Cleaning your makeup brushes is important. You use these brushes everyday on your face. It is important to make sure that there are no bacteria and dirt on the brush that you might end up putting on your face.
Think of these as a part of your personal hygiene. Washing your brushes once a week is ideal. If you’re a really busy person then shoot for once every two weeks. If you ever let anyone borrow your brushes, wash them immediately after use. Makeup brushes are prone to bacteria, if you let other people use your personal brush you are prone to having breakouts or infections. For a professional makeup artist it is a must to clean your brush after each client for sanitary purposes.
There are a lot of ways to clean your makeup brushes. From simple DIY makeup brush cleansers to professional makeup brush cleaners.
Here are a few options you can try when cleaning your Make Up brushes.
1. Baby Shampoo Makeup Brush Cleaner
Material:
- Towel
- Baby Shampoo
- Bowl
- Water
Procedure:
- Fill a bowl with water and add in a tablespoon of baby shampoo. Mix it together to create soapy water. Place in your big brushes first, take your foundation brush and dip it in the solution and swirl it around. Leave the brush in the bowl while adding in other brushes.
- When all of your brush is soaked in the solution, leave it in for 5 seconds.
- Take out all of the brushes and place them aside. Take one brush and clean it under a running faucet. Make sure that the solution and makeup product is gone from the brush before remolding it and placing it on the towel to dry.
- Perform this to all of your brushes. Never leave your brushes to dry upright. Water will seep through the inside of your brushes making it more prone to damage.
2. Olive Oil (works best with natural hair brushes)
Material:
- Sponge
- Olive Oil
- Towel
Procedure:
- Take a clean and dry sponge. Place two tablespoons of olive oil on the sponge. Take your brushes and gently rub it on the sponge. You’ll see the products leaving the bristles and sticking to the sponge.
- When the sponge begins to dry, add in more olive oil. Do the first process on all of your brushes.
- Rinse off the brushes with cold water and reshape them before placing on the towel.
- Olive oil works as a gentle cleanser for brushes. It also helps moisturize the brush and prevents it from splitting.
3. Sponge and Gentle Shampoo
Material:
- Clean Sponge
- Gentle Shampoo
- Towel
Procedure:
- Soak your sponge in warm water and place a few drops of shampoo on the sponge. Squeeze the sponge until it lathers. Take your brush and slightly damp them in water, take the brush and gently press the bristles on the sponge. Gently rub the brush in a circular motion on the sponge. Perform this until all the product is gone.
- Rinse the brush in cold water and remold it before placing on a dry towel.
- Continue this step until all brushes are clean. Clean your sponge every 3 to 5 brushes. Leave your brushes to dry overnight.
4. Professional Brush Cleaners
Materials:
- Professional Brush Cleaner (you can acquire this in online and local beauty shops)
- Spray Bottle
- Facial Tissues
- Towel
Procedure:
- Place your towel on a clean surface and place your brushes in a can or cup. Place your facial tissue on the counter or table. Place your professional brush cleaner in your spray bottle.
- Start off with your biggest brushes since these are the once that takes a long time to dry. Get your foundation brush and hold it at a 45 degree angle. Spray on the professional brush cleanser on the bristles and turn it with your fingers to make sure that all of the bristles are soaked with the product. You can gently rub your fingers in the bristles to help let the spray get in the inner part of the bristles.
- When the bristle are completely soaked with the cleanser, rub it in the facial tissues or paper towel. Do this in a back in forth and side to side motion. Continue this until there is no more product on the bristles.
- If there are still products on the brush you can spray it again with the professional brush cleaner and repeat rubbing it on the tissue paper. Repeat this step on all of your brushes, one by one.
- Place the clean makeup brushes on the towel and leave it overnight to dry. Shape the brush with your fingers before setting them down on the towel to retain its shape.
- For brushes that are used for more pigmented makeup such as lipsticks and gel liner. Take a small cup or tin and spray in two spritz of professional brush cleaner and let the bristle soaks for a few minutes before rubbing on the facial tissue. This will soften the makeup and make it easier to remove.
Try out these make up brush cleaning tips. Do not use a blow dryer to speed up drying process. This can damage the brush and cause it to lose its shape.
