Deep cleaning your make-up brushes is a task that is rather like Marmite; some people find the task extremely laborious, whilst others revel in doing so. I, myself, apply to the latter half of that sentence. For some bizarre reason, I love the process of cleaning my brushes and get great satisfaction watching all of the dirt and grime that has built get washed away. Plus, the feeling of then using your newly clean brushes the next day is very satisfying! With that being said, there is a lot of confusion as to which way is the best way you clean your brushes. So, today I have a compiled a little list of tips that I have learnt since I have been blogging to share with you all. I hope you find them handy!
1. The best products to use to deep clean your make-up brushes are either a specifically designed brush cleanser or baby shampoo, if you are on a budget such as myself. The reason for this is that both formulas will be very gentle on your brush hairs, yet they will still give them a thorough clean at the same time.
2. Saturating your brush in lukewarm water before cleaning them will get rid of any excess product on your brushes, which will make your job a little bit easier.
3. I have found that the best method to use is to squirt a little bit of your chosen product into the palm of your hand, then swirl the brush around in circular motions. You should add a little more water in as you go too, to allow the product to lather up and to cleanse your brushes really well.
4. Rinsing your brushes thoroughly is key. When you squeeze out the excess water after you have washed each brush, it should run clear and not have any make-up or bubbles from the product you have used coming out of it. If it does, then you should repeat the process of rinsing the brush again until it is completely clear.
5. Once you have cleaned each brush, you will want to place it somewhere convenient to let it air dry. Although some people say that laying your brushes down flat on a table is fine, I disagree. The best angle to allow your brushes to dry is have the brush hairs facing downwards (I tend to prop mine up on my window sill.) This will ensure that any extra water can run out of the brush, instead of run deeper into the brush which in turn will start to damage the glue that holds your brush and its hairs together.
Extra Tips
- Aim to deep clean your brushes about once a week.
- Spot cleaning is a great way of keeping your brushes sanitisied inbetween washing them.
- Some people use brush guards to protect their brushes and keep the bristles in shape.
So guys, those are my five top tips for deep cleaning your make up brushes! Of course, this is just my method but I have found to be very effective and so I wanted to share my pointers with all of you as well. Please feel free to let me know what your method is or if there are any ways that I can improve my method by leaving a comment below :)
Hi guys, I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! I have had a little bit of time off from blogging due to being incredibly busy over the the past week or so. However, now that all of the festivities are over, hopefully my posts will become regular once again. So, seeing as New Years Eve is only two days away now, I thought that I would share with you all some of my favourite things to do to pamper myself prior to nights out. Making sure that you are fully prepared will ensure that you are feeling and looking your best, as well as keeping last minute stress and worries at bay. So, let's get started!
1. Exfoliate your skin
Prepping your skin the night before is a really great tip as everybody wants their skin to be silky smooth, especially if your New Years outfit is a little revealing. In addition, if you are planning to apply fake tan before the big day, exfoliating is a key step to include. As most of you will already know, fake tan clings easily to dry patches on your skin and that is not a good look! I simply like to use some exfoliating gloves which are pretty inexpensive or a body scrub, (my favourite is Soap & Glory's Sugar Crush Body Scrub,) and gently buff my skin in circular motions before applying some body butter and viola... smooth skin in seconds!
2. Look after your lips
Making sure your lips are prepped before applying your lip product of choice is another crucial step. There is nothing worse than flaky-looking lips, especially if you are planning on puckering up at midnight ;) A great way to banish flakiness is to use a lip scrub and Lush do some great ones, (Bubblegum and Mint Julips,) which are extremely popular amongst beauty bloggers. However, an excellent and cheap alternative is to make your own lip scrub. I simply slather a little bit of Vaseline mixed with some sugar granules on my lips to make a simple (and tasty) scrub. Afterwards, I apply a liberal amount of my favourite lip balm, Carmex, and my lips are really smooth and plump in no time!
3. Prime the face
As many of you are probably aware by now, using a primer before applying foundation is a great way to ensure that your make-up stays put all night long. All you have to do as apply a layer of primer onto your face and then do the rest of your make-up as normal. For Christmas, my parents bought me Clinique's Universal Face Primer (£20.00,) which I have had a tester of before and I absolutely love it. If this primer is a little too expensive for you, there are some great high street alternatives out there. A few of my favourites are Revlon's Photo Ready Primer (£11.00) and Rimmel's Match Perfection Primer (£6.99.)
4. Paint your nails
Last but certainly not least, having nicely painted fingernails and toenails is essential on a night out on the town! In my opinion, having a pretty manicure really finishes off your look and pulls everything together. There are typically five steps to a manicure/pedicure that you can do at home, which are; pushing back the cuticles, filing the nail, applying a base coat, applying two or three coats of polish, followed by a top coat. Alternatively, if you fancy treating yourself, do not have a steady hand or you have a bit of extra cash, getting your nails done professionally could be another way to go!
I hope that these tips help you to prepare for whatever you are going on the 31st. Also, I would love to know what is your favourite thing to do to pamper yourself? I love listening to your suggestions and sharing tips with fellow bloggers. I hope that you all have a fabulous New Years and I wish all of you the best of luck going into 2014!
Hi guys. Today I was thinking about how much I have learnt since becoming a part of this wonderful Blogger community. My blog is a mere five months old and so I am still relatively new to all of this, but I am really enjoying creating posts for you all to read. It really excites me when people respond well to my content as I put a lot of time and effort into it. Plus, the comments that I receive always put a huge smile on my face. I thought that I would write this post today to help out any other bloggers that are new on to the scene and impart some of my 'newbie' wisdom on to them. So, without any further ado, here are the top five things that I have learnt during my Blogger experience so far!
1. The Diversity of Blogger
I never realised how popular Blogger is. Up until I started this blog, I solely used Tumblr to post all of my thoughts and feelings on to (as well as re-blogging photos of course!) However, I always felt that my Tumblr was very impersonal and so I decided to create my own blog here. I quickly discovered that there are so many different genres of blogs and that the Blogger community is so diverse. However, my favourite blogs are beauty, fashion & lifestyle blogs which are similar to mine. In addition, I never knew that there would be so many beauty blogs around. Of course I knew all of the major female bloggers after discovering them on YouTube - Zoella, Tanya Burr, Fleur De Force and so on, but I never realised that so many beauty bloggers are simply normal girls like me.
2. Followers Are Just A Number
Although having a lot of followers would be amazing, it is not the be all and end all. If you enjoy blogging and it makes you happy, then that is all that matters! My tiny blog has 29 followers at the moment and although this may sound like a minuscule number to some, I am very proud that I even have that many and that 29 people in this world like my writing enough to follow me! So, never feel defeated by the number next to your Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin' button!
3. Creating High Quality Content Is Hard Work
It is incredibly difficult to come up with new and innovative content for your blog. I find it extremely difficult at times to come up with posts that I feel will interest my followers. There have been times where I have gone for over a week without blogging because I have had a serious case of writers block or I have not been able to focus my thoughts into a post. I find that the way around this problem is to take inspiration from other blogs that are similar to yours and see what you like or dislike about the posts, and then channel that into your own writing. However, remember that you should never copy or steal somebody's content!
4. Building A Rapport With Fellow Bloggers
It is extremely important to build a rapport with other bloggers. Having a relationship with fellow bloggers will always be beneficial and it is a good way to make connections that can be used later down the line. A good way to do this is to comment on other peoples blogs with words of encouragement, telling them what you liked about their posts and so on. For me, receiving nice comments from my followers is one of the things I love most about Blogger because it shows that others appreciate what I write about and can connect to it too.
5. Beauty Tips & Tricks
Finally, number five on my list is purely related to beauty blogs. I have always been a girly girl and I have always loved make-up. Not only does it make me feel confident, I actually consider applying make-up to be an art form and it really fascinates me. Although I do not have lots of money and do not own many high-end products, I am a cosmetics junkie! Since I have been reading everybody else's blogs, I have picked up so many helpful tips and discovered some great products that really work well for me. The biggest tip I have learnt was to invest in some Real Techniques brushes. Before, I never used to use a make-up brush to apply my foundation (shocking, I know!) but now I could never revert back to my old ways. These brushes are an absolute godsend and I will definitely be purchasing more in the future as I only have the Core Collection at the moment.
I hope that you all enjoyed reading about what I have learnt since joining Blogger and I hope that this little post may help any fellow Blogger 'newbies.' Thank you for reading :)
