How clean are your brushes?!

It's important to keep your makeup brushes clean and sanitized. Brushes that are not regulary cleaned hold millions of swarming germs.
Not only is that completely disgusting, but your brushes also hold onto oil and dirt, so every time you apply makeup you're putting that stuff right back onto your clean face. If you're suffering from breakouts, dirty brushes may just be the culprit.

What you can do: Buy some sanitizing beauty wipes to keep in your makeup bag and give each brush a swipe after every use. I personally like Sephora's brand, they're only $9 and sweep up all the yucky residue.


Doing this will keep germs, oil and dirt residue to a minimum, but you still need to give your brushes a "deep" cleaning. You can purchase brush shampoo, which is basically gentle anti-bacterial soap. If you don't want to spend the extra $10, you can simply use anti-bacterial hand soap instead.

The Steps: Always use tepid (or luke warm) water. Never use hot water! Hot water will destroy your brushes. Run anti-bacterial soap/shampoo through your brushes, kind of like you would while shampooing your hair. Rinse well and reshape while still damp. Let air dry.

You'll see the difference: And here's why, clean brushes cling to makeup better, they also apply it better. Your colors will look fresh again, plus the overall quality of your brushes will last much, much longer.

What you should avoid: Borrowing other people's makeup, even your best friends. Everyone's makeup carries some germs and oils, so every time you use a little bit of their blush or their eyeshadow, their germs are being transferred to your face. Gross, right? So as much fun as it can be, don't share makeup. Ever cruise the makeup counters at the mall and spot a sample product you've been dying to try? Don't. That stuff has been "sampled" by probably a hundred people by the time you get around to it. Do you really want strange germy oils on your lips, face, or eyes? Doing so can lead to nasty infections like pink eye, and that's just gross!

If you really want to try a product before buying it, flip through your magazines for special offers by companies. They often put little cards in there that you can fill out and bring to their makeup counters for a free personal sample of their product. Also, try asking the sale rep if they have any take home samples, they'll understand.