh on your own hair would be great, like baby shampoo. I absolutely love using Caudalie's Gentle Conditioning Shampoo to thoroughly cleanse my brushes as the ingredients in this shampoo is gentle (no sulphates, no parabens, etc etc) and it gets my brushes super clean, too. It forms a lot of lather so I can quickly just rub the bristles at the back of my hands to remove the dirt, and rinse it right off. It does an amazing job with my brushes and doesn't dry it out. Oh, did I mention that it smells absolutely divine? I can't put my finger on the scent tho. But off the bat, it smells like a spa day. I would also mix in a quarter of antibacterial soap to the shampoo and since the shampoo has conditioning properties, it will counteract any harshness from the antibacterial soap. The main thing to consider when cleansing your brushes is not to get the ferrule drenched and focus the cleansing mainly on the bristles. I like to damp my brushes and get the lather going when I'm cleaning it and carefully rinsing the bristles afterwards, and I always rinse the shampoo with warm water to really get the grime out of the brushes.

2. Condition

If there's one thing I like for my brushes is that for it to be super soft. So, I started conditioning them. I just added this to my routine because I have added a few drugstore brands to my collection and did a little experiment to whether a conditioner will make the bristles softer, and it did! I've used the Le Labo Rose 31 Conditioner on my brushes, leave it to soak for 3-5 minutes and then rinse the conditioner with cold water. I like to rinse conditioners with cold water to keep the bristles shiny and soft. Again I just run the tap water through the bristles and use the back of my palms to work the conditioner off the brush. The Le Labo conditioner gives the loveliest rose scent to the brushes and I really feel that I look forward to washing my brushes just from the scent of Rose 31. I know it's hard to get your hands on Le Labo, so I would recommend anything organic or natural like conditioners from Aveda or The Body Shop which has scents that smell amazing as well. Aside from the fact that this conditioner works well with my brushes, I love that the scent just adds to the experience when I paint my face without being too overpowering.

3. Dry

After cleansing and conditioning, I gently squeeze out excess water from the bristles and place my clean brushes on top of a towel (any towel would do) and align all the bristles to form a straight line. Afterwards I fold the towel on top of the brushes and gently press the towel to soak anymore of the excess water. I then carefully shape any misshapen bristles and then place it at a slight angle so that the bristles are not flattened and leave it to dry! Done! And that is basically how I clean my brushes. I do put in an extra step once it's 80% dry by spritzing a little bit of Caudalie's Beauty Elixir to keep the brushes prepped and ready to go.

I store them in a repurposed candle jar, in this case the Diptyque large candle jar as it fits my brushes perfectly (not too short, not too tall). I just love this current routine and I do it once a week or wherever I can physically see that my skin has break-outs which means that my brushes need to be sanitised immediately. I do always clean my eye brushes more frequently just because it's more sanitary that way. Let me know in the comments on your thoughts on brush shampoos/cleansing solutions and how you keep your brushes clean! Thank you for hanging out!





FARAH x

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