February 15, 2007 | 3:30 pm

Keep Germs Away With Antibacterial Brush Set

If you are like me, you have Purell in every room of your home and office and are always looking for new ways to keep germ-free. So, naturally my ears perked up when I heard about Sephora’s new antibacterial brush set. Formuated with fibers that repel germs, thanks to key ingredient Polyhexamethylene Biguanide (say that three times fast), these brushes feel just as soft as any other high-end brush and don’t interact with your makeup. The $42 silver-leather bound set comes with 4 brushes, an eyebrow comb and a mini-bottle of brush shampoo for extra cleanliness(!). Click here to get yours at sephora.com. — Melissa Liebling-Goldberg

Click here for more beauty tips in Off the Rack.

Photo: Courtesy of Sephora

Nighthag

Being germ free is important. It is a good idea for those who use brushes to put on makeup. I don’t use brushes myself. But when I did I would wash them with soap. I don’t know if that was good enough but I never got any infections. $42 is a little steep for my price range but brushes has always been a little too pricy anyways. As loong as you keep them clean, don’t use when you an eye infection and don’t share that should be good enough.

Nighthag

Being germ free is important. It is a good idea for those who use brushes to put on makeup. I don’t use brushes myself. But when I did I would wash them with soap. I don’t know if that was good enough but I never got any infections. $42 is a little steep for my price range but brushes has always been a little too pricy anyways. As loong as you keep them clean, don’t use when you an eye infection and don’t share that should be good enough.

adrienne day

it is just a gimmick. clinique came out with antibacterial brushes a year or two ago. i have not noticed any difference in my skin with these brushes as opposed to my other brushes. the quality of the clinique was almost as good as my higher quality brushes. i do wash my brushes weekly so that they do not collect bacteria. makeup just goes on better with clean brushes. perhaps antibacterial is a good gimmick for people who do not want to take care of their brushes. however, soap and water regularly will do the job, and your makeup will look better as well.

astoreri

As long as you keep your make up brushes clean and don’t share them with anyone else there is absolutely NO NEED for antibacterial make up brushes!!!!!

Our society is so obessed with being germ free and antibacterial that now bacteria are becoming resistant to antiboitcs which means that in the future when you actually NEED to use antiboitics (like if you get pneumonia or something) they MAY NOT WORK.

The best way to stop the spread of infections is to wash your hands, with PLAIN soap, you don’t need to use antibacterial soap.

And unless you are licking your makeup brushes or applying makeup over an open wound on your face you are not going to get sick from applying makeup!

Marissa!!!!!

I think that it’s a pretty cool idea.

Tina

I agree 100% with astoreri. My fiance is a doctor at Harvard medical school and he says that society is so germ-obsessed that they are using anti-bacterial products constantly and it is only making people sicker! The only place one should use anti-bacterial products is a hospital.

Charla Dickenson

I am all for keeping germs away. However I’m not a hyper germaphobe. The air you breath is full of crap, germs are everywhere. That is why we have immune systems, well those who are healthy and lucky. Most importantly guess what is more more harmful than germs; carcinogens and frankenstein chemicals. Polyhexamethylene Biguanide hmmm that sounds natural and healthy. Don’t be lazy, wash your brushes with a good fragrance free soap and then read up on the dangers of chemicals. Companies do not use germs, but they do use a lot of chemicals; many of which are illeagal in Europe and are know or suspected of being carcinogenic. Take things with a grain of salt especially when they are coming from a company whose sole goal is to make money. Then read up on some of the ingredients found in your cosmetics and discover the scary truth. Germs are nothing compared to carcinogens. I find it funny that people are so scared of germs that they cover themselves with scary dangerous chemicals. Where is the logic?

rachel b.

a little germs don’t hurt you but it is important after every brush that you use in your kit is fully taken care of properly and cleaned to get must of the used particles/layers off. your face should be pretty clean with soap washing and you shouldn’t share your brushes with anyone. that would cause more bacteria “germs” to occur and then you might need this anti-bacterial brush to avoid the problems from spreading into your inner pores and effecting your complexion.

Juri

Its put into purspective.

Charla Dickenson

I was watching the National Geographic channel and it was stated that an office desk has 400 times more bacteria per square inch than a toilet seat!!! They stated you’d be better off eating your lunch on one of the office toilet seats than on your desk!!!

I just wanted to put that in for all the germaphobes. I mam not trying to be mean, I just believe in being realistic and logical.
The point is the world is full of germs. Of course wash and clean yourself and your personal items and be smart, but don’t over do it. Healthy human being’s bodies are fully capable of dealing with germs. On the other hand our bodies are much less equipped to deal with the dangerous chemicals we douse ourselves with to protect us from the so-called dangers of germs. Germs are not carcinogenic, but many of the ingredients commonly used in products here in North America are known or suspected carcinogens and are illeagal in Europe where they have much stricter standards.
Just something to think about. The web is full of info on this subject.

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Edited by Melissa Liebling-Goldberg

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