So, I recently had a really bad eye infection. Some of my makeup had to hit the trash after that, mascaras especially. (Mascara holds onto germs really well, so don’t be afraid to replace yours often. There’s a lot of mascaras out there, but you only have two eyes so take care of them!) But the rest of my makeup and brushes were pretty easy to clean. I’m really bad about cleaning my brushes enough, so I cleaned even those I hadn’t used leading up to the eye trauma. This how to is for serious cleaning. A little shampoo and water or brush cleaner is a great way to go to clean your brushes weakly, but so many oils and dirt live in brushes and makeup that, every now and then, you should go hard and clean up everything really well. It’s not difficult, just time consuming. But your skin will thank you!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
Packed powders and loose powders should be spritzed with a good layer of alcohol. The color should darken a little bit. The alcohol will kill the bacteria and then evaporate in no time at all. Spritzing powders with alcohol every now and then can be good, especially blush if you have oily and pale skin like I do. I even used this on my cream shadow tubs. The alcohol doesn’t soak into the product, but if you’ve wiped it down well it will kill the remaining surface germs.
If you have any broken powders, go ahead and crush them up then mix them with a little bit of alcohol to create a paste. Put it back in the tin, let it dry out and, voila, you’ve cleaned your makeup and saved some cash on a new product.
STEP THREE:
Liner pencils, lipsticks and tubes without a tool to pump it (think a cream tube you squeeze onto your hand or fingers, not a mascara or lipgloss tube) can be soaked in alcohol. Thirty to forty-five seconds should be plenty. Wipe the top of your lipstick with a tissue before you do this to clean away any skin or dirt residue from application.
STEP FOUR:
Let everything dry overnight. Loosely cover powders so nothing gets in, but the alcohol is still able to fully evaporate.
REMEMBER THIS IMPORTANT TIP!
Don’t be afraid to throw makeup out. Most is cleanable, but your health is more important. If you think your makeup has been compromised by a serious something like a nasty virus or bacteria, toss it. Just let it go. A few bucks isn’t worth risking a nasty infection. Many germs thrive in moisture-rich environments so mascaras, liquid liners and creams can be havens for the nasties. If it’s bad, throw it away!
Happy cleaning!