Beauty

Are your makeup brushes ruining your skin? 5 signs point to yes

Culprit found

22.03.2016

By Terry Saw

Are your makeup brushes ruining your skin? 5 signs point to yes

You never go to bed with your makeup on, cleanse your face regularly and stick to a three-step (or better yet six-step, if you’re really serious about skincare) ritual daily and yet, your skin behaves like a teenager who has the house all to herself for the first time in her life. In other words: big trouble.

For a change, let’s divert our attention away from skincare for a second here. Did you know that your makeup kit is potentially one of the biggest culprits when it comes to harboring the nastiest bacteria, which is what’s sabotaging your skin? And to start you off on your beauty tools spring-cleaning journey are some top symptoms and telltale signs suggesting you probably should be taking brush hygiene a lot more seriously and from here on; clean before you contour, darling.

 

Unexplained breakouts and skin irritation  

It’s not that time of the month and you haven’t introduced anything new to your skincare routine. Could it be… oh wait, you haven’t cleaned your brushes in over a month? Piling makeup onto your face a daily basis with dusty, oily and product-caked brushes (even if you can’t see it) can only mean mysterious changes in your skin – and not in a good way.

 

Loss of eyelashes

Not our precious lashes, you say! Unfortunately that’s exactly what using a lash or brow brush over and over again does to your lashes. Mascara build up in the brush weakens your lashes over time; causing them to break or worse, fall off.

 

Seriously clogged pores

Think about it – you’re spreading bacteria from dirty brushes onto your spanking new makeup treats (contaminating them in the process), before spreading it onto your face – gross! It doesn’t matter how much deep-pore cleansing you do if this means you’ll be slathering the same – if not more – germs back onto your face each day!

 

The ‘floating’ makeup effect

No, this isn’t a new beauty trick of any sort – we’re talking makeup that no longer adheres to your skin nor does it last the crucial hours of the day you need it to. Brushes are meant to give you a flawless, even finish but it can’t do its job if it’s housing makeup residue from the weeks past. At the end, all this would be is a big waste of your investment in the latest beauty tools or makeup products.  

And while we’re at it, there is only one way this could potentially get worse – sharing makeup and brushes with a bestie. As the saying goes, share your life stories, even your iFlix password, but never your makeup tools – you don’t want extra bacteria on your face and we can vouch the feeling is mutual!

 

Lines, wrinkles, the works!

It’s out there that dirty brushes can expose your skin to harsh oxidative stress. In short: a disruption in your skin’s collagen production and elasticity levels also known as visible wrinkles and fine lines we try so hard to avoid. So if a little brush hygiene is what it takes to keep premature ageing at bay, it’s time to get on board!

 

Check back tomorrow for our expert’s solutions to brush hygiene and good-skin tips!


Also check out:

The Magic Cleanser phenomenon

How to finally get lashes for days…

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