How I Clean my Makeup Brushes

It is incredibly important to regularly clean your makeup brushes, as oils and germs can transfer easily from your face to your brush, and then every time you use them, you spread those germs around... and this can result in nasty breakouts. Also, a lot of makeup brushes are quite expensive and you'll want to protect your investment and make sure they stay in tip top condition.

Best practice is to lightly clean your brushes every couple of uses, and deep clean them once week. 

Light Cleaning

Every two (sometimes three) days, I clean my most frequently used brushes (generally, just my foundation, powder and blush brushes) lightly with a makeup wipe to get rid of any left over makeup. 

Deep Cleaning

Once a week, I deep clean any brushes that I have used over the past seven days. I lightly dampen the brush by running it under the lukewarm water, with the brush hairs pointing down and being careful not to get any water under the handle (this can cause the glue to disintegrate resulting in hair loss - not a good thing).

Next, I squeeze a decent sized blob (see below for reference - about the size of a grape) into the palm of my hand. There are a lot of brands with dedicated brush cleaner (including Mac) but I tend to use Johnson's baby shampoo. It works just as well (I think it actually leaves the brush hairs softer) and is significantly cheaper.

I gently swirl the damp brush into the shampoo in the palm of my hand, working up a lather. My inner Monica really likes this part as you can really see the makeup washing out.

Next, I rinse the brush under lukewarm water (again, ensuring that the brush is pointing downwards to avoid getting water under the handle). It is important to ensure that all the shampoo is washed out or the residue might damage the brush hairs - if it feels slippery, keep rinsing!

The final step is to squeeze out any excess water, lightly rub the brushes back and forth on a clean, dry towel and leave them to dry overnight - I tend to roll up a towel so that the brushes are pointing slightly downwards (again, so that the water doesn't get under the handle).

And voilà, perfectly clean good-as-new brushes. Do you have any tips for cleaning brushes that I missed?

Review: Topshop Lipstick in Rio Rio and Tease

I love lipstick... maybe a little too much... I'm probably addicted... ok, I'm definitely addicted and it's a problem. 

There, I said it.

I recently purchased two new lipsticks, to satiate my addiction. Having never tried Topshop lipsticks before, I was eager to try them out. With the greatest of restraint, I selected (aka: limited myself to) two gorgeous colours - Rio Rio, a beautiful orangey-red and Tease, a vibrant hot pink. These lipsticks were about €12, from what I remember, or £8 and can be ordered online here:

Rio Rio
Tease

As these were my first Topshop lipstick purchases, I'm not sure if this is applicable to all lipsticks, but these two shades are wonderfully moisturising with fantastic colour pay-off. Overall, I find that they are very comparable to MAC lipsticks but for a much more reasonable price.

Rio Rio

Rio Rio is a beautiful red lipstick, with subtle orange undertones.

I know red lipstick can often be overwhelming, and a lot of people avoid it as a result. However, I think Rio Rio would make a perfect lipstick for those ladies looking for a starter red, as it isn't overly dramatic. 

Personally, I love red lipstick and find it great for a night out to dress up an otherwise casual outfit. However, Rio Rio is a lot more versatile than other reds, and is very wearable during the day. The shade is very flattering, and the finish is a gorgeous satin matte but the lipstick is very moisturising. I also find that the colour tends to last for hours, even on a night out with eating, drinking and dancing.

In summary, this lipstick is definitely in my top five favourite lipsticks of all time.

Tease

Tease is a gorgeous, vibrant, Barbie-esque pink lipstick.

I absolutely adore bright pink lipsticks, but I often find them difficult to wear, give the usual blue undertones and my (relatively) pale complexion. However, during the summer, when I get a bit of colour, I find myself gravitating towards them... it might have something to do with the sunshine too.

As with Rio, I find this lipstick really moisturising, the pigmentation is phenomenal, and the colour lasts for hours. It is perfect for a night out as it really dresses up an outfit, and pairs beautifully with somewhat understated eye makeup (usually, I just go with a splash of Rubenesque by MAC, some winged black eyeliner and lashings of mascara).

Unfortunately, Tease is probably going to be resigned to sitting in my makeup drawer for the next few months once my "tan" fades (damn you, Winter) but I will undoubtedly by whipping it out next summer.

Have you ever tried any Topshop lipsticks? Are there any holy grail colours that I should invest in?