Jo Gilchrist, a 27-year-old Australian woman almost died from the use of a dirty makeup brush. No, this is not a joke and we’re just as shocked as you are. Very often, we take for granted cleaning our brushes on a regular basis or using a friend’s dirty brush, forgetting how fatal it can be to our health.
While we advocate clean brushes for good, healthy skin, we don’t mention how a dirty brush can pass on topical and fungal infections that can spread from there throughout your body. Jo Gilchrist used her friend’s brush to conceal a pimple that passed on a staph infection into her body and eventually to her spine. This strand of staph infection was MRSA which is resistant to antibiotics. Jo initially brushed it off as back ache till it wasn’t bearable. Doctors had to run numerous tests to finally come to this conclusion. Unfortunately, the infection has left the patient unable to walk.
This may be a rare case, but as a rule of thumb, don’t use your friend’s brushes and regularly clean your own brushes. If you don’t know how to do it the right way, check this tutorial out. Also, remember it’s important to rid your face of makeup at the end of the day, thoroughly, for the same reason.