When Should You Throw Out Your Brushes?

Hey Beauties,

After the huge Nor’easter that knocked out a lot of power and brought a ton of snow, I’ve gotten to move most of my things up to New Hampshire without too much of an issue.

I don’t really think I’ve realized just how heavy makeup is until I tried to carry my bins packed with makeup up and down stairs. The sad thing is, it was just makeup and none of my other beauty products.

Now that I’ve gotten to sit down and reflect a little bit more about just how huge of a leap I’m making in my life, I’ve also started to realize just how bit my collection is. This is even after paring everything down and figuring out which things I’m ok with throwing away or just giving to friends.

I realized that the majority of the things that I got rid of were actual makeup products and I only pretty much touched upon sanitizing makeup brushes and sponges, so I ended up hauling cases filled with brushes and brush rolls up and down stairs as well. This not only added to my makeup collection, but also the huge weight that I’ve been lugging around.

My hope for this upcoming Nor’easter is to be able to clean a lot of the rest of the brushes and pair down my brush and sponge collection to things that I use and aren’t gross.

While most brushes can handle a lot of abuse with everyday makeup usage and can be sanitized pretty well with a cleanser and water, they tend to start to fray or have fallout with the bristles. They should be thrown out every one to five years and kept no longer than five years.

While high quality brushes tend to be made well and maintain their shape after many uses and washes, they need to be washed at least once a week, or daily if possible. They can last for years, but it’s best to replace them since after so many washes, some bacteria stays within the very base of the brush.

Also, the shape tends to stop after five years anyways. It tends not to have the same feel or really apply makeup the same after they’re long done.

Makeup sponges are the same way, but sadly, they can’t last a year, let alone a month.

I know… Beauty blenders tend to retail for about $20 and it’s a lot of money to replace one when you could just wash it through with cleanser and water, but even microwaving it and getting the majority of the dirt inside out won’t truly help its longevity.

Sponges should be washed after every use and let to dry, otherwise, you can risk using a moldy sponge. If you don’t tend to wash your sponges after each application, you should probably throw it out and get a new one.

Most people don’t tend to see makeup brushes, sponges, and other applicators to really be something that needs to be thrown out, when in reality, these items need to be replaced every so often.

It’s always best to just be safe with things you decide to put on your skin or things that you use to apply makeup on your skin. Not only will your makeup application suffer for it, but in the end, your face might suffer too.

What other products do you always forget to declutter and have laying around? Let me know in the coments!

XOXO

Beauty Bound Beta