Evacuación de la energía

Perfect makeup requires the use of the right tools and the best cosmetics. But just making use of the perfect equipment is not enough to keep your skin looking and feeling great. It is important to maintain your makeup equipment in good condition and also to ensure that it stays fresh, clean and usable.

The Importance of Keeping your Makeup and Tools Clean

When you apply your makeup using the various tools such as brushes, sponges, etc. some of the cosmetic material is left behind on them. When the brush touches your skin, it is exposed to the oil residue and dirt that cover your skin. Using the same brush over and over again results in these remnants coming into contact with your skin repeatedly. The result of this is outbreaks, rashes and allergies that arise as a result of poor skin hygiene.

No matter how much you clean your skin, using dirty brushes or sponges to apply makeup exposes your skin to irritants several times a day. By adopting a regular maintenance routine is the only way to avoid this.

It is also important to ensure that the makeup you use is clean. If your makeup has been contaminated, do not hesitate to discard it since filthy makeup can have severe reactions on your skin.

How to Keep Your Makeup Clean

Avoid sharing mascara, eyeliners, lip gloss and lipsticks with other users to keep it sanitary. After use, sanitize your eye pencils and lip pencils with a makeup sanitizer or sharpen them with a pencil sharpener.

Allow the products to dry thoroughly before putting them away in your covered kit.

If you have an eye infection and have been using your mascara or gel eyeliner, discard it and use a fresh one to avoid infecting your eye again.

Powder products can be shared with others, without compromising hygiene, provided each of you has a separate brush/applicator. Remember to clean the brushes/applicators thoroughly so that the product is not contaminated by them. All sponges and puffs should be cleaned using soap and water and letting it dry naturally and all tweezers and curlers should be sterilized with surgical alcohol.

Avoid double dipping with all cosmetics. This introduces the contaminants present on your skin, which have been transferred to the applicator/brush/wand/sponge, into the cosmetic. An effective method is to use a palette to hold the makeup product you want to use. You can use palettes for dry/powdered cosmetics and also for creams and lotions.

Steel palettes are easiest to clean effectively. Ensure that your palette is clean and sanitized before you dispense the required amount of cosmetic onto it. To scrape out gels/cream foundations etc. onto the palette, use a clean spatula.

One of the very first precautions to take with makeup is to disinfect the work surface before you unpack your kit. To disinfect products like eye shadow after use, you can spray alcohol on a tissue and wipe the surface of the cosmetic. Use high percentage (91% and above) isopropyl to do this for best sanitation. Use a hand sanitizer, cosmetic sanitizer and alcohol to clean up quickly once you have completed the makeup application.

How to Sanitize your Brushes

Sharing brushes and applicators may transfer bacteria from one person’s skin to another. This is not always possible for makeup artists working on different clients. Regular cleansing is therefore essential. For brushes used to apply powder, foundation, blushes or eye shadows, wipe the surface with a tissue

immediately after use. Brushes should be replaced after 3- 5 years of use or earlier if necessary, whereas sponges should be replaced once a month or every second month. Mascara should be replaced after 3 months and lipsticks every year. If you are using a liner brush to apply liquid gel or glitter liners, then you can consider the use of disposable applicators. The same goes for lip brushes and mascara wands. If you do not have disposable applicators for lipstick or liquid eye liners but have brushes instead, then you must sanitize these brushes after every use.

Within this period of use it is very important to clean and sanitize these tools effectively.

Always stock your makeup kit with a good quality brush cleanser. These cleansers remove residual makeup from the brush and also get rid of the bacteria and germs on it. Spray brush cleanser on the used brushes and leave for a while until the cleaner is absorbed fully. Wipe off with a tissue.

It is also important to periodically wash brushes with shampoo and conditioner and rinse thoroughly. Let the brushes dry off by laying them out flat with the heads hanging down so that they can dry quickly and effectively.

Shelf Life of Makeup

No matter how much you love your favorite pale pink lipstick or your stunning moss green eye shadow, there is a time when you have to bid goodbye to them. Using cosmetics past their expiry date can have disastrous effects on your skin. In general, if you notice a change in the smell or color of your cosmetics then it is time to discard them. Here are a few other points to note about the shelf life of makeup.

Mascara- Since you apply this eye makeup product with a brush the chances of bacteria being introduced to the mascara are very high. Contaminated mascara can cause eye infections (conjunctivitis, sties etc).

Throw out your mascara after a maximum of 3 months of use.

Eye Shadow- Powder shadows have a longer shelf life and can be replaced between 18 months - 3 years provided you maintain excellent hygiene with your brushes/applicators. Cream based shadows have a much shorter shelf life and need to be discarded as soon as you notice anything off about the color or smell.

Eyeliner Pencils- The normal eyeliners can be used for up to 2 years with regular sharpening, whilst the liquid ones should be kept no longer than 6 months. If you notice a white film forming on the tip, it is time to throw the pencil out.

Recurring eye irritation whenever you use eye makeup is also an indication that it’s time to replace your eye makeup products.

Concealer- Powder and stick concealers have a shelf life of up to a year and a half whilst the liquid ones should be replaced every year. If you notice any funny smell or see that the concealer begins to separate, then it is time for a new one.

Foundation- Oil-free foundations are more prone to bacterial contamination than powder based ones and are usually the first to get off. This foundation should be tossed after you have had it for a year whilst cream/powder foundation can last up to a year and a half. Avoid storing it in your bathroom as the moist atmosphere makes bacterial contamination more likely.

Face Powders- These are long lasting cosmetics with a shelf life of two years at the very least. However, face powder with botanical extracts may not last this long. These extracts usually have some water content which acts as a breeding ground for bacteria.

Blush- Powder blush lasts up to two years but cream blushes have a much shorter shelf life. Replace these after a year. Store the color in a dry, dark and cool place to prolong its life.

Lipstick- The shelf life of lipstick is longer than most of the other makeup products and may be kept up to 3 years, but ideally it should be thrown out after a year’s use to keep it fresh.

Lip gloss- Lip gloss doesn’t last as long as lipstick due to the fact that it is formulated differently. It should be kept no longer than a year and a half. Lip gloss with a brush applicator should be wiped with a tissue to prevent it from becoming infected by any bacteria.

How to Clean Makeup Brushes and Tools Practical Video

Click Here to Watch the Practical Video

The following items will be used:

• Surgical Alcohol

• Tissues

• Brush Cleanser

• Pencil Sharpener

• Cotton Wool

• Shampoo

Now let’s start with the practical…

Step 1: Take your pencil sharpener and sharpen your eyeliner and lip pencils. This will remove any excess makeup or build-up from your pencils.

Step 2: Use a clean cotton wool and wipe your mascara, lipsticks and lip glosses. For better hygiene purposes, use a new and clean brush applicator after each use.

Step 3: Pour some surgical alcohol onto a clean cotton wool. Use it to sterilize your pencil sharpener, steel palette, tweezer and eyelash curler.

Step 4: If you don’t have brush cleanser, take shampoo and wash your brushes with it. If you do have brush cleanser, take a cotton wool and pour it onto it to clean your brushes thoroughly.

Step 5: Take shampoo and wash all your foundation sponges and puffs with this water and leave it to dry naturally. Remember that these sponges and puffs should be thrown out every 1-3 months.

Step 6: Pour some alcohol onto a tissue. Take the tissue and wipe the surface of your loose powder and eye shadow palettes.