HOUSTON – Dermatologists recommend cleaning makeup supplies regularly, preferably every couple weeks. This can help to prevent acne, eye infections and bacteria from getting on your skin and makeup.
A Katy blogger, Nora Kapche who writes the blog Coupon Contessa, says she lives for lifestyle hacks and shares these 10 ways to clean beauty supplies:
Makeup bag
You may have already thought about using a makeup remover wipe to remove the stains, but Kapche said antibacterial wipes will wipe the makeup clean and kill germs.
“If you clean the makeup bag, the products that you put in are going to be clean as well,” she said.
Eyelash curlers
Some say to use a lighter to clean your eyelash curler.
However, Kapche prefers a safer, less flammable method. She recommends getting inside the small grooves of the eyelash curler with a cotton swab soaked in isopropyl alcohol. Obviously, you should never use both the lighter and the alcohol together (hello, flammable).
Pencil sharpeners
Using a cotton swab with alcohol is a great way to clean this product and the swab easily gets inside the sharpener, too. Kapche said that means all the pencils you sharpen inside will be clean as well.
Nail and manicure tools
Alcohol works to disinfect, and a cotton swab is the perfect size to get between the clippers, scissors, etc.
Flat iron
Use alcohol on a sponge to clean the gunk that’s dried to your flat iron or curling iron. This one takes some elbow grease because chances are there’s a lot of hair products cooked onto the side, but alcohol does work to remove it eventually.
False eyelashes
Isopropyl alcohol is the disinfectant for this one, too. It should remove built of glue. To get between the lashes, use a dried mascara wand.
Kapche said as long as you don’t use the lashes again until they’re fully dry, the alcohol will not harm/burn your eyes.
Hairdryer
No liquids needed here. A dry toothbrush on an unplugged blow dryer can instantly help it work better.
Unclip the back vent and brush away dust that’s keeping air from traveling in and out easily.
Makeup sponges
Water and liquid soap will clean sponges after several rinse and repeat cycles.
Makeup brushes
1 teaspoon dish soap
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 teaspoons water
Lather this vinegar solution against Legos to clean inside the bristles. It works fast!
The smell leaves something to be desired, so maybe repeat once with shampoo or face wash (for a more pleasant odor), rinse and let air dry.
“You're going to reshape the brush because you want to make sure that it holds the same shape and if you shape it before it dries, it will maintain that shape,” Kapche said.
Lipstick
Use a sanitizing wipe to clean the surface of lipstick. This is the same way makeup stores sanitize products before allowing you to test them.
It will not hurt the makeup or you, just make sure to let it dry before using it on your lips.