Washing a Beauty Blender (or a Dupe)

So you have finally given in to the beauty blender craze ( I know I resisted for a long time). You use
the sponge, and no matter what your feelings on the application, you are now left with a dirty makeup applicator that needs to be cleaned. But how? You can’t just wipe it off, and there aren’t any bristles like on a makeup brush.

Read on if you want to see how I clean my Beauty Blender.

First, I must stress, that if you want your blender to stay in good condition for as long as possible, you must be GENTLE.

What to wash it with?

-I use a mixture of Dawn (original formula nothing extra added) and coconut oil.

I know coconut oil is solid in its normal room temp state, but you can get a liquid coconut oil and I have also seen little bottles of liquid coconut oil in Sally’s.

-I put about equal amounts of each into a container.

-Then I mix the two liquids,

-Using water that is about room temperature, I run my beauty blender under the faucet until it is damp. I then dip it into my clean mixture and gently work it in. I do this by squeezing the beauty blender and running it under the water.  I continue gently squeezing until I don’t see any more dish soap suds coming out of the sponge. I continue dipping and rinsing and squeezing under the running water until I have gotten all of the makeup off and out of the sponge. This will take time, but if you are gentle, your sponge should come out pretty much like new when you are done. At some point it is only natural for stains to occur, but you will know your blender is clean when the water you squeeze out of the blender is consistently clear.

*The image is not mine, I got it from a Google search, If the image is yours and you would like me to take it down please message me and I will gladly do so.*

Exfoliating for Beginners

If you are thinking of self-tanning or just want to get a closer shave, exfoliating is an essential step. Exfoliating gets all of the dead skin cells off and leaves you with a smooth skin surface. So how might one go about exfoliating? Body scrubs are the way to go and there a few types to choose from. These vary from the kind you find in jars that are very grainy to body wash styled mixtures that are much more lotion than grain.
So how to choose?

More Grain the Lotion: This scrub takes a bit more effort, though it is still fairly low maintenance. Just be careful if you have sensitive skin when you are shopping. Smaller grains are more likely to work with sensitive skin. Though if your skin is very sensitive, you may want to go with the more lotion filled kind of exfoliator.

More Lotion than Grain: This can still be extremely grainy, but varies from the first style. This style is easier to spread and apply because there is also the lotion mixed in. Of course, typically the lotion consistency is made up of body wash and possibly oils for moisturizing.

A Lot More Lotion than Grain: This style is typically a body wash infused with exfoliators like micro beads or other more natural ingredients. This is the most low maintenance style because it happens as you wash off in the shower. This type is also usually the most delicate for those who have sensitive skin.

The exfoliator that I personally have been loving for the last handful of months is Skin Below The Chin's Vanilla Body Scrub that contains Moroccan Argan Oil. It is of the body wash variety, but is very densely packed with exfoliators.




*Pictures were sourced via a Google image search. I don't own them. If an image is yours and you would like me to take it down, just let me know and I would be happy to do so*