Do you wear makeup every day? Cool. Maybe just every once in awhile? Great. But how often do you clean your makeup brushes and sponges? Every week? Ever, at all? Yeah, we didn’t think so.
TBH, we forget too. But we can tell you that when we do clean our brushes, the makeup goes on much smoother and doesn’t irritates our skin. Plus there’s that whole advantage of keeping extra bacteria off your face and out of your makeup. Hygiene is important, y’all! Some might say it’s Priority One when it comes to skincare. Common sense, yes, but easy to overlook.
Luckily for you, we’ve learned to clean our brushes quickly and efficiently, and we’re happy to share our techniques. Your skin will thank us later.
Stuff you'll need:
Towel
Cup or bowl
Brush cleaner of your choice (we used the Etude House Makeup Brush Shower Cleaner. We’ve enjoyed it, but we’re planning on getting a more natural option in the future. You can also use olive oil, coconut oil, or baby shampoo!)
Water
Dirty-ass brushes
Step 1. Grab your supplies and find a work surface where you can lay out your makeup brushes after you’ve cleaned them.
Step 2. Lay your towel out flat and then roll up one end of the towel to create an elevated surface that you will lay your brushes against
Step 3. Pour some of your brush cleaner in your cup or bowl. You don’t need too much, just enough to cover the bottom of the bowl– not enough that your brush will be fully submerged.
Step 4. Swirl your brush around in the cleaner. Try not to submerge the bristles completely, since that will loosen the glue that holds them onto the handle, causing them to fall out over time. Brushes ain’t free!
Step 5. Rinse your brush under warm water while swirling it around in your hand, until the cleaner is completely out and the brush is clean. Squeeze the brush, and if it still looks dirty or you haven’t cleaned it in a long time (or ever), you might want to repeat Steps 4 & 5 at least once more.
Step 6: Swirl your brush on the towel, shape the bristles back into place and lay it against the rolled up towel, bristle end down. This will allow the brush to dry faster and prevent any leftover water from hanging out in that bristle glue.
Step 7: Repeat Steps 4 through 6 until all your makeup brushes and sponges are clean. You might need to rinse your bowl or cup out and add fresh brush cleaner if the solution gets too grimy.
Occasionally we will check on the brushes and fluff them out again on the towel to make sure that they are drying properly.
YOU’RE DONE! NEAT!
To make brush cleaning easier in the future, you can use a brush cleaning mist on the reg. Mist your brush after each use and wipe bristles onto a paper towel/tissue until it’s clean.
