Look. We’ve all been there.

We’ve all beheld our cosmetic collection with a loving gaze... and those not so pristine brushes off to the side, crusted with weeks of use.

It’s the elephant in the room, and for what it’s worth: the elephant isn’t looking pretty.

But hey, no worries! You don’t have to clean them all the time. There’s nothing wrong with a little old makeup on the bristles… Right? 

Here at Urban Oreganics, we’re all about reusable goods—but that doesn’t mean you have to subject your skin to the makeup residue that’s been on your brushes for months. 

Instead, we believe in cleaning your brushes so that you can use them again and again — without sacrificing yourself to all the leftover gunk. Here are some reasons why you should clean your brushes regularly… And a product of our very own that helps you do that!

BACTERIA, CLOGGED PORES, AND BREAKOUTS—OH MY!

Unfortunately, using makeup brushes without proper cleaning is doing more harm to your skin than it's worth.

In 2013, a study at Loyola Marymount University found that the average makeup brush left unclean for a month held more bacteria than the researchers could even count. Worst yet, open air exposing the bacteria can often lead to their growth, and cause infections like staph or ecoli.

For a bit of visual reference: a recent trend of testing the bacteria in our brushes by sampling them in petri dishes has become popular, and… Well. The results are pretty disgusting.

And don’t even think about sharing your makeup brushes with friends… That can lead to a nasty case of pink eye.

As if the possibility of scary infections isn’t enough, the bacteria on your brushes do some real damage on the physical appearance of your skin. 

When you aren’t regularly cleaning your brushes, the amount of use wears on the bristles. Remember how soft your brushes were when you first bought them? How luxurious! How gentle on your skin! 

Now that you haven’t cleaned them in a while, however,  your makeup can warp the bristles into a sharper shape, causing your skin to irritate. Combine that with the bacteria, and well… You’re in for some clogged pores and breakouts. 

And as makeup users trying to make it seem like we don’t have those flaws… Aren’t we trying to avoid that?

RUIN YOUR BRUSHES, WASTE YOUR RESOURCES 

After reading about all the damage your dirty brushes can do above, you may be looking at your brushes with a newly distrustful eye. 

If there’s so much havoc that they can do on your skin… It kind of defeats the purpose of holding onto those brushes, right?

You may feel discouraged. You may feel like you just spent a lot of money on a nice brush set for nothing. What was the point of investing in them when you’ll just throw them away so wastefully?

Hold on! Who says you have to throw them out? In fact, we strongly encourage you don’t. Already more than 120 billion units of packaging (essentially, the waste from your cosmetics) are contributed by the cosmetic industry every year. Why add to that?

And about the investment… You’re right. Why waste your money by repeatedly buying quality brushes over and over again? 

Luckily, Urban Oreganics has a product that will help keep your brushes pristine, clean, and ready to be reused over and over—but safely, of course.

INTRODUCING: OUR BRUSH CLEANER

Listen: we know that we’re not the first on the market to come up with a brush cleaner. We’re not pretending to be the first to think of the idea in any way, shape or form. In fact, there’s countless others you can find in the cosmetics world.

.... But we think ours is better.

Our brush cleaner was thoughtfully formulated according to our core values and what we noticed most other brush cleaners were lacking, we produced a brush cleaner that both effectively cleans your brushes and still holds true to what our customers value in their product.

ALL-NATURAL INGREDIENTS:

Like our other products, the brush cleaner is 100% vegan and cruelty-free, made with all-natural ingredients that you can recognize like jojoba, coconut, and extra virgin olive oils. We hate unrecognizable ingredients as much as you do, so why not keep it simple when simple works?

Coconut and olive oils are both anti-bacterial, so they actively cleanse your brushes of any of the pesky germs we talked about above. The coconut oil also re-hydrates the bristles, making them soft and velvety as the day you bought them. 

(Wanna know more about the benefits of coconut oil? Read more about it in our earlier post.)

You’ve probably heard of the many uses for both of the above oils, but we’re pretty proud to include jojoba oil in the lineup as well. Jojoba oil works really well in dissolving dirt and grime on the skin if you're ever interested in using it as a face cleanser, and does the same for clearing out the nasty debris from your brushes. 

Talk about a power trio! 

HOW TO USE:

Arguably the best part of our brush cleaner is how easy it is to use! 

Simply rinse your brush under a faucet of clean, warm water. Once it’s sufficiently wet, swirl its bristles a bit in the brush cleaner until well coated. (Optional: massage the bristles if needed, making sure to gently rub out any spots within the brush that there may still be hidden residue.) Rinse once more under the water. Pat gently and lay flat to dry.

Simple, fast and a bit fun—why would we ever want to make it more complicated?

CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES, FEEL EMPOWERED:

On top of being easy to use and having all-natural ingredients, our brush cleaner also comes in a recyclable (or reusable!) glass container. 

Our brush cleaner makes sure there’s zero guilt in your cosmetic life: no excess waste, no need to spend more money on buying multiple nice brushes (your first set will do just fine for awhile!), and no damage to your health by dirty bacteria.

See, cleaning your brushes is more than just a chore—it’s about making sure you’re using the safest products, about wanting the very instruments you touch your face with to be in perfect condition, every time.

It’s about self care. 

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