Makeup Brushes: Why It's Important to Clean Them Regularly

My love for makeup brushes began about a year ago when I saw an amazing deal on groupon for a full set that came in it's own neat little case for storing them in. Up until then I used the little packs you can buy at any drug store with the spongy ends for my eye shadow and used my hands for my foundation and concealer. I used the brush that came with my Bare Minerals for my powder application as well as for applying my blush, but that was about it. Before I began using my brushes, I knew the importance of cleaning them, but I never really took the time to actually DO it.  My Bare Minerals all over color foundation brush took the most abuse from this behavior and boy do I regret it. I need a new one desperately, but most times I just can't bring myself to spend almost $30 on a single brush! I mean, for the same price I can go buy a high end foundation or a few other goodies.

So why is it so important to clean your brushes regularly? When you wash them (and wash them properly) you are not only washing away old makeup, you are ridding your brushes of dirt, oil, dead skin and bacteria. It's an awful thought, isn't it?

I went on a fun little shopping spree on ELF Cosmetic's website and found this little gem. It costs $4.50 and cleans really well. I was concerned that because of how cheap this cleaner is that it would leave my brushes feeling dry and would ruin the overall quality of my brushes. This is the only brush cleaner I have used, and I couldn't be happier. I don't see the need for spending high dollar amounts on brush shampoo, ever. It's $4.50 and is 4.1 fl oz. It is pretty concentrated and it lasts forever. 

Want to see what it looks like when you don't take care of your brushes?

I don't normally fill up my sink to wash them, but I wanted to show you the transformation of the water from beginning to end. I purposely didn't clean my brushes for quite some time so I could show y'all just how important it is. (My skin didn't care for this demonstration much at all.) 

I started by putting a little bit of the brush shampoo under running water to make a little bubble bath heaven for them. I figured I would let them soak a little while to help to break down the built up residue on some of them, mostly to break down the build up of my gel eyeliner on my angled brush.

Here we go...

After letting them set for about 10 minutes and swishing them around in the water, you can see the water went from crystal clear to this. How gross is that?!

After a few more minutes it went from a bright foundation color to a muddy, murky, smokey brown color. The idea of this was enough to make my skin crawl: this will be a one time only experiment. 

This is the end result of the water, and this is just from SOAKING them! I still haven't scrubbed or anything else. I will show you just how deeply into the brushes your makeup likes to hide.

I pulled back the bristles on my MAC Brush No. 191 square foundation brush and in the center, you can see how much foundation is just caked onto the inside of the brush. From there I just add a little drop of shampoo a little smaller than the size of a pea and massage it into the bristles.

Sometimes I repeat this process a few times or at least until I see the water run clear when I rinse it off. 

On the left side of the photo (or top, rather) I have the set of brushes that were just removed from soaking, lying on a clean and dry towel. I go through the next step of cleaning under running water in the sink, and then reshape the brushes, blot out any excess moisture and then lay flat to dry on another clean, dry towel on the right (or bottom). 

Look at it shine! 

Tada! Squeaky-Clean brushes! I let mine air dry overnight, just to be sure. I don't want to put them away in a dark place while they are still damp: they might grow moldy!

Have any questions? Let me know in the comments below!

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The Perfect Natural Look with Inexpensive Products

          I've been racking my brain over the last couple of days about what I could possibly write about. I promised eye shadow, but have had somewhat on a brain fart as to what about eye shadow. This entry is for those of you who need help with figuring out how to do a really nice, basic natural look as well as those just starting out that aren't quite ready for super bold colors. I have done many different variations of natural looks and have found the following to be my all time favorite. The products are inexpensive and last forever. I use this palette almost daily for work (I work 6 days a week) and it has lasted me 9 months so far and still has quite a bit of life left in it. 

ELF Beauty Book Natural Look Eyeshadow Palette

          This book is only $5.00 online and is well worth it. Something like this would cost minimum $20 if it were what is considered 'top end' brands, but this works just as well. It comes with an applicator, eye primer and a mini eyeliner in a brownish color. Personally, I used the eyeliner once but didn't much care for it as it was hard to blend and even hard to apply. The only way I could get it to go on smoothly was to hold a lighter to the end of it and melt it a bit. The primer however, is my favorite at the moment. It glides on smoothly and is very light and non greasy.

It comes with two different "sets" on the inside along with a guide on how to apply them properly. The left side is for a daytime look with the right being for an evening look. I like my crease a little bit darker so I mix and match.

Maybe not the best swatches in existence but it still portrays the colors pretty accurately. The above look has the daytime colors. The highlight (top) color is very light. Just enough to add that little extra emphasis of color on your brow bone. The lid (middle) color is a pretty, shimmery pinkish/brown. The crease (bottom) color is a very light brown; sort of what I would describe as hazelnut.

          The evening colors are much, much darker. The highlight color is what I would consider a mixture of the daytime highlight with the daytime lid color. Sort of a very pale rose with a tint of white. The lid color being a deep coffee color with the crease color being a deep, dark brown. The crease color on the evening look has a little bit of glitter in the shadow, which you can't see much at all in this picture.

          I like to mix up the colors when I do my daily look. I almost always use the lightest color in the palette for my highlight color. If I am going super natural, I use the highlight color on my brow bone only, or for a little extra pop, I will use the nighttime highlight on my brow bone, and use the daytime highlight on the inner corners of my eye.
          I like to go two toned with my lid color, so I will use the nighttime highlight on the inner side of my lid and apply it halfway out and on the other half I will use the daytime lid color. I will apply as much as I need to get the desired look/intensity.
          Finally, for the crease, I will almost always use the nighttime lid color as it isn't very strong once it is applied. If I am going for a smokier natural eye, I will add the nighttime crease color to the outer corners of my eye and blend it all together. Blending is very important. Otherwise, you will end up with really awful harsh lines.
          The last thing I do, on occasion, is to add a very small dab of the daytime highlight (or nighttime highlight depending on which variation I am going for) to the very center of my lid to sort of open everything up through all the dark browns. It add's a little extra highlight to the center of the whole look.

Here are a couple photos:

These are cell phone pictures from a couple months back, so unfortunately they have some instagram filters on them, making them a little bit blurry. But I think you can get the idea. The top photo is my very basic variation for an acceptable daytime look and the bottom is more of the evening look, although it isn't too harsh for the day. But like I said, I tend to mix up the colors depending on how I am feeling and the outfit worn that day. 

Learning to Contour

          I skipped a few steps in the process (doh!) but I hope you at least mildy enjoy the pictures that follow...

           I have done a lot of research on the proper ways and products to contour your face correctly and have learned in the process that everyone has their own method and tricks that work best for them that are based off of the same rules. With all of the countless videos I have watched, I have seen big and small women contour their face flawlessly, making their faces look thinner and look as though they came straight out of a magazine. I have also seen some pretty horrible (and really funny) fails. I'd like to think I did it right, but I'll let you be the judge of that. 

          I have many brushes that I use and some that I don't, because honestly, some of them I don't even really know what they are for but slowly but surely I am putting them all to good use. I tend to improvise at times on what I think a brush should or could be used for. That is one thing I have learned: if it gets the job done, who says you can only use that particular brush for one particular thing. After all, makeup (if done well) is sort of an art, right? Do and use what works best for you.

Here is an un-contoured face. ^^^^ This picture is a little old, but not by much so it is still relevant in what I am trying to describe. There is zero dimension to my face in this picture. I love this picture still, but knowing what I know now, I would have done a lot of things differently.

The products used for the following pictures:

-Loreal Invisalift Foundation 

(applied with MAC brush #191 flat foundation brush)

- Almay Wake Up Under Eye Concealer 

(applied with bare minerals concealer brush)

-Bare Minerals Original Mineral Powder Foundation

(used very lightly as a setting powder)

-POP Bronzer in Sunkissed

(Used for Contouring)

- NYX Baked Blush in LadyLike

-E.L.F. All Over Color Stick 

(used as a highlight on the very tops of my cheek bones)

-Urban Decay Cream Highlighter in the color SIN 

(Discontinued. I use this stuff sparingly. I LOVE IT! I used it down the length of my nose, right above my top lip and along the bottom line of my chin.)

Goodness! That's a mouth full of products, just for my face! However, the end result is fantastic.

(This picture is a sort of halfway mark during the process. You can always add more. It's hard to take it away once you've started.)

I wish I had gone through the steps of all that I did on this picture but I think I pretty much aced it. Okay, add a little bit of a different sleep schedule and a maybe a few extra lbs, and that's how you get those giant bags under my eyes. Maybe it's genetics, who knows. The difference a little bit of bronzer and highlighter can make is amazing to me! Again, this is my first time so be gentle with me. I will point out that when I went to talk to my boyfriend, after disappearing into the bathroom for a couple of hours he did tell me I had a giant brown line going from my ear to the corner of my mouth that I had missed. Blending is key! Blend, blend, blend and blend some more! Otherwise you're going to end up with all sorts of funky lines on your face.

After applying all foundation, concealer (which I apply in a triangle from under my eyes down to the sides of my nose) and setting powder, I took a clean angled foundation brush applied bronzer along my jaw line (stopping right before the square of my chin). I also applied it to the area right below my cheek bone from the corner of my mouth in a straight line to my ear and then curved around to my temples and brought it up to the sides of my forehead. Before blending, I applied my blush but made sure not to apply it directly to the apples of my cheeks. This is a step that I have been doing wrong for so many years until recently. If you add blush directly to the apples of your cheeks, it will actually make your face look a little bigger; unless of course you already have a really thin face. I have a setting powder that I bought from ELF cosmetics that is translucent in color when applied, but the powder itself is white so I used that to highlight the area between the bronzer under my cheek bone and right above the bronzer line on my jaw. Then I took a clean powder foundation brush and just blended it all together. I tried to keep the lines together, so as not to just spread bronzer all over my face, but you have to blend those lines together in order to get the desired end result.

So there ya have it. A little contouring 101. 

Next up? Eyeshadow!!

Ipsy Anticipation

          I received my July Glam Bag in the mail today! YAY! The excitement on the way home from work today was unreal; it was like waking up on Christmas morning when I was a child. My bag was everything I hoped it could be and more and I can't wait to share this with everyone. Unfortunately, life is life and the day just hasn't given me the opportunity to take pictures, download them, upload them and then go on to write a full entry. I apologize deeply for that. I do however promise to have all the juicy details for y'all tomorrow!! 

Isn't the bag it's shipped in just adorable? Love it! :)

First Entries and Ipsy

Hooray for first entries and welcome to my blog! 

         In the past I have had online blogs to keep as more of a diary of my daily life, but I left those in a the past a few years ago. Blogging was a way to unwind and vent about the events of my life as a teenager and young adult. Now that I am an adult (holy cow!) and have made it through most of my 20's, I figured why not write about something important to me? A subject that can help others and also help me to learn along the way. For months I have been tossing ideas back in forth in my brain and kept coming up with dead ends. Then it hit me. MAKEUP! I love makeup and the way it makes me feel about myself and I like to try new things. So I thought,  how fun would it be to share what I know now along with what I learn along the way with other people?  Which brings life to this new blog....

         I recently signed up for a makeup subscription called Ipsy where for only $10 a month you will get a personalized bag just for you mailed to your door. How cool is that? I had heard a lot about BirchBox but after a little investigating, I learned that you only receive the sample sizes that are given out at places like Ulta. To me that doesn't sound exciting at all. I stumbled upon Ipsy by mistake when I accidentally clicked on a facebook add and boy am I glad I did! I have yet to receive my bag for the month, but the anticipation has bought a little extra excitement to my life.

         This blog will be about what I receive in those bags, my thoughts and reviews on said items and I am hoping to add plenty of videos and photos of these events. I want everyone who doesn't know (and even those who do) learn about Ipsy take part in my excitement and I hope y'all will enjoy it as much as me. Not only will this be about Ipsy but I will also be putting up different looks and information with other products that I use on a day to day basis: including skin care and hair care products.

I think that is a wrap for my first entry and I hope to have more for y'all soon!!