Best way to keep products sanitary?
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » EDS Lounge

free skin care · Fri Nov 03, 2006 4:34 pm

I'm wondering if anyone knows good ways to keep products sanitary? Seems like alot of my products are designed in packages to breed bacteria... My main concern is with my tea tree oil. It comes in a little bottle with a brush and after you wipe the brush on an owie, zit, or whatever, the brush gets put back in the bottle. But tea tree oil is an antiseptic so is this okay?? I can't figure out a way to use it without contaminating the rest, or do I not have to worry about this in the case of tea tree oil? Anyone know?

free skin care · Fri Nov 03, 2006 4:46 pm

I always use a cotton swab (Q-tip) to apply tea tree oil to my blemishes.

free skin care · Fri Nov 03, 2006 8:27 pm

OMG, I am SO paranoid about contamination. For almost all of my products I will only dip into them with a clean spoon, spatula, or sponge. When I apply concealer, I first thoroughly wash my hands, then I apply a glob of concealer to the back of my hand and use it as needed on my face as I'm making up. I use a clean make up sponge every day and then throw it away. Ok, so maybe I go a little overboard, LOL, but I wouldn't dab ANYTHING right onto your blemishes--- better to just use a q-tip and toss it. If anyone else has suggestions for keeping things clean, I'd love to hear em!

free skin care · Sat Nov 04, 2006 12:37 am

When you could get them, before they were discontinued from the line, I used to buy mass quantities of those double-ended pointed "Q-tip" thingies from Japonesque. LOVED those because the cotton was so tightly wound that it did not come undone easily or leave cotton threads on your eyelashes, etc. like regular Q-tips do.

I used them sometimes to scoop product out of containers, but Japonesque also used to sell (they still might) those little spatulas, which I used to buy tons of as well. Those were GREAT for use with skincare stuff - you could just scoop out what you needed and when you were done with the spatula, you could either toss them or throw a bunch of them in one of those small containers you can get at Target that you use in your dishwasher (for small items) and wash them!

But I've resorted to regular Q-tips since I can't get the Japonesque ones anymore. And I still use my spatulas!

free skin care · Sat Nov 04, 2006 2:27 pm

Yen wrote:

I always use a cotton swab (Q-tip) to apply tea tree oil to my blemishes.

ohmygosh. Q-tips. I swear, I'm such a blonde sometimes. I didn't even think of that. I was just stuck on the fact that the bottle had a brush in it thinking surely it must be safe to use the brush since it came with it, and that got me all confused.. I hope I didn't contaminate my brand new bottle of tea tree oil. But from now on I'll just use q-tips... I've seen those little spatulas before, someone gave me a few, but I've never been able to find them in stores... those things have a million uses, I really should try to find some...

free skin care · Sun Nov 05, 2006 1:44 am

PhoebesMeow wrote:

... ohmygosh. Q-tips. I swear, I'm such a blonde sometimes. I didn't even think of that. ... But from now on I'll just use q-tips... I've seen those little spatulas before, someone gave me a few, but I've never been able to find them in stores... those things have a million uses, I really should try to find some...

PhoebesMeow, here are a couple links I found for makeup artist q-tips and spatulas:

First one is for Alcone Co., their prices might be a bit high, but you can find what you need without having to buy in bulk:

http://www.alconeco.com/products/tools/disposables

Second one is for Kosmetech. They sell in LARGE quantity (you'll end with 1,000 spatulas, literally!) and their prices seem to be good.

http://www.kosmetech.com/category.asp?idCategory=8

You can also find this stuff on eBay (really long link, just click it and scroll down to the bottom of the page - you can find this stuff in eBay stores):

http://health-beauty.search-desc.ebay.com/spatula_Beauty-Tools_W0QQcatrefZC6QQcoactionZcompareQQcoentrypageZsearchQQcopagenumZ1QQfgtpZQQfposZ90034QQfromZR2QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ2QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQftsZ2QQlopgZQQsacatZ36409QQsadisZ200QQsaprchiZQQsaprcloZQQsargnZQ2d1QQsaslcZ2QQsbrftogZ1QQsofocusZbs

Sadly, you can no longer buy Japonesque products directly online from them, and they have discontinued A LOT of their products.

free skin care · Sun Nov 05, 2006 5:38 am

Not to go off topic too much, but what other methods can we use that doesn't involve once-use tools, like q-tips? I shudder to think about the amount of q-tips I would recycle if I use this method.

At the moment all I am doing is washing my brushes every day/week and using a little plastic spatula (re-used) to scope masks out.

All my creams and cleansers are in pumps or tubes.

free skin care · Sun Nov 05, 2006 6:18 pm

phoebe--have you got a dropper? that's what i use to dispense tea tree oil.

free skin care · Sun Nov 05, 2006 9:04 pm

cuppre wrote:

Not to go off topic too much, but what other methods can we use that doesn't involve once-use tools, like q-tips? I shudder to think about the amount of q-tips I would recycle if I use this method.

At the moment all I am doing is washing my brushes every day/week and using a little plastic spatula (re-used) to scope masks out.

All my creams and cleansers are in pumps or tubes.

Cuppre, how about just getting more of those little spatulas and then washing and reusing them? If your creams and cleansers are in pumps or tubes, you should be able to keep your products quite sanitary because you're not really touching them when dispensing.

free skin care · Wed Nov 08, 2006 12:52 am

I always transfer products, using a clean spatula, into a smaller container (sometimes using sample size ones) -- usually just enough for a couple of weeks. Then I feel free to use my fingers (clean, of course) to apply. After that's used up, I repeat the process, washing out the container before putting new product in. Been doing this for several years (at least) and have not had any problems.

I used to use spatulas every time but I got too lazy to wash them every night and morning. Smile

free skin care · Wed Nov 08, 2006 1:54 am

montrealgal wrote:

... I used to use spatulas every time but I got too lazy to wash them every night and morning. Smile

That's why I bought about 50 of them! Made life easier!

free skin care · Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:17 pm

MermaidGirl wrote:

montrealgal wrote:

... I used to use spatulas every time but I got too lazy to wash them every night and morning. Smile

That's why I bought about 50 of them! Made life easier!

I have a bunch also, and used to wash them only once a week. But I find the creams seem to soak into the spatulas (at least the ones I have) if they're not washed off in a reasonable amount of time, making them kind of nasty to look at and possibly unsanitary. Besides, I figured the products will last longer if I'm not always going into the full size to dip some out.

Products that come in tubes and pumps are my friends! Laughing

free skin care · Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:36 am

Thank you for all the tips. Might try the smaller container idea. Cuts down on the washing time and still sanitary Laughing

Automatic Message

If this is your first visit to the EDS Forums please take the time to register. Registration is required for you to post on the forums. Registration will also give you the ability to track messages of interest, send private messages to other users, participate in Gift Certificates draws and enjoy automatic discounts for shopping at our online store. Registration is free and takes just a few seconds to complete.

Click Here to join our community.

If you are already a registered member on the forums, please login to gain full access to the site.