Cleaning your Beauty Blender | Liquid Blender Cleanser Review

How sad do you feel when you have to chuck your beauty blender? Or perhaps more accurately your Real Techniques Complexion Sponge when it gets grotty beyond repair? Suddenly your baby shampoo and squeeze hack simply isn't cutting it any more and it looks like it's time to retire your tried and tested friend to the bin, really I must have gone through at least a dozen beauty blenders only to find I ended up with a sponge that was more foundation than foam. So getting sick, tired and fed up of wasting so much money I began to seek other cleaning methods of my spongey compadre and came across this liquid blender cleanser in Boots funnily enough by 'Beauty Blender' themselves.

The Liquid Blender Cleanser is a soy based product free from dyes and skin irritants and comes in a handy squeeze down 150ml bottle which lasts and lasts, which makes it's £15 price tag a little less painful to contend with. The cleanser has a faint lavender scent to it and leaves your beauty blender, sponges and make up brushes (if you choose to use it for that) squeaky clean and free from germs, dirt and impurities. Disgusting as it may be during my weekly brush cleaning routine my favourite part is seeing just how dense and full of product my beauty blender is and squeezing out as much foundation as possible. Using this cleanser has been a real eye opener as to just how full of dirt and germs my sponge has been over these last few years! 

I use the cleanser once a week on all of the beauty blenders / make up sponges I'll have had on the go and I'm chuffed with the results I have been getting. I really feel as though it's better for my skin, better for my make up collection and I have found something that really works. My only qualm with the product is that it can get quite messy as you have to push the damp (and dirty) blender down on to the pump for the liquid to come out so you really need to put kitchen roll or a tea towel down to protect your counter. I also worry with this kind of pump at just how much product I'm wasting when it spills all over the place so it'd be great to get a different type of pump to distribute the product a bit better.

If you're as gross as me you'll love this product and you'll be so surprised at just how much foundation you're wasting away week on week! Beauty Blender also offer a solid blender cleanser which where it may indeed be a bit cleaner and easier to use will waste away very quickly as it dissolves like a regular bar of soap in water. Have you ever tried a specific blender cleanser product? How did you find it and did you just love seeing all the gunge come out like I do?  Leave your thoughts in the comments section below, come share the gunge and gore with me on Twitter or keep up with me and the blog on Instagram and Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, it's time to get gunged!

H.Elizabeth x

False Lash 101 | Cleaning your False Eyelashes

Since my first every post on my false lash obsession I've had a lot of questions, ranging from how do you put them on every day, where do you buy them, which brand has the best lash and perhaps my most asked question, 'can you reuse them and if so how do you clean them?' To which I usually quippily reply, 'you think I buy new lashes eryday, honey how much money do you think I have?' what a dedicated soul (large bank balance) you must think I have! So today I thought I would dedicate an entire post to how I do just that. Cleaning and caring for your false lashes. 

Given the proper cleansing routine and of course a steady and delicate hand your lashes should last you approximately 3 weeks (not of course accounting for nights out or big events which can make lashes decidedly gross and fit for the bin)  But before I get in to how to clean your lashes and store them properly I just want to mention a couple of things that have the potential to ruin your lashes before cleaning even begins. Removal. Removal of your lashes is key to keeping your false lashes AND your natural lashes in tip top condition, pulling, yanking, ripping or of course sleeping with them on even is a sure fire way to pretty much burn your money and wreck all of your lashes. So, no matter how tired (drunk) you are, how (much of a wimp) scared you are you must remove them before bed (and you know wash, cleanse, moisturise all that jazz) 

1) Carefully peel your lashes off , if they stick use an oil based make up remover and a cotton bud working from the outside inwards.

2) Using small tweezers pick any noticeable glue from the lash band and then bend them back into a 'natural eye shape'

3) If your lashes are looking a bit grotty (bleh!!) then spritz them with an alcohol solution and keep them in a clean dry place.

4) Store your lashes back in the tray they came in alongside the glue (bit of a practical move there!) and they'll be all ready and waiting for you next time!

Another tip would be to avoid using any mascara on your lashes, I realise people say they 'bind' the lashes and make them look more natural but when applied properly and right at the edge of the lash line I haven't noticed very much of a difference. Otherwise there isn't very much to it, you know treat them like your furry babies and make sure they're tucked in safe at night and that's about it! Hopefully this has cleared up any questions you may have had about your totally natural lashes (wink wink) but any questions for me be sure to leave them in the comments section below, come have a chin wag with me on Twitter, visit my Insta or keep up with my latests on Bloglovin.

                                                    Until next time folks, don't be a wimp!

                                                                          H.Elizabeth x

Get it in the bin | Make Up Shelf Life

Now we're all guilty of this, I know we are! I myself have been known to hoard and covet some products WAY beyond the point of acceptance, but for the good of our skin we need to shape up and brush up on the shelf life of our make up. Since posting this on my make up artistry Facebook page I've been pretty inundated with messages of but what will happen if I don't throw away my foundation, but what if this and what if that. Well to put it quite bluntly, acne, blindness, DEATH!!! Okay I'm exaggerating, but the effects of out of date products on your skin ain't good. I mean would you eat a yoghurt covered in mould? Or drink from a separated carton of milk? Nope so why put something like that on your face? Do yourself a favour, make it this months resolution to replace or get rid of any out of date beauty products that you and I both know are lurking in the back of your beauty cabinet and start this summer a new.

Are you guilty? Do the expiry dates on some of your favourites shock you? Let me know in the comments below, come and share your outrage with me on Twitter or as per you can keep up with me and my world shattering news on Instagram, Facebook and Bloglovin.

This has been your weekly PSA by Granite City Girl, stay safe and stay sanitary!

H.Elizabeth x