Brush it off

Like I said in my last post (where I reviewed the Make Up Eraser) that I get lazy. Let's get real - after a long night - I just want to smash my face against my pillow. I'm the worst at washing my face at night. I've been actively trying hard to wash my face before I get too tired to wipe away the days make up, dirt and grime.

Since I don't always wash my face before bed, a friend of mine told me to make sure to wash my pillow cases every week. I used to do about every two weeks - but she pointed out all the make up, oils, dirt, sweat...etc., just lingers on my pillow. Doesn't take a genius to figure I'm just asking for blemishes (and I'm already acne prone)! I've been washing my pillow cases weekly for about 13 years. The same friend used to hound me about washing my make-up brushes. So I did...once every five or six months. 

WHAT WAS I THINKING!! So gross. How did I know correlate the same make up, oils, dirt, sweat...etc., transferring over to my brushes!? I've got naturally oily skin, so even when my face is clean, oils jump on to my brushes. Not to mention those times where I'm just doing a quick touch up over what I've already got on.....just thinking about it grosses me out. I was just putting all back into my pores. 

There is a makeup company that I follow on IG that has a genius make-up brush cleaner. *I'm not going to mention them or tag them because I'm about to share the poor (wo)man's version of their product.* 

When I first started to wash my brushes, I felt that the first few uses after washing was a joke. The makeup would not stay on the brush and my makeup wouldn't look good...to me, at least. I played around with different cleansers and found that I really like E.LF.'s brush shampoo. Not only do I love the way this product cleans my brushes, but it comes in at a whopping $3.00 for 4.1 ounces! Another reason why I won't mind cleaning my brushes more often ;) 

Back of dog brush after cut-out

Front of brush after cut-out

I went to Walmart one day and saw something that kind of resembled the brush cleaner I saw on IG. It was far fetched, but wondered if this balla-on-a-budget could make it work....so for $2.50, I bought a brush for a dog...the kind that is a mitten with rubber to de-shed your furry pal. 

I cut out the rubber portion - I didn't want to leave any cloth - but now I wonder if I should have left it more like a glove. All I know is that it just so happened to work and do the trick to get all my makeup off my brushes! Leaves them nice and clean and my skin doesn't hate me as much any more.

Here are a few videos of how I clean my brushes - now on a weekly basis :) (please excuse the shaky hand, doing this alone is difficult!)

You can see the makeup coming off in this video.

The over all outcome is pretty damn good! Very little excess color comes off the brushes when patting dry. I like to use white terry cloth so I can see if one of my brushes needs to go through the wash cycle again, but very rarely do they need to. 

I set them out to dry and go back every once in a while to dab them on the towel to make sure all the excess water gets out. Nothing can ruin the start of your day like a damp brush. 

Hope ya'll are washing your brushes!! Any other helpful tips / tricks / advice on cleaning brushes, let me know! I'm always looking to keep it right and tight!

Essentially, 

Evie