Why should I clean my makeup brushes?
There are a few reasons to clean your makeup brushes. The first, and most important is bacteria. Bacteria, dead skin cells and any dirt or oil that may be on your face is now in your brushes. Over time, this collects and not only fills your brushes with bacteria, which you are then rubbing all over your face and your makeup products each time you use that brush but this can in turn cause blemishes and irritate the skin.
All of that build-up can also affect the way your makeup applies. When you have a fresh clean brush, you are more likely to get a smoother, more flawless application versus when your brushes have gone one too many days (or weeks, or months) without having a good clean. You might find that your foundation just doesn’t look as good as it could, or your blush starts to look a little patchy. You might be having what I call a ‘bad skin day,’ or you might just need to give your brush a good cleanse.
How do I clean my makeup brushed?
Cleaning your makeup brushed can sound like a daunting task for so many reasons. It’s boring, what do you use, how do I not wreck my brushes..? Trust me, I hear you. That’s why I am laying this out in a step by step guide! So here we go…
Gather all of your dirty brushes.
I like to lay a clean hand towel at the end of the counter to lay the brushes on when they are clean.
Find a gentle cleanser. There are several cleansers made for your brushes, but my personal favourite is Johnson’s baby shampoo. It is gentle enough for natural hair brushes and it does a great job!
Run warm water at the sink.
Start by gently wetting the brush, then apply a small amount of the soap.
Lather the brush in your palm using back and forth sweeping motions - making sure not to ‘mush’ your brush into your hand. This will cause damage to your brush. For smaller brushes or ones that are harder to clean, I like to use a silicon cleansing tool. This also prevents raisin hands when you are cleaning a ton of brushes.
Once the brush is clean, rinse all of the soap out of the brush. If you need to give it another cleanse, go ahead and do that.
Gently wring out the excess water and lay the brush flat to dry, with the hair side of the brush hanging over the end of the counter.
You want to avoid placing your brushes hair-side up in a cup right after washing them. This allows water in the brush hairs to sink down into the ferrule (the metal part) which over time can cause your brush to fall apart.
I like to leave my brushed overnight to dry. Once they are dry, it’s time to dirty them again! There is something so satisfying about dipping a clean brush into a product!
How often should I clean my makeup brushes?
I like to think of the frequency of washing your makeup brushes as an individual thing. This can all depend on how often you use them and what you use them for. For example, I wash my personal brushes that get used for liquid products such as foundation more than powder brushes. Why, you ask? Well, these are the products I find can give me a cakey finish if I use a dirty brush and moisture give bacteria a place to thrive!
For simplicities sake, I recommend you deep clean your personal brushes one to two times per month. If you struggle with acne or breakouts, or you use a lot of liquid products I would suggest once a week. If you don’t have time for this, there are also products I like to call “dry” brush cleaners. Some good ones are Cinema Secrets which you can get a Sephora or if you aren’t sensitive to fragrance, there is a Quo one at Shoppers Drug Mart. These you use by soaking the brush in them and cleaning the brush on a piece of paper towel. Repeat this step until the brush runs clean on the towel.
So, this is my friendly reminder to clean your makeup brushes!