Its a Clean Routine (Pt A)
As a Makeup Artist it is your responsibility in keeping a clean hygienic kit and that doesn’t mean spending numerous amounts of doh on all these lardy dah brush cleaners all you need to make sure is that germs are banished and the brush fibres are soft , clean and well looked after, ready for use.
As an artist I have several different brush sets, Beauty, SFX and Face Painting but all of your brushes when using on clients have to washed and looked after, some more than others but it is your responsibility to do what you can to avoid any cross contamination. I do have a confession as I was writing this blog I didn’t realise how big the beauty cleaning section was so this Part A of brush cleaning Beauty Brushes haha so this blog is just about the everyday Beauty Brushes, SFX and Face Painting will be Part B.
All of my beauty brushes, but my eyebrow wand brush, is soft to the touch making them suitable for face application. I have had most of my set for just on a year now with the odd purchase here and there and I would say I use them on average once a fortnight. Now I my own way of cleaning my brushes so this is my personal opinion and it works for me, it’s not to say it works for everybody but when I clean I believe the most important objectives to get of the cleaning is, killing of germs and conditioning the brush head for longer life.
-To kill any germs I use IPA 99.9%, this is like nail varnish, very strong, very potent, but price and quality effective. Available at most places I usually buy a litre bottle for around £8 on Amazon but prices vary from place to place but the bottle will last me for a good six months.
-Now when using IPA be careful of your brush head for you don’t want to wear away the glue that hold the fibres to the brush handle, so when cleaning pour around a centimetre of IPA in a cup (a disposable one that you can just keep for cleaning) then gently dab the tip into the solution. Once dipped, with an OLD towel or kitchen towel (be aware the IPA can ruin services so make sure there’s something under the paper towel) with a brushing motion stroke the brush onto the towel, you’ll see traces of makeup transfer onto the towel. Try to get the majority of makeup off, this may take a couple of dabs but remember to be careful of the brush head.
-Next in a different cup (must be able to hold boiling water) squeeze in a splodge of mild shampoo, the best for this is Johnsons Baby Shampoo being suitable for the most sensitive of skin types pour the boiling water to just under half way of the cup, then in a separate cup pour the same amount of just water this will be the rinsing cup.
-This part your just shampooing your brush, so getting rid of any other makeup and conditioning the softness of the fibres. When shampooing you again just want to dip the brush in and swoosh it around but AVOID placing the hold head as the brush head may come apart the glue hold melts. I found it’s different for each brush and I think it depends on quality as ones you may buy cheaper are fine for the makeup application but the quality of the fixture may not be quite the same as a higher quality brush, so just consider this when cleaning.
-Once you have shampooed brush the excess onto the towel, a different arrear to the IPA excess and the then repeat the swoosh in the clean water cup as a rinse, brush off the excess then with your fingers gently mould the brush into shape, especially if you find any stray hairs, leave in a cup or an upright position in a relatively warm room to dry naturally.
-A little Tip with big Powder brushes use the excess IPA which is on the towel, gently stroke the brush over it, this will be enough as with big brushes when you dip into fluid the fibres soak up the solution like a sponge, this is ok with the shampoo but would be annoying to soak up all your IPA when you have more brushes to clean.
So far when on set I have a few times hit problems with keeping my brushes hygienic when faced with many extras and actors and as I’m still fairly new to the industry my kit may still look a little basic in terms of brushes, I found two solutions to this,
1. Makeup Sponges perfect for a fast clean application
Or/ and
2. Antibacterial Makeup Spray £10 (Available at Tilt Pro) this stuff is amazing quick to use and instantly dries it reassures your brushes are clean for the next person, you can also apply this to makeup, lipsticks I get through a lot and when in a rush its easier to use the stick than a brush so with a quick spritz on the lipstick after using reassures a clean product.
Hope this helps, again it’s my opinion so may not work for everyone but it works for me, next week ill blog about my Face Paint Brushes an SFX set in Part B! Thank you for reading x