Essential Guidelines for Safe Fude Storage

I have been collecting make-up brushes for many years. It all started because I noticed that great brushes helped me a lot with the application of makeup. They made my experience easier, faster and much more fun. So I decided to blog about it.

I started my blog in 2012, even though I had a very busy personal and professional life. I was working regularly on-calls at night. It was intense and quite exhausting, but playing with make-up and brushes acted like a reset mechanism,- it allowed me to feel calm, and look rested and fresh! It was amazing and kind of magic! I was so intrigued and I started to look for better quality brushes and this took me straight to Kumano, Japan. Finding Kumano is when this journey took insane proportions. I met the artisans and I found my second home.

In Fudenosato Kobo, Kumano

After this, my love for handmade Japanese brushes escalated quickly. My collection started to grow rapidly but I did not only buy brushes made in Japan; I looked at the whole beauty industry as I had my blog and I wanted to see what beauty brands were creating. I was so curious to see if their designs were engineered to work with their make-up products, and how the quality compared to Kumano brushes. This is why today my collection is so diverse- I own many different brushes from many brands. Old, but also recent releases. My interest and love for brushes is still very very strong and my collection continues to grow.

I do my best to keep my brushes in rotation as much as I can, but, realistically, it’s impossible to keep them all in rotation. This is why a safe and functional storage system is so important. Today, in this post, I wanted to share with you the best practices for safe storage and I’ll also share any issues I’ve had after 12+ years. In my next storage related post coming very soon, I will share all the tricks and the storage I have and give you some examples.

Keep them in rotation

We often have backups or duplicates of our brushes. Using them in and out of rotation is better than not using them at all, this is why:

• Taking them out will air the bristles, Just like with us humans, fresh air and ventilation is good for them.
• Washing them too regularly is not good for the brushes. On the other hand, giving them a wash from time to time helps keep them in good shape for longer.
• As you rotate your brushes, you can keep an eye on their condition. If you notice for example that the natural bristles become dry, putting them back into rotation will make the bristles interact with our skin natural oils and this may help restore their condition.

Sometimes we just love brushes and enjoy collecting them. These less used or unused brushes may be precious gifts or special editions, and they will be impossible to replace at a later time. For those reasons, storing them in the best conditions is very important.

Your storage organization and needs are going to be different whether you have 20, 200 or 2000 brushes- There are many ways to organise them, but these best practices apply to all:

• Keep them away from direct sunlight
• Don’t store them in a humid environment and also, make sure they are completely dry before you store them
• Place them in a way that air can circulate easily
• Avoid rapid changes in temperature/humidity – this has also an impact on the glue, the ferrule and the handles
• Store them away from clothes and dust
• If possible, keep them in a place that is easily visible or accessible so you can reach for them more easily.

Sunlight or changes in temperature/humidity will deteriorate any type of brush: natural and synthetic. It will have an impact on the glue inside the ferrule. Also, metals and wood expand and retract with the surrounding environmental factors. If a brush starts shedding, this could mean the core of the brush is damaged. It’s normal that a brush sheds, but if you notice that a brush starts shedding too much, give it a wash with soap, rinse very well and let it fully dry. Don’t use it for a while and then check if it continues to shed. I would never recommend to use a brush when it’s still wet and also, never put them back in storage without letting them dry completely.

It’s important to not store your brushes like you would store cutlery, (unless you happen to keep space around your cutlery for air to circulate!) Ventilation is very important, but excess dust or humidity are not good. This applies to so many things, our clothes, our cars, our bags, etc. Tracking humidity changes can be difficult, so we use Aranet devices around the house- These let us track humidity and temperature over time and also CO2 levels which act as a proxy to know how much ventilation we’re getting. They are small and cable free so you could also place them in a drawer if you want to remotely check changing conditions.

Try not to store your brushes next to your knitwear! My husband is a bit of a maniac when it comes to handling clothes, specially after a trip where we’ve stayed in many locations, or when we purchase a new piece. We either wash, or steam our clothes when we unpack from a trip. The same applies if we purchase anything- it gets steamed or ironed before going in the wardrobe. We want to avoid any issues with clothes related pests and this is the best way to prevent them. After a trip, our daughter’s soft toys rest in the freezer (stored in a plastic bag) for 48 hours!

And after 12 years of storing brushes…

I am so happy to report that after so many years and so many brushes, I have only had to get rid of 2 brushes after one major incident. It’s good to know that such a big issue only caused little damage – it could have been much worse…. Here’s what happened:
We live in an old house that we are renovating very slowly. While we were in the process of renovating the kitchen and bathroom, an invisible leak developed in the bathroom. One wall in my office is shared with the bathroom and the leak spread humidity throughout the wall to behind one cupboard where I store all my brushes. The cupboard’s back was entirely damp- so much so that the dampness went inside the brush drawers and onto the brushes. We didn’t notice it because we were busy and then we left on a trip and did not react quickly enough.

I noticed the damage that water and humidity caused on the brushes only when we came back. Many brushes were impacted, both natural and synthetic ones. On some, the damage was concentrated in the ferrule. First I panicked. Then I washed everything and let the brushes fully dry. After one wash the brushes were back to normal. I washed them again, but they stayed strong- no mold developed and no issues to report. In the end I only decided to throw away 2 brushes because the glue was impacted and the color of the ferrule had changed. What surprises me the most is that I never thought they would be ok after this incident and yet, they are still working perfectly well, and 4 years have now passed.

Airing them, washing them with an appropriate soap is key to keep them in great condition.

I am in the process of taking pictures of my current storage so that I can share how the brushes I own are organized, maybe it will give you some ideas. I have many drawers, but also many brushes so I had to be very creative in order to store them in a way I can instantly find any brush that I need, and it works!