How to Clean Beauty Tools and Makeup Brushes for Better Skin and Makeup

Plus a Glamcor Hack for Makeup Artists and Makeup Lovers

Whether it's spring cleaning, fall cleaning, or COVID cleaning, cleanliness is crucial for your health and your skin. That is why giving your makeup and skincare tools some TLC should always be on your cleaning schedule rotation. 

Makeup and skincare tools, such as makeup brushes, are known for harboring germs, bacteria, dead skin cells, and oil. Without regular cleaning, you’ll see the damage done to your skin in the form of breakouts, clogged pores, or worse - infections. According to this study, only 39% of women clean their beauty tools less than once a month. Yet dermatologists and makeup experts alike recommend washing makeup tools, such as brushes, once a week. Yikes!

So how do you clean and disinfect makeup brushes and other beauty tools anyhow? 

RIKI Mirrors:

Cleaning our RIKI mirrors is easy. With a little bit of Windex or your favorite mirror cleaner, spray directly on a soft and clean microfiber cloth. Make sure the cloth is damp, not soaked, and get to work! By wiping and cleaning in a circular motion, you avoid creating streaks on your mirror. Also, make sure you carefully wipe down the led light panel so that the illumination stays in tip-top shape. By spraying directly onto the cloth instead of the mirror, you save the electrical panel from getting damaged.

Beauty Tools:

To clean metal beauty tools, like our Mini Beauty Tools (mini tweezer, blackhead extractor, and scissor), wash with antibacterial soap and water. Once dried, wipe them down with some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball to remove any lingering bacteria.

If your curling iron or straightener has some product build-up, with the irons unplugged and cool, wipe the tools with a rubbing alcohol-soaked cotton ball. Like the RIKI mirror, to not ruin your tool, be extra careful with their electric components. Afterward, dry with a clean cloth. 

Makeup mixing palettes are as much of an essential for makeup artists as brushes are. They help keep products clean and free from cross-contamination by dispersing products on the palette to mix and use. But just like other tools, mixing palettes must be cleaned between clients. You’d first want to remove any excess makeup from the palette with a paper towel or makeup wipe. Palettes can also be washed with antibacterial soap and water and wiped down with rubbing alcohol for extra cleanliness.

Cleaning and sanitizing tools and brushes between clients are time-consuming and a bit of a hassle. Well, calling all makeup artists and makeup enthusiasts, the Glamcor squad has a hack for you!

The GLAMCOR MAKEUP HAND PALETTE is for this exact scenario. The HAND PALETTE allows you to mix makeup on a sterile surface every single time. With 50 individual sterilized and medical-grade adhesives, simply peel the adhesive and press firmly to the back of your hand. When done, peel and discard. That’s one less item you need to clean and one less thing you need to carry around. 

The post-COVID world comes with extra precautions in every aspect of our lives, and this product will help make it a tad bit easier for our makeup-miracle workers.

Makeup Brushes:

With a quick Google search, you’ll find many different ways to clean makeup brushes. But it shouldn’t be all that complicated. Here are two different ways to clean your makeup brushes: a quick every day cleanse and a deep clean.

1. Everyday use: Kind of like cleaning wipes, it’s a quick solution to clean and disinfect, but it shouldn’t take the place of a deep clean. Spray your brushes a few times with a cleaning spray such as the Bobbi Brown Brush Cleaning Spray or NYX On The Spot Makeup Brush Cleaner Spray. Once damp, brush against a hand or paper towel to remove any excess makeup and let dry.
2. Deep Clean: Run your brushes through warm water, making sure you rinse and wring out any leftover makeup that’s left on the brush. With your wet makeup brush, simply brush over a  hypoallergenic or gentle soap bar in a circular motion. You’ll soon start seeing the makeup lift off the brush and lather onto the bar of soap. Rinse, repeat, and don’t forget the handles since they have the most contact with your hands. Once you feel like the brushes are clean, gently squeeze out any excess water, mold back to shape, and lay flat on a towel to dry. 

Once a month, condition your brushes with a dot size of conditioner to keep the bristles soft and in tip-top shape. It can be any conditioner you may have in your shower or some olive oil. Just make sure not to keep the conditioner in for more than a minute and to rinse.  

By cleaning and sanitizing the tools you use on your face, you’re doing your skin a solid. Imagine rubbing your face with a dirty face cloth? You wouldn't, right? That’s why it's important to get it done. With clean brushes and a clean mirror, not only will your makeup apply smoother, but you’ll have a better view of that beautiful face in your clean, streak-free, and bright RIKI mirror.

Love,

RIKI