Clean Brushes Create A Clean Face| How to clean your makeup brushes

 

I often get messages and comments on how clear my skin looks; I mainly put this down to good diet and plenty of exercise, but there are other little things that I do that make all the difference. One of these things is making sure I have clean makeup brushes. I admit I don’t wash them every day… I know I should, however I give them a good deep clean once a week. Everyone is guilty of piling the makeup on daily, and we all take the time to wash it off at the end of the day to ensure no nasty bacteria is lying around. However, how many of us wash the same dirt and bacteria off our brushes? I bet there isn’t many! It is essential that you deep clean your brushes once a week, as they can end up clogged full of old makeup, dirt and debris, bacteria, oils and dead skin cells… pretty gross!

So how do you wash your makeup brushes? There are many different ways and many different brush cleaning products you can use. The tools I use are hot water, Johnsons Baby Shampoo and a scrappy towel. I use the Baby Shampoo as it is a gentle shampoo with little chemicals so there is minimal, if any, damage to your brushes. The method I use is as follows;

1- Prepare yourself by choosing the brushes you need to clean, the towel you are going to use and your Baby Shampoo.

2- Wet the hairs and pour a small amount of the Baby Shampoo onto your brush and rub in into your brush. Use some force but not too much, just enough to create a lather. I create a lather by wiping the brush in small circles in the palm of my hand.

3- Next rinse out the shampoo, still wiping your brush in small circles so you are sure to rinse out all the shampoo. Be careful not to get any water on the handle or the ferrule of the brush (the part that holds the brush bristles together), as this can damage the brush fibres and make you brush moult.. not what you need! If the brush is still not clean repeat steps 2 and 3 until your brush rinses clean.

4- Once you brush rinses clean you can now dry it. To do this gently wipe it across your towel. Then leave your brush to air dry for a couple of hours.

Depending upon how many brushes you need to clean, the process only takes around 10 minutes. So 10 minutes of your time to ensure you have a bacteria free, and clean face is definitely worth it! Ideally you should also use an instant brush cleaner for a quick cleanse after every use. Another bonus to having clean brushes is keeping them soft! How lovely and soft are your new makeup brushes? If you clean you brushes regularly they will be kept soft and supple for longer!

How do you clean your brushes? And how often do you do it? Do you recommend any instant brush cleaners that aren’t too pricy?

An English Rosy Rose| Rimmel Blusher Review

I decided to create this post after receiving may comments on my blusher shade. I am a bit of a blush fiend, as you can see by the photos; sometimes its a little too much after I wander out into the daylight, and realise I resemble a clown. Blush is probably my second must have day-to-day daily make-up product after my beloved mascara. On days when I want to give my skin a rest, I will happily venture out with only mascara and blusher; as long as there are no monster spots on my face.

The blusher I use is only a high-street brand in the UK, which does a large range of products in many colours at reasonable prices. This blusher is a product and shade that I have been using for at least 4 years. It is cheaply priced at about £4.50, and I think the colour is very pigmented; once bought and used daily it still lasts about 3 months, showing that little is needed to make an impact on your face. When looking at the blush in the packaging is looks a rosy pink, as the name implies, however when swabbing it on my fingers and hand it looks a little bit more peachy. Overall it gives the face a warm flushed look that on olive skin such as mine is quite natural.

I have no intentions on ever changing my choice of blusher, Rimmel have created a shade I love and a product that is pigmented, stays on my face all day, lasts for many months, and is reasonably priced; why would I consider choosing another?

The overall range of products offered by Rimmel, I find to be a bit hit and miss, some I love and regularly purchase, others I wouldn’t even use more than once. However many high-street brands are the same, I suppose due to them offering such a wide range, they aim to satisfy everyone’s needs, so not every product will satisfy mine.

What do you think of the Rimmel brand? Is it a high-street brand you use, or avoid?

Makeup Storage I wish I had never bought

Well I actually bought this not so of a gem of a makeup box quite a few months ago, and have wrestled with it ever since.

For my day-to-day make-up; I store that in a make-up bag that just gets moved around the house as and when I use it, as it means I can just grab it and take it to whether-ever I go, and its all in one place.

However for my other make-up items that aren’t used on my face everyday, like many other girls, they were all thrown into a top draw of my dresser. This was a nightmare! I could never find anything, and regularly things would leak and ruin other items. So one day I decided enough was enough! I went onto amazon and started searching for vanity cases, I wanted something sleek, and not translucent, so I could just throw everything in, and no one would see the mess inside. I mean I am a lucky girl, and as I have a second bedroom, when I have no guests, this second bedroom is my walk-in wardrobe/ dressing room, it is literally filled with clothes, make-up and shoes, that I hide when I do have guests. So I wanted something that could be placed on top of the dresser, that looks good, but was more organised than a draw. Something that would make the most of my dressing room.

I decided that this was the make-up box I wanted, I liked the sleek curves of it, the fact it was black, and that it was cheap at £16. But god, I didn’t expect it to look so cheap! From the outside, it looks fine, but when I received it, its clear to see that a cheap price means cheap quality, it was not a bargain, it is just tat! The draws themselves feel like they are make out of cardboard, and its flimsy. regularly I’m fighting the draws back in. Its a lot smaller than I imagined, so only fits in like half of the stuff I wanted it too, so I still have a giant make-up bag that holds the other proportion of my make-up collection. Not the sleek, tidy and organised look I wanted for my dresser top.

So I am still searching! I have seen loads of great reviews and pictures of the Muji drawers, that I am tempted, but I didn’t really want a see-through storage unit, as when I have guests I don’t want my clutter being on show.

So if anyone has any other recommendations? Or can persuade me to buy the Muji drawers then give me your thoughts! I need ideas and solutions girls, before this vanity case drives me insane!