Brush-a, Brush-a, Brush-a --Part III

I looked at the title and it seems like I should put Part III – The Revenge! But fear not, it is not the revenge of your brushes but what I’d like to discuss is the proper care for your brushes.

So you’ve dropped your wad on the proper tools, now you want them to stay with you for a very long time. The easiest way to do that is to take care of them. Keep them sanitized, keep them conditioned, keep them from falling all to pieces, these are the things we’ll be talking about in the final chapter of our Brush Bonanza.

Keeping Clean and Sanitized

Have you even put on an eye shadow or mascara you’ve always used and suddenly felt itchy-eyed? Have your eyes ever turned red? Maybe suddenly out of nowhere your lip started to swell… well regardless what the affliction it could have been caused by contaminated makeup.

How does it get contaminated? The most common ways that makeup is contaminated are:

Ø Dipping your fingers into the makeup
Ø Using old sponges or puffs
Ø Not cleaning makeup brushes

The one we’re focusing on here, today, is cleaning your brushes. The easiest way to clean your brushes is with a Brush Cleaner. There are many on the market: Parian Spirit, Brush-Off, MAC, Cinema Secrets, Frends, Ben Nye… most of them will clean makeup from your brushes. Some people use 99% alcohol to clean their brushes.

My personal favorite it Cinema Secrets brush cleaner, and it’s not because I work with the company either. Let me tell you exactly why. I’ve tried all of the brush cleaners that I listed above. Most brush cleaners have an alcohol base, which while cleans well does tend to dry out the natural hair of your brushes, and eats away at the glues used to hold them to the ferrule. The famous bright blue cleaner has no alcohol, and is the only one on the market that instantly sanitizes your brushes.

NOTE: Did you know you have to soak a brush for at least 10 minutes or longer in 99% alcohol in order to actually sanitize it?

Second is that it conditions your brushes without leaving behind an oily residue on he brushes which leaves me with a smooth application. Plus, then I don’t have to shampoo and condition my brushes once a month and wait a day or two for them to dry… I’m just as lazy as the next person when it comes to that. Third, it dries very quickly. Lastly (and this part is just because I’m a girl) their cleaner leaves behind a mild and absolutely yummy vanilla scent to my brushes.

But no matter what sort of cleaner you use the important thing is to clean your brushes!

NOTE: If you use an alcohol-based cleanser be sure to shampoo and condition your brushes in luke warm or cool water every 6 months or so, so that your bristles won’t dry all funky on you.

You should really clean your brushes after every use. If you use them on other people as a makeup artist you must clean them after every use, but if you’re using them on yourself at home, you need to clean them once a week or once every two weeks.

Cleaner tools will make you healthier and happier and you’ll notice you’ll break-out less and have fewer problems with your skin along the way.

If you stick to caring for your brushes you’ll get your revenge against bacteria and having to replace them often. Hmm maybe I will add Part III –The Revenge!

Say "Poo Poo" to too Much Shampoo

Last week I was introduced to a new hair product. Of course there are hundreds of new products and when am I not!? Alas, I am a total product junky when it comes to any sort of personal care item. If it's new and amazing I just have to give it a go. I got myself a little powder brush applicator full of Buttercream Cosmetics product Shampowder.

Let me tell you a tiny tale here that is from my personal experience: I have a lot of very fine hair and it's oily.... slick-like even. I also have a dry scalp from over shampooing every day. I've been told by all my hairdressers and friends that I shouldn't wash my hair everyday, but after a day it looks like I was one of the unwashed masses back in days of yore. So when I didn't shampoo, I'd pull and pin my hair up so you wouldn't really notice the flat oiliness on the hairline and crown. I want to save my hair from split ends, or when I do go get it styled and blown out, I can enjoy it for a few days.

When Jayne Polan, from Buttercream Cosmetics, came in and showed me Shampowder, I HAD to give it a whirl. A miracle product that would let me not shampoo all the time and let my hair still look great!? I have to see this for myself. I bought the dark (there are two colors light and dark) because I have brownish red hair and tried it out. All I did was wake up, dab it into my hairline where I get oily, and here I am four days later I haven't washed my hair. Okay so did I merely resist the urge to wash? Nope, my hair looks like I had washed it just this morning. I'm wearing it down with a bouncy bed-tossed curl to it.

I have to say, it is as amazing as it claims to be. I even bought two more, one in each color, to use when I do studio-styling on set.

What is this stuff, you ask? Basically, it's like powdered shampoo in the perfectly designed applicator that fantastic for those on the go. It places just the right amount of powder to absorb the oil without the ghostly cast babypowder does because it has a light pigment that doesn't show up coloring your scalp. Not only that but it has a mild but yummy vanilla and completely affordable at $15.99. This product lets us say "Poo Poo" to too much Shampoo!