5 Helpful Tips For Cleaning Your Makeup Brushes

Hello you, and welcome to inside the mind of an Obsessive Compulsive Designer.

It’s not a fun task, but it’s a necessary one! Cleaning my makeup brushes is always a dreaded task for me and I have no idea why. It takes me all but 15 minutes and is so SO beneficial. I really need to get into a better habit of just doing it (I’ll touch on that later though). Here are some tips that will make your cleaning process easier and hopefully cheaper!

Use Household Products

Feel free to skip out on the specific cleaners out there on the market that are dedicated to cleaning makeup brushes. There are much cheaper alternatives that you most likely already have! I use a mixture of dish soap and just a dash of extra virgin olive oil. The soap will sanitize your brushes while the oil will keep the hairs/fibers of your brush moisturized and prevent them from splitting. I have been using this concoction for a few years now and love it! No use messing with the big name brand cleaners that are way more expensive.

Down Is Always Right

When you are sink washing your brushes be sure they are always pointing down. If they are facing up, you’ll get water into inner parts of your brushes and upsetting the glue. You’ll find more bristles will start falling out and your bristles may even become deformed. Just always make sure the bristles are pointing down while washing and you’ll avoid any problems!

Your Hand Is A Powerful Tool

Sure the cute little glove or insert you clip in the sink that makes “washing your brushes a breeze” looks cute and every Instagrammer has them; but, you really don’t need this. (Unless you have like 40 brushes to wash then, in that case, you do you booboo!) The natural grooves and curvature of your own hand works just the same and the textured mats. More money saved!

Elevate Your Brushes

When you’re all done washing, be sure to lay them out to dry before setting them back upright. I like to elevate the handle of my brushes to even further prevent any water from settling inside the brushes. It helps dry them faster and ensures the longevity of my brushes. Win, win!

Schedule Your Washes

Personally, I need to get much better at this. I like setting reminders on my Google Calendar to remind myself to set aside a few minutes at the end of the day to get this done. This makes remembering to wash them so much easier! Now, I just need to work on the follow through. J

Leave me a comment below and tell me if you’re better at remembering to wash your brushes than I am!

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How To Get Rid Of Oily Skin

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Take it from someone who has had oily skin all her life, I didn’t think it was every going to be possible to change my skin type. I thought you were born with what you got and that’s that. However, I found that many of my habits and lifestyle choices were the reasons behind my oily skin.

I know every person is different and every person reacts differently to certain products, etc. But, I just wanted to share with all of you how I got rid of my oily skin so you could try out a few tips for yourself!

Moisturize with oils

I know it seems like backward logic and the last thing you’ll want to do is add more oil to your face; but, the results are worth it. Your face is producing so much oil because, odds are, you’re not moisturizing enough and your skin is working overtime trying to make sure you stay hydrated. The best thing you can do to combat oil is to keep your skin well hydrated and I found, personally, oil works best for me. I use 100% Organic Rosehip Oil and it has transformed my skin. I use it as a moisturizer every night for an extra boost while sleeping.

Remove makeup every night

I use to be SO SO BAD at taking my makeup off and my skin really hated me for it. I never realized how much my skin hated it until I stuck to a strict routine of removing it every.single.night. My skin improved so much from just that simple step. I know sometimes it’s hard to remember or fit it into your busy schedule but I promise you’ll thank me later.

Established a routine

Like I mentioned above with a routine of makeup removal, I also worked many other products and steps into My Skincare Routine. I feel so much better and my skin looks so much better. (I can definitely write an updated skincare routine post if you’d like to see that.) Taking the extra ten minutes a day to give my skin everything it needs and finding the right products that compliments my skin was essential to changing the amount of oil.

Multi-masking

I use to think masks were just used to get all the nasty junk out of your skin so I would only use either exfoliating or charcoal masks. They would totally suck all the good oils and moisture out of my face and only worsen my complexion. Since then, I’ve learned what problem areas to target with the harsh masks (like breakouts, my T-zone, etc.). For the rest of my skin, I’ll use a gentle hydrating mask. Multi-masking lets you create the perfect concoction for your skin that you’ll never find by just applying one single mask to your face.

Lightweight products

Let’s just say that in my early makeup days I didn’t exactly go for the ‘natural’ look. But, then again, who did? It was the early 2000’s. Everyone was orange and everyone wore pale nude lipstick. Nowadays, I’ve learned how much better your makeup and skin can benefit from using natural and lightweight products. That goes for makeup as well as skincare products! My Go-To Foundation is the Too Faced Born This Way and I don’t know if I’ll ever switch foundations. It gives the perfect amount of coverage without weighing down my face. It’s a super breathable foundation. Your skin will thank you! As for skincare, switching to a lightweight oil as opposed to a heavy moisturizer really helped my skin breathe while getting everything it needed. Less really is more!

Leave me a comment below and let me know if you’d like to see an updated skincare routine!

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Too Faced Born This Way Foundation Review

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Let’s talk about cult favorite Too Faced Born This Way Foundation because it receives non-stop hype all over the internet. This foundation is a medium coverage very natural looking foundation, not too matte and not too dewy. I’ve been using this foundation for the past year or so now and I will NEVER go back. It’s often rare that I try an overly hyped product and actually like it. This foundation is amazing and I love the way it makes my skin look.

My skin type is more normal/combination and this foundation does a great job not looking greasy in my T-zone and not clinging to my dry patches in other areas. I’m also a very freckled lady so I love that this foundation still let’s my skin look natural with the freckles peeking through. I hate complete full coverage foundations because my whole body is covered in freckles and then it just makes my face look like someone stole a porcelain doll’s head and plucked it on my body. So mismatched. This foundation, however, makes my skin look natural and you can’t notice any difference between my face and the rest of my body. Love that! For me, a beauty blender is the ONLY way to apply this foundation. The beauty blender just makes this foundation look all the more natural.

I’ve repurchased this foundation multiple times, I think I’m only on my third or fourth bottle. (Not too bad for the last year or so!) Until something new and breathtaking hits the market, I’m sure I’ll be using this for years to come! If you’re looking for a natural foundation and have a similar skin type to mine, I very much recommend this product.

Let me know down below if you’ve tried this product and let me know your thoughts!

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Makeup Storage

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Take a sneak peek into my bathroom with this post on how I keep all my beauty items stored and organized! I’m not any kind of crazy beauty fanatic and I don’t think I own stupid amounts of makeup but I do have quite the collection. A couple years ago is when I finally decided to get myself an upgrade from the old drawer of unorganized makeup I usually kept my things in (and I’m so glad I did). I picked up three pieces that have significantly changed to way I function on a day to day basis and improved the care that I keep with my products.

I purchased all three of these acrylic organizers from Amazon, because Amazon has EVERYTHING. They were the perfect size, price, and I like how they are clear so I can see everything inside. I’ll be sure to link the cotton swab holder, makeup brush organizer, and the 3 drawer system here. They’re easy to clean and perfect for my small collection.

Getting the 3 drawer system for the bulk of my makeup was a necessity and it allows me to have a concrete system in the morning. Before these organizers, I would shuffle around in my drawer for a good minute or two to find what I needed but now I work drawer to drawer with everything easily accessible. Even if you aren’t a makeup junkie, I highly recommend picking up this item to organize your beauty items (or any other smaller things around your home). This particular drawer set is offered in so many color selections, both solid and transparent, that you’re bound to find one you like.

Leave me a comment below and let me know how you organize your makeup stash at home!
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What’s In My Makeup?!

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I wanted to take today to talk about something a little more serious and scary about a topic very near and dear to me – makeup. I was recently contacted by a lovely woman from Consumer Safety and during our conversation she made me a little more aware to what exactly is in our everyday products. She sent me this big PDF with lists of harmful chemicals (chemicals I couldn’t even pronounce), what harm they inflict on us, and what products most often contain them. She sent me this more compact and cute version of the list for ease of all my readers so I have attached it above.

Naturally, I was like “Okay, that’s scary but I use a lot of natural products. I’m not too worried about this.” I went through my beauty products and found most all of them contained these nasty chemicals. I was astonished at just how many had them! I knew some of them were bound to be laced with these nasty cancer-causing chemicals but OMG. My beloved RCMA powder that I use every single day contains two ingredients: Silicon and TALC. Essentially, I’ve been setting my under eyes with powdered poison. I think some big changes are in order! I need to go through my products and really switch over to some more natural products.

Ignorance is bliss; but I’m so glad she opened my eyes to what some of those unpronounceable chemicals are in my products. It’s time for me to make a change and lessen the chance of damaging my skin or body. It seems like everything nowadays gives us cancer, am I right? Well, I’m definitely going to be making some changes that lessen that chance from coming from my beauty drawer!

Leave me a comment below and let me know if you guys are in the same boat. Where you just as blind to it as I was?

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