How to clean your make up brushes, in 5 easy steps using 6 simple products.

Hello my loves,

I hope you've all had a lovely week, I know I have. I started my new job last Monday, and I really like the place that I'm now working at. Everyone's really friendly, and all of the staff have made me feel very welcome into their work family which is lovely! The twins have had a lovely week at school, and Emilie won the golden balloon as an award for extremely good behaviour - Proud Mummy Moment. Unfortunately Lucie was very er difficult that day (their words, not mine) - A Realistic Mummy Moment. Although I couldn't be too disappointed as that was only the second time in over a year we have been pulled in for bad behaviour by a teacher.. oopsy. 

 This weeks blog post is a small tutorial on how to quickly, easily and efficiently clean your brush collection. I don't like to use dirty makeup brushes on my face, because they don't always put back the product that they pick up and brush hairs can harbour old makeup and bacteria. Which isn't really a nice thought, if your using that all over your freshly washed and cleansed face. In a way it almost defeats the point of washing your face because you're just reapplying dirt, so the whole process becomes somewhat futile. 

Dirty brushes can also be a leading cause of bad skin, not actually the amount of makeup you wear. How nice your skin is or not isn't defined by the amount of makeup you apply, but more about how much you remove your make up and cleanse your skin after removing it. Using a face mask once a week, and exfoliating two to three times a week will help to drag any of the remaining makeup out of your pores. Wearing a primer will also help to stop makeup sinking too far into your skin, but the same applies as with a foundation you still need to exfoliate your face to drag the primer back out of your pores as primers are designed to make you look 'poreless' see what I did there?! 

I broke the art of thoroughly and quickly cleaning your brushes down into 5 easy steps, using 6 simple products. Unfortunately my collection of nearly 40 will never be washed all that quickly, and it took me an hour. But for a deep clean that's not too bad. IF i was SPOT cleaning I would have been done in half the time. I'd recommend spot cleaning your brushes using a wet flannel every 5-7days and deep cleaning your brushes using this method atleast once a month. If you're a pro you should be doing this after every client. 

1. Gather together; A small plastic bowl. Some cotton wool balls/pads. Liquid makeup remover. Gentle shampoo (I use baby shampoo). A small cup of a water. A small towel. 
2. Place some cotton wool into the bowl, and set some dry cotton wool aside. Lay the towel out onto a flat surface, and put the babyshampoo and water to one side for now. 
3. Take your make up brush and gently brush it over the damp cotton wool, you will notice the product will begin to leave the brush. Continue this motion until you're confident that there is no product left. To check the brush's cleanliness wipe it on some of the dry cotton wool you placed aside earlier, if the cotton wool is clean then so is your brush. Lay your brush flat on top of the towel to dry. (never leave them upright or turn them upright whilst wet as the liquid will run down into the glue, then hairs will begin to fall out.) 
4. Use the same technique on eyeshadow brushes, lip brushes & gel eyeliner brushes. For face & concealer brushes we use a slightly different technique due to the greasy formulas of foundations. Take the cup of water and baby shampoo, make sure you only have about an inch of water, as you don't want to get water into the fennel of the brush (the metal bit). Change this water as and when needed, it will get dirty! Put a blob of shampoo into your hand and dampen the tip of the foundation brush, then swirl it into the shampoo to create a foam. You will notice the product bleed out into the soap on your hand. 
5. Place the brush back into the water, and swirl around then pinch the bristles between your fingers to drain the excess water. Repeat with more Shampoo until the bubbles come back clean.  Making sure you've drained all of the excess water then move the brush around in circular motions on the towel your others are drying on. This will return the brush to its regular shape in a gentle way. Lay this brush down on it's side next to the others, repeating the same process of holding it downright to avoid water running into the glue. 

As usual I hope you enjoyed reading this blog, and I hope it has taught you perhaps a better or quicker way to clean your make up brushes. If you yourself have any tips on brush cleaning, please do comment below with them! Thankyou for reading, and until next time lovely blogger people. 
'The Average Mum' x.