HAVING A BRUSH DAY!

I have been washing some of my brushes, 123 actually, took me almost 2 hours! I had my baby the whole time in the baby carrier and at the end of the process my back was seriously killing me! 😀 Not the best posture as I had to lean forward towards the sink and that wasn’t very comfortable but we have to do what we have to do! Running water is something that soothes my baby and puts her to sleep, eventually she did fall asleep, it was a 1 stone – 2 birds type of operation. A real success as I managed to go through (almost all) my dirty brushes.

The reason why I wanted to share this quick post is because I want to reply to some of your questions and apologise for not being able to answer all your comments and emails, I do my best but my best is still not enough. I appreciate very much your friendship, your comments, your questions and your support and I am not ignoring you, it’s just difficult to find the time.

I had a couple of very tough years, a long sad story that ended the best way it could possibly end but it put me behind on many posts that are still in draft mode. Slowly I am emerging, you will see more of me, more brushes and more reviews, the reviews might be shorter than usual because of my availability (I was talking too much anyway!) but they will keep coming. Having a blog is so much fun because I get to know amazing like-minded people and share this passion with you all, so as long as I can stay around, I definitely will.  I am still catching up with my emails and in the process of replying to some of you but if I have missed your questions please leave them below if you don’t mind and I will make sure I’ll reply to them.

So, I have been washing these brushes, 4 rows of them, 2 rows of eye brushes and 2 rows of face brushes.

On the two bottom rows : eyeshadow brushes drying

On the two bottom rows : face brushes drying

I get many questions about how I wash my brushes, how I store them, how I take care of them.

I always wash them the exact same way: baby shampoo for delicate ones (squirrel), savon de marseille for goat and synthetic. I use lukewarm water (it is important that the water is not too hot or it will alter the dye and the glue), I make sure they are well rinsed with lukewarm water and no soap residue is left, also being very careful to avoid dipping the ferrule in water. Once well rinsed, I dry them as much as I can with a towel, then with kitchen paper. The reason why I use kitchen paper too is that I see exactly how much water is left in the bristles and I want that paper to not get wet when I (delicately!) press the bristles against it. Then I lay them flat to dry on a towel and every 3 to 4 hours -if I am nearby- I move and air the bristles with my hands to help dry them faster. It’s actually very important that they dry as quickly as possible and not in the sunlight or using a drier.  Some brushes that I use on other people I spray them lightly with some alcohol after they dry (I don’t do that on the delicate brushes). That summarises the whole washing process!

I could use a dedicated brush soap but I don’t have the time and it will end up being more expensive (depending on which brush soap I use of course). I find brush soaps to take longer to clean the bristles, specially when it comes to foundation brushes. And… I could hang them upside down but that’s ok when you have 10 brushes or so, when it’s about 123 brushes more or less it will take me too long to hang them down and it’s really not worth the trouble, they will dry and keep their shape if I remove the excess water and shape them with my hands. Some crease or candle shaped brushes I may add a custom made brush guard that I wrap around while they dry if I really want them to stay tapered but I almost never do it. It’s just a matter of time.

I know there are other methods, and more expensive ones, but so far and after so many years my brushes are still in pristine condition, they have scratches but that’s part of the normal usage.

I always have many brushes to wash because I rotate them, it’s always the best way to care about them, to use them all. Although rotating them is valid only if you have more than you probably should, like I do. Part of the ones that are drying here today have been used just for the purpose of comparing their performance and for reviews. It’s not because you see them here that they are my favorites but I admit that I use any type of brush, and by any I really mean it.

Some years ago I would only use very very soft brushes, my skin needed it as I had terrible skin issues, today I am a more flexible on that, I can go back to less soft brushes that bring me more functionality and efficiency. Bottom line, if a brush is well made and of good quality, I will keep it as it will serve. You don’t need to do the same though! Not sane and not recommended.

As you can see I am not minimalist with my brushes and I don’t care. All of them have a history, for example the Hakuhodo J series, when they were launched I went totally nuts and ordered almost all of them, I was so excited that I took ALL OF THEM on holiday on my motorbike for a two day trip to the middle of nowhere and had so much fun during those two weeks, going ooooh aaaaah as I was discovering how good they were.  The Wayne Goss as well, I maintain that there is a Before and an After WG brushes, these dyed goat bristles replicate the softness and versatility of white bristles and solve the issue of seeing your white brushes constantly dirty. I could talk or write for hours about them!

A few of you asked me if I will review the Artis brushes, yes I will very shortly, I’ll mention just a few upcoming posts. I am intensely using Artis, Hourglass, Koyudo Lohas, Marc Jacobs, Rae Morris (the new ones), on Monday I will receive some of the new Hakuhodo series that I just ordered. Spoiler alert, Artis was fun at the beginning, the fun has gone.  But they are good enough quality so I will keep them as one day I might be able to use them for something…

With regards to the storage, I really really really need to share, not to show off but I have been working very hard to find great storage and display solutions for the brushes and I hope I can help and give you many fun, classy or crazy ideas!

I also have the intention of counting my brushes one of these days, just for fun, I always said I won’t do it but today I feel like I should and I am finally ready! Maybe I will open a contest and whoever guesses or comes the closest to the final number will win and will be rewarded with a nice brush prize 🙂

In the meantime, I wish you a fantastic week, have fun with your brushes and enjoy every moment!