Washing my Brushes...

The least thing that I like about makeup is washing the makeup brushes... I'm still believing I'm not that frivolous when it comes to knowing how important cleaning your brushes are. It's just that, washing five brushes makes me lazy already! How much more if it's to wash 9 brushes more? Argh! I want to fight this lazy feeling 'coz I know have to wash the brushes I used 5 days ago. (I admit it, I'm guilty of being that slothful...)

14 Brushes *sigh

Anyways, I will be washing my brushes and this is the procedure I'll follow... I got this from Ms. Sophie of Beauty and Minerals.

Animal Hair
Animal hair brushes, are just like our hair! They can go from frizzy to smooth, depending on our care for them.

I highly suggest using a good shampoo, and strongly recommend Sunsilk to wash these babies. Spritz-on conditioners such as Cream Silk, as suggested by beauty blogger Nikki Tiu of askmewhats.com are a great add-on to keep animal haired brushes frizz-free.

In running water, shampoo the brushes gently by brushing on your palm, and squeezing gently to squeeze makeup out to the running water. Do it until water runs clear. Squeeze off excess water, and re-shape them.  Lay them flat on the table and let them dry!

Putting your brushes back to it's cover can maintain it's shape. Also, The Brush Guard can keep the brushes' natural shape while drying. I definitely want to have that! They can be bought from Suesh or Dollface.

Synthetic Hair
Synthetic hair, or vegan taklon hair, are as they are, and won't change their composition anymore, so any kind of shampoo would do - may they be baby shampoo or even facial wash! Clean just like normal brushes. 

Removing Liquid or Cream Makeup on Brushes
Using olive oil or baby oil will help remove liquid makeup such as cream concealer/ liquid foundation. They will disintegrate prior to washing. You can also wipe them off before washing.

I saw Michelle Phan using alcohol-infused wet wipes to remove cream, powder or liquid makeup from her brushes after using it (and before storing the brushes back to their cases) or before washing. (Yes! I do watch Michelle Phan and I learn a lot from her) :)

How Often?
Makeup Brushes are ideally to be washed twice a week. For those who want to make the washing rituals more frequent, thrice a week is good. In between washes, wiping with alcohol or brush cleaner is OK.

Photo from Ellana

Ellana's Brush Cleaner has a non-drying formula and is with Tea Tree extracts. Tea tree is said to be antiseptic or antibacterial.

I'm still getting the strength to wash them tonight and I do hope I'd still be able to wash them after blogging for more than an hour (it has taken most of my time already). I have prepared all things necessary anyways.

Olive Oil, Baby Shampoo and Clean Towel

For the animal brushes, will just be using my usual shampoo and conditioner for it. I also follow Michelle Phan's way of removing cream and liquid cosmetics for her brushes. She mix baby shampoo and olive oil together in a plate and smoothly brush her brushes on it before rinsing them in running water. I've tried that technique once and aside from it's easier to do, you'll really notice all the cream and liquid makeup disintegrating on the plate while you're stroking. So I'm gonna stick to that technique. But like what I said, I'll follow Ms. Sophie's advice when it comes to other animal-haired brushe since I'm a newbie in washing those.

I hope after this blog I'll wash em all for real!

Your kikay Morena,

Joanne