How To: Clean Make-up Brushes

Cleaning make-up brushes is one of those things that no one enjoys but it has to be done. You don't want to be using dirty make-up brushes as the bristles gather all sorts of bacteria and can lead to breakouts. There are different ways of cleaning them but this is the one that I use and find the most effective!

Step 1: Run your brushes under warm water to wet the bristles.

Step 2: Apply shampoo to the bristles. I use baby shampoo as it has no added extras like colour, scent etc so it is more gentle on the brush.

Step 3: Swirl the brush around on the palm of your hand gently or you can get special cleaning pads like this one from RC Cosmetics for only a couple of pounds. They are designed to gently clean the brushes without damaging the bristles themselves, just be sure not to press too hard!

Step 4: Keep on doing this, applying more shampoo if necessary, until you can run it under warm water and it rinses clean.

Step 5: Lay your brushes out on a towel to dry. It sometimes takes a few hours for them to dry completely so I usually clean them in the evening and leave them to dry overnight, then they're ready to use again in the morning.

Hope you found this helpful!

LBD

A classic LBD is a must for every girls wardrobe, but the wrap over skirt and clipper back of this one from Her Fashion Box makes it that bit different.

Paired with black heels and a statement necklace, it makes it the perfect outfit for a night out. The necklace I wore with it is also from Her Fashion Box and the heels are from Style Edit.

Hair Burst

In December I tried out Hair Burst which are vitamin tablets designed to increase the speed your hair grows at and make it healthier too. I got one month's supply which is £24.99 for those in the UK. The pills contain lots of different vitamins including zinc to keep hair follicles strong, collagen to battle dryness and brittleness, and folic acid to maintain the colour of your hair and promote faster hair growth.

The first thing I noticed when they arrived was the size of the capsules. They are about an inch long! You have to take two every morning (I did forget once or twice) and being someone who can barely swallow tiny painkillers, this was quite a challenge. It did become easier as the month went on though. 

The left of these two photos shows the length of my hair before I started taking the tablets and the photo on the right shows the length at the end of the 30 days. My hair care routine was the same throughout the time I was taking them as it was before - everything including shampoo, conditioner and any additional products I use. (I didn't dye my hair in between photos, the sun was setting in the second one which is why it looks more red!) You can see from these two photos that my hair did grow a bit, maybe 1/2 an inch to an inch. One major downside to these tablets that I found was that it broke my skin out majorly, I usually have quite good skin with the occasional spot but my skin was awful for the majority of the time I took the capsules which was not the best! Other than that I had no issues with them and they did seem to make my hair grow a bit more than it normally would. I can't say I noticed any difference in the health of my hair but then again I was only taking them for a month so maybe it makes more of a difference on the three month cycle. 

Overall I think that they are quite pricey and I wasn't happy with the fact they broke my skin out but other than that they would be perfect if you are trying to grow your hair out! I don't think I will be repurchasing them though as my hair is long enough now without them.