9 secrets about makeup brushes

“A major reason why only a couple of companies succeed is that they are aware of the information that others aren’t.”

Cosmetic brushes are the backbones of your makeup kit. They are integral in helping you achieve a flawless and an airbrushed look. Makeup applicators come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Yet, a single brush can help you achieve an assortment of different looks.

The moment you open a new makeup kit, millions of questions pop up in your mind. Hence, it is crucial you understand these key facts about makeup brushes. While you may Google to get most of the information, there are some facts that even Google can’t help you with.

Professional makeup artists can look at a brush and determine its worth. These are the artists who can blend makeup with the warmth of their fingertips. They have been dealing with brushes long enough to know the quality of the make. Right from the first look and examination.

Here are a few questions and their remedies compiled by professionals, for you! You can call it a beginner’s kit if you would like.

With this information in hand, you will be slaying in no time. You will find this useful in your career. Whether it is professional makeup artist or a manufacturer/brand of makeup brushes.

Queries when you open a new makeup kit

Let’s get started,

“Why does a fresh opened makeup brush have an odd smell?”

A makeup brush generally carries two odors of makeup brushes. One is from the paint of the handle of the brush. The other is the smell of the bristles (in case it is a natural makeup brush)

Solution:

The best way to deal with a vegetarian makeup brush is to open all the packaging of the makeup brush. Expose the handle to the air in a cool and ventilated place for 1-2 weeks, that’s it. This will reduce the smell of the brush.

Post this; you need to clean the makeup brush. The simplest and most practical method is to prepare 3% hydrogen peroxide. Then soak the head of the makeup brush. You will need to keep the makeup brush soaked in hydrogen peroxide for 2 hours before rinsing it.

While soaking, avoid the ferrule from touching the hydrogen peroxide solution. Then use makeup brush cleaner or shampoo to wipe it. This way, the dried makeup brush will no longer have an intolerable smell!

“Why does the new purchased natural makeup brush lose some of its hair

While making the makeup brushes, the hair gets combed to get a detangled and soft bristles. Combing also removes any unglued hair.

Short hair in the front gets combed first, followed by the dense center. But some of the fluff in the brush head is difficult to clean.

Solution:

You can comb out the entire brush delicately to detangle and remove excess hair. You can further clean it using a detergent.

“How to check if a brush is a natural makeup brush or an artificial one?”

There are two tests you can carry out. I enjoy experiments, so this was very fun for me. So, put your lab coat on and perform the following tests.

Test one, based on how the bristles react when exposed to a flame.

Natural hair:

• Appearance: Take a small strand and bring it close to the flame. You will observe that it is easy to burn and alight.

• Smell: After the alighting, you can detect that it has the same smell as human hair.

• Touch: Post burning it, you can notice that it has burn ashes that can get crushed with fingers.

Synthetic fiber:

• Appearance: Synthetic fiber is difficult to burn. Especially when there is no flame, but when it reaches a higher temperature, it will melt into a ball.

• Odour: The hair will crystallize after melting; it will not burn or smell. After a long time of burning it, you will be able to detect a smell like plastic.

• Touch: If it recrystallized, it would be difficult to touch with your fingers. After reaching a higher threshold of temperature and burning for a longer duration, the material melts and falls to the ground.

Test two, based on how the hair reacts when exposed to a hairdryer.

First, turn on the hairdryer. Set the output to hot air. Now point it to the makeup brush. If you can change the original shape of the brush, then it is synthetic hair. This is because the characteristics of synthetic hair being like plastic. They become more malleable in heat.

Natural hair brushes will not become soft after heating and will not change their shape. Isn’t that cool!

“How to check a makeup brush to evaluate that natural hair isn’t mixed with synthetic fibers.”

The purpose of the makeup brush and requirements of the customer decides the ratio of synthetic hair and natural hair. A few customers opt-out of using synthetic hair in their brushes. As a user or brand, you have the right to know and understand how to distinguish it.

The trick is straightforward. All you need to do is to observe whether the bristles have reflective abilities under natural light or artificial lighting. The intensity of light reflection from animal hair does not exceed that of synthetic fibers.

 “There are some natural makeup brushes that are very hard; why so?”

Because of the processes that get done during manufacturing a few brushes need to get shaped with rubber powder. It is then baked at a high temperature in the oven. This is for the brushes that need to keep their shape for precise application of makeup. Such as a fire candle head brush and a yellow wolf tail eye brush.

Thus, some eye brushes or lip brushes feel very hard right after they are bought. They may get shaped during manufacturing with water chestnut powder. You only need to wash off the powder with water to restore its softness. Water chestnut powder is the powder made from edible water chestnut.

Queries about the maintenance of your makeup brush:

“Why does the brush head fall off from the plastic handle in a few cosmetic brushes?”

Plastic handles are generally treated with oil injection or electroplating. There is a layer of oil at the junction of the handle and the ferrule after the treatment. Thus, handles without special treatment have the risk of separation from the ferrule.

“How to restore the original shape of the brush head?”

While in usage, we sometimes store the brush in damaging angles. This causes the brush to lose its original shape.

To restore it to its original shape, you only need to clean the makeup brush once. During this process, you need to ensure that the clean makeup brush has a net cover over its bristles. This will warrant that the makeup brush will keep its shape and is more perfect after drying.

“Can vinegar be used to clean makeup brushes?”

We recommend using a professional makeup brush cleaner. Even hydrogen peroxide because vinegar cannot kill the bacteria. And there will be an odd residual smell after washing. So washing the makeup brush with vinegar is not advisable.

“Can we use shampoo to clean makeup brushes?”

It is advisable to use shampoo for cleaning makeup brushes. Yet, shampoo does not kill the bacteria on makeup brushes.

If you are using shampoo, you will also have to use hydrogen peroxide daily. This is to further sanitize the brush. Hence, shampoo cannot completely replace a makeup cleaner.

“How to clean makeup brushes?”

A Seven-step guide to clean makeup brushes

These seven steps will ensure that your makeup brushes are clean and are maintained to ensure durability. The output of this routine will make your brushes look anew and fresh.

These seven steps will ensure that your makeup brushes are clean. It will also increase durability. The output of this routine will make your brushes look anew and fresh.

• Wet the brushes with lukewarm water

• On your clean palm, put a drop of your go-to makeup brush cleanser and apply it all over.

• Swirl the tips of the bristles against your palm. Don’t be too rough as the pressure might damage the shape of the brush

• Rinse the bristles with water after all the pigment has got cleared from them.

• Squeeze out the moisture from the bristles and dry it with a towel.

• Re-form the original shape of the brush with the help of your fingertips.

• Dry it at the edge of the counter with the bristles hanging in the air.

Conclusion

With makeup brushes getting used in our day to day life to contour, highlight, and blend, we need to be more aware of how they work. We should also know how to maintain them well. They are a crucial part of our lives and hence deserve more attention.

We hope that with this article, we have armed you with enough information about caring for your makeup brush. We also hope we have answered some of the questions you get when you open a new makeup kit. You will now be able to analyze every brush you come across comfortably and with the eye of a professional.