How-to Clean Your Make-up Brushes

How often do you clean your make-up brushes?

This is definitely a case of “do as I say, not as I do” because I have been guilty of going months without washing them. However, we are meant to wash our make-up brushes once a week. I know that seems like a lot; but good make-up brushes are expensive and should be considered an investment. If properly taken care of, make-up brushes can last for decades. Not only that, but dirty make-up brushes harbor bacteria; which can be especially problematic for those that are acne-prone.

So, how do you wash your brushes?

There are numerous products on the market today to clean your make-up brushes. There are specific spray cleaners for make-up brushes that you can find at Ulta or Sephora. Sprays make cleaning your brushes once a week super easy! However, I do advise a deeper clean at least once or twice a month. To thoroughly clean make-up brushes, I use a mug filled with approximately ¼ cup of warm water and a squirt of castile soap. If you don’t have castile soap, you can use baby shampoo or Dawn dish detergent. I gently swish my brush in the water several times until it appears clean and rinse under warm tap water. Sometimes I have to repeat this step because my brushes are super dirty. I never soak them though. I am careful to avoid getting the handle and the ferrule (the metal part that holds the bristles) wet because this could break down the glue and then you’re left with loose bristles. I dry my brushes mostly flat on a hand towel. I roll the hand towel at one end so that the handles can rest on the roll with the bristles at a slight downward angle to avoid water going into the ferrule. Once dry, I re-fluff my brushes with clean hands. Easy-peasy!