Take a look inside your make up bag and you probably see your favourites to help maintain your skin and enhance your beauty-lipstick, foundation, eye shadow, brushes, maybe that mascara that you know has passed its use by date but you love it too much to part with.
It’s what you can’t see in your make up bag that we should also be thinking about.
Whilst it contains everything for your beauty routine it also contains the perfect environment to create unhealthy conditions that can wreak havoc with your skin and even make you sick.
Microorganisms can grow out of control due to dark and moist conditions. Mould spores can develop and worse Staphylococcus epidermidis (which causes staph infections), the cold-sore-causing strain of herpes.
How do you know if your make up or make up bag are contaminated?
If you start to notice changes in your skin including inflammation or itchiness then check your products and re assess how you are using them. For example, the simple act of blowing excess blush off your brush then placing it in your make up bag can cause an outbreak of germs. Your saliva can get blown onto the brush then its put into a dark moist bag- microorganisms will start breeding immediately.
Some good make up hygiene habits to start using include:
- Clean your brushes and applicators once a week
- Make sure your hands are clean when applying your products
- Pots and jars that require you to dip your fingers into the product are more likely to become contaminated than products that usr an applicator.
- Another consideration is powders are a less welcoming environment for microorganisms than liquids and creams
- Empty your make up contents out weekly and wipe down everything.