By Vanessa Coppes
So you made the investment on your go to beauty tools, but how do you keep your expensive gadgets like new?
I’ve put in the work for you. Here are 5 DIY, super easy tips to help you keep your beauty tools in shape:
1. Makeup Brushes.
- To clean makeup brushes, use a mild liquid soap or baby shampoo.
- Pour into the palm of your hand and mix with water.
- Use your hand as a cup for the warm, soapy water.
- Swirl the brushes in your palm until they are clean.
- Rinse well, then gently squeeze excess water from the brush and let air-dry.
DO NOT soak brushes in the sink. Too much time in water can loosen the bristles and ruin your brush!
2. Tweezers.
First of all, do you know your tweezer tip? The tip of a tweezer accounts for barely 10 percent of typical tweezers, but it’s the most important part of the instrument. Most come in one of three basic designs: slanted, pointed and square.
- Slanted-tip tweezers are ideal for general tweezing. It’s recommend using slanted-tip tweezers for general eyebrow shaping.
- Pointed tweezers are better for fine, stubby and ingrown hairs because the ultra-fine tips more easily locate and lift the hair.
- Square tip tweezer, with their larger gripping surface, make it possible to tweeze a large area more efficiently, although experts warn that this practice can cause ingrown hairs or scarring.
Whichever type of tweezer you decide to choose, remember, you get what you pay for. If you’ve invested in a good one, don’ drop it!
Wipe the tips clean with rubbing alcohol and make sure you dry the entire piece to prevent rusting.
3. Hairbrushes.
- Clear out the tangles of old hair.
- Wet the brush and comb under warm running water. This will help soften what’s left of the hairs.
- Apply a small amount of shampoo to the bristles of one of the brushes. It’ll help break up any hair grease, and also clean your brush.
- Gently scrub the brush’s bristles with the comb. For best results, scrub in one direction only, dragging the hair from between the bristles with every stroke.
- Dry with a towel.
4. Hairdryer.
- Unplug your hair dryer before cleaning it! Seems like overkill to even write that, but you’d be surprised!
- To clean the outside of your blow dryer simply wipe it down with a soft, damp cloth. Never use any type of cleaners as they are not needed and can cause damage to your hair dryer.
- When your dryer is not in use, loop the cord and secure it with an elastic, never wrap it around your dryer as this can cause the cord to tangle and tear. Most hair dryers are designed so that you can either open or remove the back grill. If your hair dryer has this feature then you simply open or remove the grill and use a soft bristled toothbrush or small cleaning brush to gently brush away debris. Newer models of hair dryers come with replaceable filter screens which when needed are just replaced.
- If your hair dryer does not have a replaceable filter screen then you can use a cleaning brush or a vacuum cleaner hose and attachment to suck out any debris in the filter screen.
- To clean inside your hair dryer, unscrew the cover of your blow dryer to reveal the inside components. It is important that you are gentle when cleaning the inside of your hair dryer and that you do not remove or move any parts while cleaning.
If you use your hair dryer on a regular basis, it is a good idea to lubricate the motor shaft by applying a small dab of machine or lightweight household oil using the end of a toothpick.
5. Curling or Flat Iron.
- Cleaning it on a regular basis can be essential to beautiful hair.
- Use clean cotton balls, rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover. If you don’t have any cotton balls, you can use cotton cosmetic pads or a clean cotton rag that can be tossed in the trash.
- Dampen the cotton ball with the rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover and wipe the dirtiest part of the curling iron’s barrel first.
- Next, use a fresh cotton ball or portion of the cloth dampened again with rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover and wipe the entire barrel down to clean it. Wipe the barrel with cotton balls, cosmetic pads, or a clean cloth dampened with clean water to remove any residue. Repeat this step a second time with fresh cotton balls and water to ensure that all of the residue from the rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover has been removed.
I hope these tips are helpful! Have any hack of your own I should know about? Would love to hear about it! Leave me a comment below!