Thursday 16 February 2012

How I clean my brushes!

This has been a blog I've been meaning to post for sometime, & I've finally gotten round to doing it! So, I would like to apologise about the photographs. As I was on my own, I found it was quite difficult to take snaps, whilst I had to use two hands! Hopefully you'll catch my drift..

What you will need:

Dirty brushes
Johnson's Baby Shampoo or any product that is mild & gentle
Kitchen paper

Simple as that. You want to start off by selecting your brushes that you would like to thoroughly clean. I know I should clan mine once a week, with spot cleaning in between, but it just one of those things that slip my mind. Luckily, I don't have super sensitive skin, so I'm not as affected by using unclean brushes - as gross as that sounds! I do give them a good cleanse, as I will show you through these photographs..
I'm starting off cleaning my foundation brushes, which collect the most visible grime & dirt. I have a Stipple Brush, here, which originally is supposed to be white at the tips. Lets see how clean we can get this!


As you can see, I've began to hold my brush beneath hot running water, which will help release some of the product from deep inside the bristles, meaning easier cleaning. On the right image, you can see all of the foundation being released. Lovely! An important note to bear in mind, is to ALWAYS hold your brush downwards, allowing the water to run away from the handle end of your brush. If you hold your brush directly upside down, under running water, your enabling the water to soak into the brush, which will damage your brush, loosening it & you will risk your brushes bristles falling out & shedding. I tend to rinse & wash my brushes on their side, allowing the water to fully submerge deeply into the bristles, rather than the water soaking the entire brush & handle.
 I've chosen to use Johnson's Baby Bedtime Bath, purely because its the only Baby product I now own. It does the job for me, too. So I'm not complaining. As long as you have a soft, gentle, cleansing product, that will be kind to the bristles & your skin, you should be good to go. You can also use your own shampoo, you don't need to purchase any specific products. I apply a small amount into my hand, & begin to swirl my soaked brush into my palm. You will see all of the product release from the brush, & be left with foundation coloured water. Keep swirling & rinsing, until the water from your brush runs clear.

I've repeated this process with my powder brush, by soaking the brush in water, swirling in fresh shampoo in my hand, massaging the product & bristles together, rinsing, done!

Again, its exactly the same process for small eyeshadow brushes, etc. Just dip & paint your brush into the product, & begin to break up & release the dirty product build up in your brush., Its always satisfying seeing all the much wash away, leaving you with a fresh brush!
To finish off this process, you simply want to lay your brushes onto some kitchen paper, & leave them to naturally dry. You can lay these on a tea towel, on top of a radiator, which will dry the brushes in a few hours, rather than leaving them to dry naturally, which will take a day, depending on the size & thickness of your brushes & bristles. 
& You're done! Its a simple process wants you've rant through it a few times. There is plenty o different methods, including Olive Oil, Conditioners, etc, but to be honest, this one is less fuss for me & does the job really well. I have good as new, soft brushes once they are dry. I've not had any faults or found any of my brushes shedding. If you want to try a new simple technique to cleaning your brushes, have a go of this. You can use any shampoo, too, so you;re not restricted!

Has any of you lovely people tried this or a simple method? How have you gotten on?

Thank you!

LuceeLovesBeautyBox.

xxx

10 comments:

  1. This was such a useful post! I love that you use things that I actually have and don't say that I MUST go out and buy a mac brush cleanser right away O.o So much more useful! Lovely post, of to clean my brushes now ;) xx

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  2. I hope it came across useful. I found it difficult to do everything one handed! The only thing I have purchased specifically for my brushes in e.l.fs Daily Brush Cleanser, which I spontaneously bought & never used! I much prefer one thorough deep cleanse, with affordable, everyday products!

    Thank you for the lovely comment!

    xxx

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  3. I use the Aleppo soap and it's super-fast brushes cleanining! Try it! ;-)

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  4. I'll bear that in mind in the future. For now, I'm quite content with using products I already own!

    xx

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  5. Great post! Really helpful! Just realised how long it's been since I washed mine, such a bad habit forgetting to do it, thanks for reminding me. I'll be doing it first thing tomorrow! :) x

    lauradreamsanddresses.blogspot.com

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  6. Thank you! I'm so pleased its had a nice response! I always forget to wash mine, so thought I may as well blog whilst doing it!

    You're welcome!

    xxx

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  7. great post, really helpful! I tried washing my brushes with regular shampoo as I don't own baby shampoo and the brushes were really harsh and scratchy on my face :( At least I now know!

    Ayeshadows.blogspot.com

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  8. Oh, no! I can't say I've had that experience before. Baby shampoo is really inexpensive to come by, if you're wanting a change.

    Thank you for the compliment, though!

    xxx

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  9. I wash my brushes like this and It's the best way I've found :) Great post hun xoxo

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  10. Thank you! It works brilliantly on mine, so I thought I'd share!

    xxx

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Thank you so much for reading! I do reply to all comments, as I appreciate the time you have took to read my little blog!

If you would like to, you can contact me on Twitter @LuceeLoves or via email lucykennard91@gmail.com! I would love to hear from you!

Love, Lucy. x