Beauty without cleanliness is just a hoax. You can’t beautify anything without cleaning it. So, do you even remember when was the last time you sanitized your makeup kit and other beauty products? If the answer is no, then you need to take out your makeup kit right now and sanitize all the beauty tools.
Do you think that sanitation is a big deal? Let me explain you. Would you like to stay in a hotel room which is a mess and wasn’t cleaned before you use it? You won’t! In the same manner as removing makeup before hitting the bed is necessary to keep your skin clear and healthy, keeping your makeup tools clean and germ-free is essential to avoid skin allergies. It is just like following a regular skincare routine. And if you’re a professional, taking good care of your clients is a crucial part of your job. No matter how skillful, talented, and artistic beauty professional you are, if you’re not offering a clean, hygienic, and sanitized environment and products, all the other factors won’t matter at all. You may be in huge demand, but no one will want to work with you if you use dirty, unsafe, and filthy tools. Especially now in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s a pretty huge consideration too.
A professional’s makeup tools and kit come into contact with different faces regularly. Moreover, they also come into contact with the dead skin cells, dead lip skin, saliva, tears, tear ducts, etc. It’s significant to keep in mind that this isn’t just about cleaning dirt away from brushes and other tools to make them look fine; you have to disinfect, cleanse, and sanitize these tools to get rid of harmful viruses, bacteria, microbes, infections, and fungi that could become a big health hazard to your client. Proper sanitation can keep your client away from acne, cold, flu, cold sores, hepatitis, and other skin issues. Doing sanitation sincerely is something you’re legally and morally obligated to. Beauty experts suggest that makeup kit has to be disinfected once a fortnight. Blending sponge, brushes, and other metal or plastic tools should be washed weekly.
We have simplified the cleaning process for you. Here you go with the easiest way of sanitizing the products:

Makeup brushes

Disinfect your makeup brushes at least once a week and sanitize them each day before the use. The brushes should be clean and free of foundation and eye shadow. Spray some alcohol on a tissue and wipe the brushes with it as a daily routine of sanitizing. You can also use paper towels for a quick cleanse. To disinfect the bristles, mix a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with a half-
teaspoon of liquid detergent in a cup of warm water. Soak the brushes in this mixture for a while and then swirl them in your palm to ensure that no dirt remains between the bristles. You can also make a mixture of one tablespoon of organic coconut oil and one tablespoon of baby shampoo in a cup of water. Gently rinse them off with lukewarm water. Allow the brushes to dry by placing them flat on a countertop.

Makeup sponges

It is also important to clean blending sponges, facial cleansing brushes, and other makeup tools to protect them from growing mold in it. A sponge can be washed easily by rubbing with a cleansing liquid or a bar of soap. Give it a good massage by pushing and pressing with your hands. Then rinse it thoroughly under running water. Now set it aside to let it dry. If you find it difficult, skip this process and use disposable applicators and sponges that can be discarded after the use.

Foundation

Liquid or cream foundation is the stuff that can’t be washed or cleaned technically. The best way to keep it hygienic is to avoid dipping your fingers in them. To access the foundation, use a clean cotton bud, sponge or spatula. You can also spray some amount of isopropyl alcohol on the bottlenecks of foundation.

Concealers and Lipstick

When sanitizing lipstick and concealers, twist them up and remove a thin layer with the help of a cotton bud. Then spray isopropyl alcohol on the exposed area and wipe it gently. This process should be repeated weekly.

Pencils and curlers

Make sure you sharpen all of your eyeliner and lipliner pencils before using them. In case of retractable products, wipe the tip of the pencil by spraying some rubbing alcohol onto a cotton pad before using it. To sanitize the eyelash curler, simply wipe off its surface with a cotton pad dipped in alcohol. Let it dry completely before using it again.

Mascara

Some of the makeup products can’t be sanitized. Mascara is one of them. The eye area is the most delicate part that can catch an infection. To prohibit any type of infections or reactions, it is better not to take chance and throw it away or change it every month.

Powders

Pressed powder makeup products do not harbor bacteria but some dirt and oil can collect on such products. To clean these products such as blush, bronzer, eye shadow, and two-way cake, gently scrape off a thin layer using a butter knife. A mist of 70% isopropyl alcohol can also be used to sanitize them.

Disposable Items

Simply throw out the disposable items after single use. To mention some are cotton balls, toe separators, wooden applicators, nail files and buffers. Do not use them on multiple clients. It may spoil your client’s health and your reputation as well.

Always remember that sanitizing makeup isn’t a solution for replacing expired products. Expired ingredients in makeup can cause swelling, itchiness, redness, and other skin issues. You must get rid of the product whose expiration date has passed. Keep a check on wax and liquid products. If they start smelling funky or mascara gets dry and flaky, just toss it in the garbage.

Ever wondered how celebrities look so dazzling at each public appearance? Yes, they are as normal looking human beings as we are. But it’s all about the game makeup play on their faces. You know what? The base of every superfluous makeup is its foundation. The first step to flawless beauty is finding the perfect shade of foundation for your skin. The best way to smooth out all the spots, blotches, and imperfections of your skin (and that’s very much normal) is picking the right foundation. After all, faces are complicated, having different skin tones on different areas of the face.
Foundation, when used properly, has the power to turn you into a glowing diva. Likewise, it can be terrible if done wrong. The struggle in getting this critical product right is real! Choosing the right foundation for your particular skin type and ensuring it’s the right shade is an exhausting task. It can be a tricky game of chance with the numerous shade options available on your hand.
Knowing your skin type and undertone is essential to finding a flawless foundation match that will look as gorgeous on you as your natural skin does. Applying the wrong shade will result in your face looking a different color to the rest of your body which is really unappealing.
Our handy tips will turn you into a foundation maestro. Read on to be a pro:

Know your skin type

Understanding your skin’s needs and concerns will help you narrow down the list. Ranging from mousse and liquid to cream and powder, foundations come in many formulations. Pick a formula that will work best for you.

Oily Skin: For oily skin, try an oil-absorbing foundation that makes your skin look matte and shine-free. Oil-free liquid foundations give you light to medium coverage, whereas cream and compact foundations provide a full coverage. Select a product that contains silica beads and lecithin that tend to absorb moisture and prevent shine.

Dry Skin: People having dry skin should go for a hydrating powder foundation, a liquid or a stick one. Having a creamy consistency, it delivers moisture to the skin and gives great coverage.
Stay away from powder and mattifying foundations as they will make your skin look chalky.

Combination Skin: If you struggle with the greasy skin in some areas and dry in others, try effectively blending and complementing formulas and avoid foundations that are formulated
to be oil-rich.

Identify your undertone:

Your undertone is a major deciding factor toward choosing the right foundation. Look at your bare skin to determine the undertone. If you see hints of yellow gold tones, you have a warm undertone. If your complexion is rosy or pink, you’re probably under the cool toned category. If it’s a combination of both, you fall under a neutral undertone. Another trick is to look at the color
of your veins in your wrist. If they appear more deep purple or bluish, you’re cool. If they appear greenish or olive, you’re warm-toned. If they’re a mix of the two, you’re neutral. Now pick a foundation according to your undertone. Mostly, Indian skin is bound to have some yellow undertones, pink or peach colour based foundation makes you look chalky and old-fashioned. A yellow-based foundation blends superbly into skin, giving a fresh, healthy skin tone.

Match the right shade

The safest spot to test whether a foundation is a complement for your skin is your neck or jawline. Foundation is not used to create a fairer skin tone. The perfect shade looks like an almost flawless blend into your skin, giving a bit brighter and glowing skin. Shades making your complexion fairer or darker leave you looking ash-colored or frightful. It means you have picked a wrong product. Now do a stripe test in natural light. Take a shade best suits your skin and gently blend it into your skin. Then do the same with a foundation that is one shade lighter and another that’s one shade darker. Choose the foundation shade that blends in perfectly. Always get two foundations, one for summer when the skin tends to get darker and one for winter when skin is paler. Don’t be nervous to blend the two different colours for those in-between months to develop your own shade.

Foundation coverage

When it comes to coverage, the options are light, medium, or full coverage. If you want to show through your natural complexion, then a light coverage foundation should be your pick. To cover minor flaws of skin while showing your natural texture, medium coverage foundation is perfect. Full coverage means no skin showing at all. Although, the foundation is there to even out skin tone and set up the skin for makeup application, it’s better to use concealer to cover minor acne or dark circles.

Now you’re ready to go! Apply your primer after cleansing and moisturizing. Blend the perfect picked foundation and let the magic begin.

Are you among one of those crazy souls who immediately run home after getting a brand-spanking-new beauty product to apply on your face or any other sensitive area? If yes, we admit that all of us are in the same boat. J We know it’s difficult to wait, but there’s a pretty important reason you should. Nobody wants their skin to turn red, itchy, irritated, or flaky after using any new product.

Trying a new beauty product on a sensitive skin shouldn’t lead to a painful flare-up. People can be allergic to some ingredients, whether it’s natural or synthetic. Even natural components, like herbs, oils, or essential oils can cause sensitivity reactions. Sometimes people with sensitive skin blindly trust in ‘hypoallergenic’ claims and blown-up descriptions of the companies. Always evaluate yourself and test a new skincare product for a reaction before shifting from your routine product. Makeup products with thick and heavy emollients can cause unwanted breakout-related reactions like acne and clogging.

When you’re using a new skincare product, it’s recommended to always do a patch-test first to make sure you’re not allergic to that product. It will minimise your risk of suffering with a rash or breakout and avoid possible adverse reactions to new ingredients or products. Patch-testing is a method of testing a new skin care ingredient to see if it will work for your unique skin and doesn’t cause sensitivities for your skin.

WHAT IS A PATCH-TEST

There are a variety of allergies that can cause anything from minor redness to painful swelling or worse. You need to patch-test for 3 different reasons: allergic reactions, comedogenicity (pore-clogging), or skin irritations. The skin on your face is usually more sensitive than the skin on the rest of your body. There are different parts of the body for different patch tests. Inside of your wrist is thinner than the rest of your body skin. Furthermore, you may choose a small area of your face that’s easily covered such as a corner of your forehead, behind your ear, the side of your neck or the underside of your jaw. If you are not comfortable around your face, you may pick the upper part of your inner arm as a starting point to check for compatibility.

HOW TO DO A PATCH-TEST

• There should be no other products on the skin. Be sure to wash, dry, and clean the area you choose to have a patch test.
• Apply a small amount of the product you are testing to one of these areas.
• Cover it with a bandage.
• Leave it for at least 24 hours without getting it wet.

THE REACTIONS YOU NEED TO OBSERVE

The next step is to check the reaction after testing out a product. Wash the area you tested with water and a mild cleanser. Now, see the result and decide:

Severe reaction: The reaction will be reddening, bumpy, burning, splotchy, itching, painful, or other irritation on the skin within 24 hours of application. Stop using the product immediately.

Mild reaction: It can be tricky. Sometimes you will have a reaction to a product such as slight pink patch appears but subsides within 10-15 minutes. It is because your skin is not used to that product or it might be working to clean out the bad stuff of your skin. Certain ingredients may give a temporary reaction. However, if your skin starts breaking out in areas where it normally wouldn’t, stop using the product right away.

No reaction: If that application produces no reaction within 24 hours, the product is probably safe to use. You’ve got your go-to skincare item!

IN CASE OF SEVERE REACTION:

If you find your skin red and covered with a rash after a patch-test, you can cool it up by applying cold plain yogurt or Milk of Magnesia to the affected area. Rinse it after leaving it on for 15 minutes and repeat after few hours if needed. It is always better to talk to your doctor or an allergy specialist if you have severe reaction.

If you think that skincare and makeup are two entirely separate entities, you are WRONG! If you want to go far, start early. As far as our makeup wisdom is concerned, prepping your skin for the flawless makeup is the golden rule if you want to ace perfect. This is the secret how your bangin’ base dreams come true. Don’t forget that makeup is temporary and skin is forever.

It’s a myth that makeup covers everything and you don’t have any need to exfoliate and hydrate skin. We swear by the fact that skincare prior to makeup application is paramount. It is important because it sets makeup smooth, settles onto your skin in a flawless manner, and gives long-lasting effect. Our skin is like an art canvas that is smooth, fresh, and moist. It allows the brush to paint easily allowing the tint to show the real vibrancy.

Before relying on your cosmetic bags, what you need is realizing your skin’s premier potential. You will see a visible difference when you include a skincare regimen in your makeup application. Your makeup will look much more even and radiant. It will glide on smoother when you hydrate, exfoliate, cleanse, and moisturize the skin.

How we take care of our skin reflects how we treat ourselves. Using skin care products having their accurate knowledge can help prevent common skin care issues and early signs of aging. Quality products promote healthy skin while poor products can cause breakouts and long-term damage to the skin.

Your skin relies on preparation before any makeup application. Here you go with “how’ and “why”:

No wonder cleaning is a must

Never ever skip this step. The key is to start with clean, hydrated skin. It definitely comes with washing your face. Perfect looking complexion is not just about layering on the foundation. Use a face-wash that properly exfoliates your skin getting rid of dirt, oil, and dull skin. Otherwise flakiness might get in the way of your makeup going on smoothly. Dead skin cells sitting on the skin surface act as a roadblock in applying the makeup effectively. Exfoliation is often a neglected step which plays an important role for smooth foundation application. To get refresh and soften skin, you may splash some toner after it.

Don’t skip moisturiser!

“How to make the skin surface ready for makeup?”, “moisturizer” is the answer. It hydrates skin and removes flakes. If you feel that your skin is too oily to apply moisturiser, that’s your misconception. Every skin type has a different formula. Be it dry, oily, or sensitive, this step is a must. It has two effects. First, it smoothes skin’s surface, and second, hydrates skin under makeup so that it doesn’t look dull. Make sure that your day time moisturizer contains at least SPF 15 providing a complete sun protection.

Smoothen up with primer

Now that you’ve cleansed, exfoliated, and hydrated your skin, it’s time to apply primer. Primer has to be your best friend for it is the top beauty enabler disguising skin imperfections. Makeup experts can’t do without a good primer in their makeup arsenal. A primer is somewhat like a magic wand for your makeup as it smoothes out pores and fills them in to make the skin’s surface velvety. It ends up making the skin silkier and well-prepped so that foundation and concealer can just glide on top comfortably. Else the application will look cakey. Primer also acts as a barrier between your skin and chemical-laden cosmetics which have the possibility to seriously irritate the sensitive skin. While blurring out the appearance of visible pores, it evidently brings out the tangible difference in texture.

Now you have got all the answers for the questions like, “Why isn’t my makeup staying longer?” or “Why is my foundation cracking?” Makeup is not just about contouring, highlighting, and mastering the skill of the perfect smokey eyes — it is about prep work, too.