makeup

HOW TO PROPERLY WASH YOUR BRUSHES

photos + post by amynadine, graphic design by eunice chun

This isn’t the most exciting lesson, but it’s important nonetheless! Because we must clean our brushes so we can stay on top of bacteria and other offenders that we don’t want to end up on our face. Think of it as basic hygiene. For brushes that you use daily (and don’t share), I would aim for at least once a week (every Sunday perhaps?) or twice a week if you really love makeup and apply it often. There are two ways to properly wash your brushes depending on your personality and time constraints: heavy duty (for those of you that want instant professional strength cleaning agents to annihilate everything) or gentle (for those of you who have more time and prefer to keep it simple). Here’s how:

HEAVY DUTY

  1. Pick up a professional brush cleaning spray from a your local or online beauty supply (the Cinema Secrets spray above is perfect for professional makeup artists who need to clean their brushes repeatedly throughout jobs but this aromatherapy cleaning spray is my favorite to use on my clients because it leaves an amazing smell on the brushes). Starting with your foundation and cream blush brushes (these have the most product residue and need the most attention),  spray it directly on the brush heads to completely soak the bristles.
  2. Rub the brush head back and forth over a paper towel or tissue repeatedly until there is no more product coming off.
  3. Spray the rest of your brushes one at a time (i.e. eyeliner, lip, eyebrow brushes).
  4. Rub these brushes back and forth as well, noticing that they will come clean much faster than the first ones. This solution dries within minutes so it’s great on the go.

GENTLE D.I.Y.

  1. Pour a tablespoon of any baby or organic shampoo (or this brilliant brush wash formulated specifically for this) into a small bowl then add warm water from your faucet so it gets nice and bubbly. One at a time, dip your used brushes into the solution, gently swirling them across the bottom of the bowl to release the product. Keep the brushes in the water as you add each new one.
  2. After washing, let the brushes have a quick soak for 5-10 seconds, no more and no less.
  3. One by one, hold each brush under cold water to rinse any remaining product and seal the hairs.
  4. Re-mold each brush if necessary by pressing the hairs between your fingers until it’s back to its original shape.

DRYING STATION: You don’t want to dry your brushes in an upright position because the water settles into the glue that’s holding the bristles together at the base of each brush head and starts breaking down the glue over time, causing the hairs to come off when you swipe the brush against your face (so annoying). So you can either lay your brushes flat or even better, make this quick little drying station in two steps!

  1. Grab a hand towel, a paper towel or a dinner napkin like I used above. Fold it in half three times, to make it smaller and to create a “crease,” then unfold it once. Where your crease was, slide anything cylinder shaped under it to create the base of your see-saw. I used a big powder brush that was dry and not washed this round but a round magic marker works great too.
  2. Balance each brush across the crease so that the brush head is pointing down, but not touching the napkin. It’s much easier to balance than it sounds, I promise! Now let them dry completely for a few hours (or overnight) and return them to their home (my work brushes live in this amazing brush roll, while my personal brushes live upright in my favorite Mary Poppins mug).

 

makeup

THE PAINT JOB

photos + post by amy nadine, graphic design by eunice chun

Bottom lashes can be tricky… like all lashes, you want most of the product to land on the roots, not the tips (that’s where things become clumpy),  but it’s really hard to do it with a wand. For years I would rotate the wand vertically and use the tip to paint the bottom lashes, then I finally discovered that nothing builds the bottom lashes better than painting the mascara on with a lip brush! You don’t even need a business card underneath to paint against (but you can certainly use one if you want to) because the flatness of the brush let’s you be precise without too much pressure. Here’s how to make it happen:

  1. On a washable surface (I use the back of my hand but you can use a clean countertop), roll the wand with a little pressure until there’s enough product for you to load up half of the width of your brush. I rolled off more product in the picture above just for instructional purposes, but you definitely don’t need that much!
  2. Grab your flat lip brush and load it up with your favorite mascara like you would a paint brush. You can use a mascara fan brush that is specifically made to paint on mascara, but I don’t want you to have to buy anything when you already have a suitable lip brush in your arsenal.
  3. Paint on the mascara by making small strokes, concentrating at the roots. Work on one section of lashes at a time, painting a few coats on each section, with stronger pressure at the roots and lighter pressure as you make your way to the tips.

BONUS: When you concentrate at the roots, it creates the illusion of lining the lash line as well. {Our model Carissa isn’t wearing ANY bottom eyeliner in the pictures above.}

 

tutorials

THE TAPE TRICK

photos/post/graphic design: Kristin Ess

We get so many emails + comments regarding the tape mani. I’ve heard that many of you have trouble peeling the tape back without messing the mani. So here’s the simple trick!

  1. Paint your base coat and let it dry for a full hour. Remember– you never want to make the base coat too thick because the thicker it is, the longer it takes to dry.
  2. Take a piece of tape and blot the sticky side on your fingers and on the palm of your hand. When you do that, the oils from your hands stick to the tape making it significantly less sticky and easier to peel off the base coat.
  3. Paint your nail, wait about one minute and then peel. Personally I don’t like the polish to dry too much before I peel because it gets “stringy” when you peel it. On the other hand, you don’t want to do it right away because if it’s too fresh, it can run.

Another option is to use painter’s tape. It’s designed to be less stick and to not peel off the paint that you stick it to. This is just a DIY option! Good luck ladybugs!

UPDATE: Here are the colors used in this tutorial- silver is by Obessive Compulsive + licac is by Essie.

makeup

INNER LINER LONGEVITY

photos + post by amy nadine, graphic design by eunice chun

How oh how can we keep the inner waterliner from fading fast? It’s a tough one, because our eyes are meant to stay wet, so the pencil that we’ve traced along our inner rims is constantly rubbing against our wet eyes every time we blink. Sigh… but I can share this little trick that does seem to make it last a couple hours longer. I’m not saying it’s the healthiest thing to do, so no need to make that comment below! I’m just saying when I’ve sent a client down the red carpet, I’ve used this trick to make it last throughout a long awards show. So how about we do it on important nights, not every day?! Here’s how:

  1. Rim your waterline with a black kohl or kajal liner. This one is our favorite because it’s waterproof yet creamy. Blink your lids together to get the product on the upper waterline. For those of you who are very comfortable with lining your eyes, look down and lift your upper lid to rim the upper waterline as well.
  2. Dip a stiff angled eyeliner brush into a matte black eye shadow. Tap it a few times against a counter to get rid of the excess product, then “stamp” it along the waterline, directly on top of the original kohl liner. Really work it into the line that’s in between the waterline and the lash line, so no skin peeks through.