How to sanitise and keep your makeup tools clean

Our makeup vanity is always brimming with brushes, beauty blenders, sponges, hair styling tools, tweezers, eyelash curlers - tools to get makeup on-point. But, as important as these tools are for flawless application, they are equally important to be cleaned often and owing to the hiatus that this pandemic has caused, your makeup tools have been sitting in their kits for over 6/7 months. Hence experts advise sanitisation of these tools before and after use. Here’s how you can do so:

Once in a week you must clean your makeup brushes. In a shallow bowl mix warm water and liquid soap ( shower gel) dip or soak 3/4th of the bristles in this solution for 20-25 minutes, rinse in clean water and redo the soak step so we do double cleanse .

You may begin by moistening your brushes and sponges with water and then swirl it into the soap container, gently massage your brushes and beauty blenders to remove stubborn traces of makeup and wash it off with tap water. You can also invest in a makeup cleaner egg which will help clean the bristles well.

Keep the base of the brush head (where it connects to the handle) away from soap and water. The bristles are glued to the base, and water and detergent can cause the glue to disintegrate and the bristles to come loose and shed. Also, avoid drying brushes vertically with the bristles up — this can cause water to leak into the ferrule (the piece that joins the bristles to the handle), which also will loosen the glue and lead to bristle loss.

Using a cosmetic disinfectant sanitiser is a good idea so that it can be sprayed on all powder-based products such as blushers, eye shadow palettes, compact powders, hair styling tools both before and after use. These disinfectants contain 70% alcohol as well as ingredients that retain the original composition and texture of the makeup product without drying it out making them a viable choice. When liquid cosmetic disinfectants are sprayed on cream-based makeup products it takes a while to dry and hence not the best idea to use it, it is the sweeping motion that is required and hence one needs cosmetic sanitising wipes that eliminate 99.9% bacteria that can be swiped across the surface of cream-based products such as lipsticks, lip gloss wands, mascara wands, eyelash curlers , male grooming tools such as beard trimmers etc.

You can store your make up tools and palettes in biodegradable zip-lock bags to ensure hygiene.

You could invest in a UV steriliser box to sterilise your beauty tools.

Inputs by makeup expert Bianca Louzado and cosmetic surgeon Dr Geeta Grewal