Makeup Lesson # 10: Taking Care of It All

Makeup reflects who you are. It’s now time to take care of those tools, and yourself, in the process.

Just as when you decide to lose weight or tone your body, learning about and starting with makeup is also an investment. You will realize this as you get the compliments and as you notice how some products you just “have” to buy are more expensive than others.

By this time, you would have already griped to your girlfriends that your makeup brushes cost a lot, but darn, are they good, spot-on, and soft! Take care of these brushes because they are meant to last. It just depends on how you take care of them. For starters, try to wash them after each use so that you won’t have any nasty bacteria breeding in there. This will also protect you from breaking out in rashes, especially if your face is sensitive.

There are liquid soaps for makeup up brushes available, but you can also use baby soap. Wash them gently and just leave them on a towel to air-dry. Do not leave them to soak in a container, and do not squeeze or pull the hairs/bristles while you wring out the water. Do not blow-dry, as well.

As with everything else, makeup products also have expiry dates. Make sure that you check the ones on the containers or ask the sales attendants in the beauty counters. To be more methodical, list down when your products are supposed to expire or tag them. As a fair estimate, foundations, blush and powders can last for six months to a year, eye products for three months, and lip products for six months. This is from the date you opened these products, mind you. Do not hesitate to throw these out when they have already expired, and you will also notice that they will already have a stronger smell. Of course, how your products will last will also depend on how you store them. Make sure that you use your palette and spatula as much as you can so that you do not keep on reaching in with “dirtied” tools to get products from inside the containers.

Keep your products in room temperature. I know of some women who also store their lip products in the refrigerators, but I would say that room temperature is already fine. To make your lipsticks last longer before spoiling, you can use the spatula to get some product then dipping the lip brush there instead of simply smearing the tube on your lips. It’s more hygienic, plus application really IS more precise with a lip brush.

Keep on looking out for new products. When you’ve already experimented and gotten all the looks you want, you can look into the pricier ones out there. I have to admit that the pricier ones also tend to be the more long-lasting ones. No one can blame women for wanting long-wearing cosmetics because as much as makeup is fun, it can also be quite taxing to have to keep on reapplying and touching up makeup.

More than this, remember that you take off with makeup application with your skin as a blank canvas. If you want a quicker makeup application, try to cut down on the concealer. In able to do this, you have to work on maintaining good, healthy skin. Visit your dermatologist, get enough sleep, relax and meditate regularly, drink your vitaminC’s and E’s, and you’re good to go.