How to Maintain Your Make-up Brush Set

When you think about make-up artist kits, do you envision a vast array of colours in their make-up palettes? Or maybe you have in mind beautiful and long lasting professional make-up that will work wonders, by contouring your face and making your complexion look flawless. Nevertheless, a Professional Make-up Artist needs a variety of tools for professional make-up application, plus the removal of make-up. Sponges, cotton pads, eyelash curlers, tweezers, etc., are all present in make-up artist kits, but the most priceless possession from the tools of the trade is the make-up brush set.

Compared to liquid make-up, such as foundations, eye make-up and mascaras, the brushes are a long-term investment. Therefore, you have to maintain your make-up brush set in order to keep it in good condition, so you are able to use the brushes over a prolonged period of time and achieve great results.

When taking care of your make-up brush set there are a couple of important points to follow not only for hygienic purposes, but also to maintain the performance of the brush.

Storage - Storing the brushes in a brush roll or belt is essential. It is important to keep your brushes separate from the rest of the kit where you store eye make-up palettes, foundations and other make-up items. When the make-up brush set is neatly lined up in a brush roll it will prevent any excess make-up spilling on them. Additionally, you will be minimising the possibility that other products bump against the brushes and misshape the hair, or chip and splinter the wooden handle. Damage to the metal part of the brush, known as the ferrule, would cause the hairs to shed. Due to this reason professional make-up artists prefer to have a special brush roll or belt in their kit, to protect the brushes when transporting them from one job to the next.

Cleaning -
It is important to clean your make-up brushes regularly to maintain the hygiene and product performance. There are two methods that Make-up Artists use for cleaning their brushes:
* The first method is with a brush cleaner. The brush cleaner is a quick solution when you want to sanitise the brush and use it afterwards, as it dries quickly. Use Stageline Cleaning Gel by applying a few pumps of the gel on a tissue and then get the brush and massage it over the gel. Continue this procedure until the product that was previously on the brush falls away. Professionals will have to do this after every client, but if the brush is used at home it can be sanitised after a few uses or immediately after any waterproof or liquid make-up.

* Washing the brushes is essential after you have used them for a lot of jobs or for a longer period of time. Wash them with a non-abrasive shampoo and then lay them down to dry out on a towel (you can use a paper one as well). You should leave them on a flat surface to prevent any water going into the ferrule (the metal part of the brush), which can damage the glue and cause shedding of the hair.

Maintenance of your make-up brush set is important, not only as it may be a costly investment if the brushes are of good quality, but these make-up tools are built to last and perform, therefore it is essential that they are stored and cleaned properly.

Radina Simeonova is associate author with the company Skin by Sterex - The global leader for professional make-up, makeup brushes set, make-up training and also offering the services of make-up palette, cosmetics and accessories for personal and professional use.