This makeup habit of girls is secretly bringing tens of thousands of bacteria

A study by Aston University in the UK found that makeup sponges are the dirtiest of all cosmetics, with a total bacterial colony count of 1,000,000 CFU/mL, which is dirtier than a toilet! (The number of bacteria on the inner wall of a toilet that has just been flushed is 100,000)

(Picture from the Internet)

So! In the spirit of gossip, oh no, scientific exploration, Sister Ka collected 4 beauty eggs/powder puffs from fans through an old-for-new event (click to review) to see how dirty the things we pat on our faces every day are.

We sent all four makeup eggs/powder puffs to a professional third-party testing agency, the Microbiology Laboratory of Weike Testing Technology Co., Ltd., for professional testing on the total number of colonies on them.

The engineer cut the beauty egg/puff sample into pieces, weighed 5g and put it into a sterile homogenizing bag, and added an appropriate amount of diluent (8.5% concentration of saline).

Place the sample in a homogenizer and beat for 1-2 minutes to mix the bacteria on the sample with the diluent to prepare a homogenous sample solution.

The sample homogenate was diluted ten-fold and injected into sterile culture dishes.

Pour an appropriate amount of culture medium into the culture dish filled with sample solution, wait for the culture medium to solidify, and then place it in a 36±1℃ incubator for inverted culture;

After 48 hours, take out the culture medium plate from the incubator and observe the results.

The results of the total colony count test of the four samples were just released, which really made me gasp. These are not beauty eggs that we use every day, they are simply "bacteria eggs", okay? !

The beauty sponge that I have used the longest is not the dirtiest!

The dirtiest one is the No. 4 beauty egg, which has the shortest usage time and the least number of uses. The total colony count is as high as 80,000,000 CFU/mL!

There is currently no national standard for beauty sponges. We have found the national standard for powder puffs that have similar uses to beauty sponges, which requires that the total colony count be ≤1000CFU/g.

In other words, compared with the standard, the test results of the four samples can be said to be full of bacteria!

Even number 3, which had the lowest total colony count, had nearly 2,200 times more!

The "King of Bacteria" - No. 4 Beauty Egg has nearly 80,000 times more!

From the test results, it can be seen that good cleaning and storage habits will make beauty eggs cleaner and more hygienic.

So even though No. 2 has been used the longest and most frequently among the three beauty eggs, its total colony count is relatively small.

Although the total number of colonies on the No. 1 and No. 4 makeup sponges is in the tens of millions, No. 4 has never been cleaned, and even though it is used the least, the total number of colonies is almost 6 times more than that of No. 1, which is occasionally cleaned. It can be called the "king of bacteria." (How many people pick up the makeup sponge within 3 seconds of falling to the ground and continue to use it?)

Among the four samples, the only powder puff No. 3 that is used daily has the lowest total number of colonies. Why is that?

Engineers told us that powder puffs and beauty eggs remain moist after use, creating an ideal breeding environment for harmful bacteria.

Compared with beauty eggs, powder puffs are thinner and easier to dry, which reduces the rate of bacterial reproduction.

However, if the powder puff is not cleaned and dried in time, the humid environment will also allow the bacteria in the powder puff to multiply rapidly.

Some people may ask, I am not eating the beauty sponge, so it shouldn’t matter if it gets a little dirty when I use it to apply foundation, right?

NO! Don’t underestimate the excessive total colony count in cosmetics, as it may be the culprit behind “disfigurement”.

The bacteria attached to the beauty sponge are likely to cause an imbalance in the skin's flora, leading to skin problems such as inflammation and allergies. In severe cases, it may even leave scars on the face.

After reading this, the feeling of a sword piercing your heart has become stronger, right?

It turns out that in addition to various dry and wet powders, there are also millions or even tens of millions of bacteria, fungi, etc. applied on the face.

Therefore, after use, the beauty sponge must be cleaned in time with special cleansers, facial cleansers, makeup remover oils, etc.

After cleaning, place the makeup sponge in a ventilated and dry place to dry. It needs to be replaced after about 3 months of use. (The makeup sponge should not be exposed to the sun, otherwise you may get a deformed egg)

References

1. Revealed: Deadly superbugs lurk in nine out of ten makeup bags Medical Press

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-12-revealed-deadly-superbugs-lurking-ten.html

2. Microbiological studies of second-hand cosmetics: highlighting possible impacts on consumer health Journal of Applied Microbiology

https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jam.14479