Close

An Ode to Cotton Buds

This may just about be the most unglamorous and utterly simple post that will ever grace the pages here at VDM. ‘An ode to cotton buds? Has she gone mad?‘, you may exclaim, but stick with me here as those little lengths of cotton clean-up, blendable bud goodness may just be about one of the handiest beauty tools out there, and bloomin’ cheap they are too. They’re one of those bathroom cabinet essentials that we take for granted until you’re getting ready at a mates and nonchalantly ask for one and their response is that they haven’t gone any – my face looks a little like this. I have been mulling over their beauty functions for a few days and here is my final list of what I like to dig into my bowl of buds for…

Ear cleaning aside (probably one of the most satisfying tasks on the planet), don’t we all find cotton buds come in super handy for cleaning up my makeup spills and smudges? I always have a few on hand to dunk into nail polish remover to correct any misplaced polish mid-mani and for eyeliner, there’s no better tool to sharpen up a feline liquid flick or smudge out a smokey pencil. If your natural lip line has been ignored during lipstick application then a cotton bud dipped in makeup remover on one end and concealer on the other should help to coax back out the natural shape of your pout. I’m notorious for being an eyeshadow noob, and when I blend out my shades a wee bit too high a quick swipe of a bud sorts that out and the same goes for eyebrows; if I’ve gone too heavy with the powder a bit of blending with one will soften my bold brow look. If a spot rears its ugly head then that’s when I find myself dipping into my pot the post, instead of using fingers or dirtying and contaminating brushes I find the easiest way is grab a cotton bud to apply spot treatments and concealer directly on the bad boy. No fuss, no germs – just lob them in the bin when you’re done. These are all the uses I could squeeze out of my cotton bud loving brain but this list is not exhaustive – any other particular purposes then do add them to the CB adoration forum below.

If we’re going to get particular about cotton buds, I’m rather partial to the Sainsbury’s ones from the baby section cause they are as cheap as chips. And storage wise? I cuddle all mine up into used Diptyque candle holders. Cotton bud ode concluded.

Comments