Hello everyone! 

I'm back with the Makeup Artist 101 series on Hygiene like I promised in the last post.

P.S If you do not know, I have a you tube channel now!! Click HERE to see 

Today's post is a post most people take rather lightly. HYGIENE.

Believe it or not, some people go months and months before washing their makeup brushes. I am not even kidding. It is just bad. Try as I may, I cannot be coy about this. It is just plain ridiculous!

google.com

BRUSH CLEANERS:

They are so many on the market today, BEN NYE, SONIA KASHUK, MAC, CLINQUE, the lsi is endless. But I wont be giving you generic suggestions today, I will be sharing the things products I have used personally.

The brush cleaner that I use is the STRICTLY PROFESSIONAL  brush cleaner. 

This product is so strong. It cleans like magic. The downside is that it has a strong smell. I suffer from Migraine so strong smells make me dizzy and eventually lead to migraine. So I use it once in a while when the brushes need very serious cleaning. I also use it from time to time cleaning off the stubbornest makeup stains. I just dab a little on a wipe and clean everything with it, from makeup box itself to dried foundation.

BUT, you can't use this everyday, that is where this next one come in

DAILY BRUSH CLEANER 

For this, I have used the ELF daily brush cleaner and the BEN NYE brush cleaner as well. Then BEN NYE is the better one as it cleans faster and easily.

These are good for makeup artists on set. If you have to work on many people, there are chances you cannot have enough brushes to go around (i.e one per person). This helps so you can quickly clean your brushes before moving on to the next client. this is especially good for lip and eyeshadow brushes. They usually come with spray pumps, so you just have to spray a little amount on your brush and wipe the brush clean on a tissue. Fin!
Buy here and here 

BRUSH SHAMPOO

Also, there are many brush shampoos on the market. Most people opt for hair shampoo or baby shampoo. Some people even use dish washer (i do sometimes) which cleans absolutely well.  I personally cannot stand the time these products take to wash my brushes clean, so i just use detergents. YES! The Omo Ariel typa detergent!

I use Detergent + Vinegar + A good conditioner. 

Before you say " ahnahn. lailai, oti o", I have been doing this for over 5 years and I have not lost one brush to this method. so yeah dont mind 'dem rules

The only downside to this is that, it could leave your bristles really dry, so a good conditioner is a must. You can even pre oil your brushes before washing, but that never works for me.

This combo cleans better than ANY brush shampoo or baby shampoo or hair shampoo i have come across.  The conditioner i use is the Hairven Conditioner. That stuff is amazing.

Buy here

99% ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL

This is one of the most important things to me. lol. I think you have to have it. Forget the whole scientific ghen ghen name, It is also called RUBBING ALCOHOL. This is quite different from Methylated Spirit. Methylated spirit is mainly Ethanol while rubbing alcohol is mainly isopropyl.

(whenever I had an injury when I was little, I would cover it and pretend for days, for the fear of methylated spirit.. My parents practically always had to hold me down before they could use it on me, one would pin my hands to the floor, the other will pin my legs to the floor. At a point they stopped using cottonwool because while bending over, I would bite them. My father just started pouring it directly on my wounds!! YEKPA!! God I hated that stuff!! )

I digress



This thing is just the best. It cleanses and disinfects at the same time. It is perfect for cleaning and disinfecting brushes in between applications. Just dip your brush in it, swirl around and clean off a tissue, and you are good to go. And it dries PRETTY fast! You can akso use it to disinfect your makeup, eyeshadows, powder, blush, foundation etc

I won.t lie to you, this stuff is hard to find! Before I found it, I was using the normal Methylated Spirit. However after using the Isopropyl. I honestly did not see a difference between the two, But I guess maybe one is harsher that one, I honestly do not know

Hegai and Esther carries this, you can find HERE on their website .
                                               

They specialize in makeup tools and accessories and are really big on hygiene.

DISPOSABLES

Disposables are also important depending on your modi operandi. If you do not santize well enough you definitely need disposables. One that people that for granted are

MASCARA/ LIPSTICK WANDS

DO NOT USE THE SAME MASCARA WAND ON DIFFERENT CLIENTS. Most people will read this and YIMU but it is the truth. Mascaras are the easiest makeup products to get infected. You cant tell if a client has a infected eye. Do you really want to risk it and put that same wand on another client??
It took me a while to get used to this, but I eventually did. The downside to mascara wands is that one wand size does not fit all. So I decided to always keep my favorite wands and always sanitize them.
Also mascara wands double and brow brushes, so win win!


For lipstick wands, I don't remember to use them. Reason being there are lip brushes that can be used and sanitized already, so if you ask me, lip wands might not be so necessary.
Buy HERE

SPATULAS AND PALETTES

 

BUY HERE
I use spatulas when I need to depot my products into empty palettes. I used to use a normal table knife, but trust me these make your life easier. I also use spatulas when I am on set and I need to create a custom color: like mixing two lip colors together or foundation. That is where the flat palette comes in. Palettes are easier to work with than the back of your hand and they are more professional, to be quite honest. You can mix colors on them and experiment however you like. These to me will be a good addition to your kit and also make your clients know that you are serious and you know what you are doing.

COTTON BUDS, COTTON PADS
 

Cotton pads are useful when you need to moisturize your clients face and you do not want to use your hand ( no really, which one looks more professional?) Also it comes in handy when you want to use Milk of Magnesia as a primer for your client. This Nigerian weather needs that stuff!
Cotton buds also help you clean out "mistakes" over drawn brows, over winged eyeliner etc. You definitely need this. Best thing about it, it is hygienic on its own: use one and throwaway. I doubt if any client will let you use an already used cotton bud on them. ha!


PROTECTIVE CAPE



You need a protective cape. Period. It catches fall out and prevents unnecessary stress. Your client could actually wear their outfits, at least the top, while you make them up. They do not have to struggle wearing their blouse over their face after the makeup, or you do not have to tie a scarf over their head just to protect the makeup...please do not do that!!
You can even print your brand name on it, just for a little ghen ghen!!



So that's it guys!So hopefully your makeup kits start looking more professional and sanitary small small!
Most of these products can be found on www.beautykink.com and also at your pharmacies!
This is not an exhaustive list! If you have more products, tips please we want to hear it. Kindly leave a comment below!



Gracias!