Acne and Make-up Brushes

Acne can be an extremely irritating, frustrating and embarrassing problem. Often women tend to blame their cosmetics or their diets, but sometimes the real cause of the problem can be something a little unexpected - your make-up brushes.

How Cosmetic Brushes Affect Acne

Cosmetic brushes are used more and more these days with the increasing popularity of high-end cosmetic use and mineral make-up. Generally using a quality cosmetic brush is much better to use in terms of overall cosmetic application and end result than using your fingers or a piece of tissue. However, you need to remember that without regular and thorough cleaning, cosmetic brushes can and often do harbour bacteria and dirt.

Your cosmetic brushes can contain millions of little bacteria and can cause various infections and skin problems such as acne. If you have been breaking-out often lately then take a look at your cosmetic brushes and see if they are as clean as they could be.

Think about it. When you wake-up each and every single morning you are putting your make-up on with your cosmetic brushes. You place them back in your bottomless make-up bag or your drawer and leave them there until the next time you apply your make-up.

You may also occasionally set your cosmetic brushes on your sink which may not be pristine. Perhaps they momentarily fall on the floor. You might not be able to bring yourself to throw away that discontinued blush (now expired as well) that you have had for 3 years now.

Your counter, drawer, cosmetic bag, floor and potentially expired cosmetics can all deposit bacteria into your cosmetic brush which you, in turn, brush on your face. Day after day you are potentially buffing bacteria picked up from dirty surfaces bags and floors onto your face, infecting your skin and clogging up your pores at the same time.

What Should You Do to Protect The Skin?

So now that you know your brushes could be a problem, what should you do to help your skin? There are many cosmetic brush cleaners on the market. Some are washes that resemble a shampoo and others are alcohol based sprays. If you use one of these products keep in mind that any chemical based residue from the cleaner could end up on your face. If your skin is sensitive this could further irritate you.

Want to really clean your cosmetic bushes? A good wash will really help.

1. First rinse each cosmetic brush under warm water to remove the superficial cosmetics from the brush.

2. Place a dot of natural, gentle shampoo on the bristle of each cosmetic brush and massage between your fingers.

3. Fill the bathroom sink with warm water and place the cosmetic brushes in there to soak for a few minutes.

4. Once the cosmetic brushes have had a chance to soak, rinse each brush under warm running water.

5. Dry each brush by first gently squeezing out any excess water.

6. Allow the brushes to air dry on a clean towel.

If your brushes are really dirty then it is possible that they may have contaminated your make-up, regardless how well your make-up is preserved. If you suspect this, throw away your cosmetics and replace them with new products. Always use a clean brush with a new product to ensure that you aren't contaminating the new product.

Also, remember that the majority of cosmetics don't have an indefinite shelf life so be sure to mark the date with a pen when you first open your cosmetics and throw them away when you have reached the standard expiration date.

Overall cosmetic brushes really do come in handy but their usefulness is entirely counterproductive to creating that flawless look if they are causing acne or skin issues. Acne is just one of the many skin conditions you can develop through dirty brushes and so it really is important to keep them as clean as possible. Rinse all your cosmetic brushes under the tap at least once a week and wash them properly at least once a month to prevent possible infections.

Kristin Adams

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The Importance of Good Keyword Research   by Ivana Katz

Keyword research is often mentioned on the internet but what is it, how do you do it and why should you?

What is Keyword Research and Optimization?

When people are looking for something on the internet they will generally do this by using keywords. Keywords may be typed into Google, YouTube or Facebook search but no matter what you are looking for you will need to use these words.

Keyword research helps the internet marketer (or potential internet marketer) know what keyword terms people are searching for, how many people are searching for these terms and what kind of competition they will be facing if they choose these keywords for their website.

Keyword optimization refers to including keywords in specific places on your website and at specific densities to get your website listed as high as possible on the search engine results pages so that your website is one of the first that people will find when looking for these keywords.

Why is Keyword Research Important?

Now you know what keyword research is, why is it important? The reason for this is that if you do not optimize your website for good keywords where there are relatively high search volumes versus low competition your website could get lost amongst millions of others in a saturated market where there is no longer any room for more competitors.

The opposite is also true, you could optimize your website for keywords that no one is looking for and hence will not be found or make any sales.

How to Do Keyword Research

There are a number of free and paid tools available to help you do keyword research. Two of the best are the Google Adwords keyword research tool and the Wordtracker tool. Wordtracker is a paid tool with a free trial, the Google Adwords keyword research tool is free - just sign up for an Adwords account.

When doing keyword research you will enter keyword terms you have thought of for your website into a text box on the website and then the site will search for related keyword terms and give you an indication of the search volumes for the different terms, the amount of competition and the ratio between these two. With Google Adwords keyword research tool you can also find a wealth of other information such as local search trends, potential prices if you use Google Adwords as an advertising tool, etc.

Google Adwords and Wordtracker work slightly differently to one another with Google allowing you to enter more potential terms, the area you want to target (if any) and the language your website is and then press the search button for results. Wordtracker allows you to enter one term and then drill down to find new terms, add them to the 'keyword basket' and then get results when you are done.

The key things you want to consider when choosing the keywords you are going to use are the number of searches being done and what competition you will be facing. If the search volumes are too low or the competition is too high then you will probably want to avoid these terms.

Keyword research is essential for ensuring that visitors find your website online and will give you an idea of what the market is like in terms of how many people are searching for these terms and what competition you will be facing. You can either use Google or Wordtracker to do this keyword research (or a number of other free or paid tools).

About the Author

Ivana Katz of Websites 4 Small Business makes it easy for you to get your business on the internet. If you're looking for a professional and affordable website designer, visit www.web4business.com.au and download a free website plan.
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