DIY BRUSH CLEANER (HOW I CLEAN MY BRUSHES)

One of the most difficult things in a makeup artist or a makeup junkie's life is cleaning their makeup brushes! It takes so much time and energy, including the cleaning, rinsing and drying part! It's a total pain in the butt! I usually spend 2-3 hours everytime I clean all of my makeup brushes. I tried different methods and different soap mixtures. I don't use fancy brush cleaners. I just use what's affordable that could clean my makeup brushes but wouldn't destroy the quality. I've tried shampoo, dishwashing soaps, and bar soaps. Shampoo is okay but it cannot completely remove the stubborn waterproof makeups from the brushes (i.e. foundation, eye pencils, lipsticks). Dishwashing liquid soaps and pastes are awesome in removing waterproof makeups but it can leave the bristles of the brushes coarse. So, what I do is, after cleaning my makeup brushes using a mixture if dishwashing liquid plus water, I soak the bristles in a mixture of water and fabric conditioner BUT NOT FOR LONG. I let them soak there for about a minute then I will immediately rinse it again then dry the bristles. A few months ago, I watched xteeener's video about cleaning her makeup brushes. I learned from her that you can add baking soda on your soap mixture to thoroughly clean your makeup brushes since it is an awesome cleaning agent. So since then up to this day, my soap mixture is composed of water, dishwashing liquid and baking soda. Then I still soak my brushes in water with fabric conditioner to keep the bristles soft (and fragrant, too)! :)

I don't know about you but in cleaning makeup brushes, two of the hardest parts are removing waterproof makeup and rinsing them. Some brushes just take too long before they are completely soap-free and there are times that I'm almost losing patience! Not to mention my hands and arms getting sore and numb and my skin wrinkles already from being wet for too long. I saw the Sigma glove cleaner and I am really upset of how expensive it is! It's insane! Thank God, I found secretlifeofabionerd who is amazing when it comes to DIYs! She did a very clever way in making a DIY brush cleaner dupe of the Sigma glove brush cleaner. Click here to watch the video.

Because I was amazed with her DIY brush cleaner, I tried to do it myself but I used a tupperware instead of a plastic clipboard. Like what secretlifeofabionerd did, I also drew squiggly lines on my base using a glue gun in different sizes and patterns AND VOILA!!!

Ever since I made this DIY brush cleaner, cleaning my makeup brushes became waaaaaaaaay easier! The textured lines really help clean my makeup brushes thoroughly and rinse them faster! It's so awesome, you should try it, too! :)

When it comes to drying my brushes, I just lay them all on a towel placed on a flat surface. I don't really mind anymore if they are not elevated since I pre-dry them anyway. However, I still elevate or place upside down those big brushes with tightly packed bristles so that they will dry faster. I hope you're getting what I'm saying. Hahaha!

Hope this helps! :)

Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)

-ivsc-

Gift Ideas for Ladies and How to Make it Extra Special

     My "soon-to-be Mother-in-law" celebrated her birthday just last March 4. I barely see her since I live here in Quezon City and they live in Alfonso, Cavite. So, for her last birthday, I and my boyfriend wanted to give her a gift to make her happy and to make up for her since we barely see and talk to her. My boyfriend is studying here in Quezon City, too so he just sees his family on weekends or every other weekends.

   For students like us, money is tight and budgeted since we have to pay for school's expenses and other miscellaneous. The gifts that I thought of for my boyfriend's Mom are cheap and affordable. It doesn't matter though because they say it's the thought that counts, right? But how to make it look extra special? Simple! Here's what I did:

     Choosing gifts for someone is so difficult most of the time! To pick out the perfect gifts, you have to consider their interests, age, and gender. The gifts that I bought for Mami Riza (it's what we call my boyfriend's Mom) are a combination of different beauty products, personal and household products. All of these are very affordable!

1. Zen Zest Aromatherapy Room Fragrance in Stimulation (P250.00) - The scent is really therapeutic and calming! I'm going to buy one for myself soon!

2. Zen Zest Tangerine Eau De Toilette for Women (P200.00/50ml) - I picked out this perfume because my boyfriend told me that Mami Riza likes floral/fruity scent. This Tangerine perfume smells like melon! It really smells so divine!

3. Skin Avenue Body Butter Set (P59.75) - Yes, you're reading it right! A set of body butter for roughly P60.00! I got this from Watsons but I am just not sure if it's still available. I hope it still is because I want to get my own set. They smell so good and yummy because of their fruity scents.

4. Ever Bilena Matte Lipstick in Love That Red (P155.00) - Mami Riza is fond of wearing red and matte lip colors so I chose one of my favorite red matte lipsticks of all time! It will make you look good without spending a lot! *wink*

5. Dermal White Collagen Essence Mask - This is one of the prizes that I got from Kimpossibly Gorgeous' giveaway. I have a lot of facial masks and I barely use them so I thought, why not share my blessings, right? Since Mami Riza loves taking care of her skin, I decided to give it to her as a gift as well.

     To make these gifts extra special, I decided to put them in a gift box! I found this adorable gift box at SM Department Store, Gift Wrapping section which can fit all of the things that we bought for Mami Riza. I got it for only P129.75.

     It has a real ribbon on top for that 3D effect and it also comes with handles which I find very cute.

     I placed a blue felt paper inside as a bed for the products. Blue is the favorite color of Mami Riza, by the way, that's why I chose a blue box and blue felt paper.

     All of the products that we picked out for her are not expensive at all but when you know how to make it look more presentable and extra special, it would look like you spent a lot for it! Just look at that box! :)

     I hope we really made Mami Riza happy! Anyway, I bet she was happy with this gift box because she immediately checked out the products and used the Zen Zest Tangerine perfume! Hee! :)

     Visit SM Department Store Gift Wrapping section to check out their gift boxes. There are more cute and adorable boxes to choose from for both men and women, boy and girl. :)

Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)

-ivsc-

DIY: Pencil Holders

Hello everyone!

A few days ago, I instagram-ed this pic showing my DIY pencil holders.

It's actually pretty easy to do. I mean, the photo above says it all. But I just want to talk a little more about it. I don't really consider this as a DIY because it's just a glass that I designed to make it look presentable. Anyway, I bought these 3 glasses which come in a set. So 1 set consists 3 glasses and it only costs P39.75 from SM Hypermarket!

The glasses are just small and I really chose this size since I'm going to use it as a pencil holder. So, I don't want a really short glass nor a tall glass, just enough to hold my pencils. Something that won't drop my pencil when I put it inside and something that won't drown my pencils inside from the tallness of the glass. These glasses are perfect.

The glasses already have its own design as you can see. However, if I'm just going to leave it like that, it would just look like an ordinary glass! So, to make it a little cuter, I designed the glasses using old nail polishes. Here are the things that I used:

1. Old Nail Polishes - These will serve as your painting material. These are old already. The ones that are already too thick to use on your nails! The ones that are close to being dry already. Before you throw them out, you can still use them for something useful like with these DIY pencil holders!

2. Nail Polish Remover and Q-Tips - To clean the edges or any boo-boos!

3. A tape - masking tape, scotch tape, or whatever kind of tape! This will serve as your guide so that you won't make a lot of mistakes while designing your glasses, especially when you're painting the edges. I personally chose this tape because it's narrow so it's easier to deal with.

Just look at the photos below to see how I did it:

Used the tape as a guide for a straighter line.

Painted the top edge with a purple nail polish.

Then after that, tada!

You can leave it just like that or you can go crazy with your designs!

On the second glass, I painted two stripes and added random dots. I used three different colors to make it look cuter and colorful!

On the third glass, I painted three stripes!

As you can see in the photo above, the lines are crooked and I did a lot of boo-boos. That's because I peeled off the tape too early. I didn't let the nail polish dry completely so some parts of the nail polish peeled off together with the tape! Don't worry though because you can clean the edges for that crisp and straighter line with your nail polish remover and q-tips!

TADAH!!!

So here's how my glasses look like after:

Now, you can put your pencils in!

That's it! More DIY soon! :)

Stay awesome and accomplish your mission! :)

-ivsc-