How To Clean Your Makeup Brushes

When’s the last time you brushed your teeth? Now think about when the last time was when you cleaned your makeup brushes. Cleaning our makeup brushes after use probably isn’t on the top of every woman’s “must do” list. As a matter of fact, a lot of women allow their makeup brushes to get to the point where they clean them only when the makeup is caked on (FYI: this is far past the point of when the brushes should have been cleaned!).

Makeup brushes contain bacteria which, if not cleaned, will only continue to build and build to the point where you may be doing a lot of damage to your skin. It’s essential that makeup brushes are cleaned and disinfected on a daily basis; otherwise you may be faced with a lot of skin and health issues.
To properly disinfect and clean your makeup brushes, you will need a few things:

• Antibacterial soap (this is a must!)
• A small dish or a bowl
• A couple of hand towels

You can also choose to purchase more “professional” cleansing products, such as 99% alcohol, a professional brush cleaner or a disinfectant, but these are not necessary.

Step 1: Make sure that the water that you have running is warm. Wet your brush while making sure that you are keeping the bristles pointing downwards. This will help keep water out of the handle and the glue which is essential as water causes for the brushes to break down and need to be replaced more frequently.

Step 2: Take some anti-bacterial soap and squirt some into your hand. Take your brush with the other hand, and then move the bristles of the brush around in a swirling motion. Using your fingers, massage the soap into the bristles from tip to tip.

Step 3: Now it’s time to rinse! Turn on the warm water and then gently squeeze out the soap from the hairs at the top of the brush to the very tip. If you notice that your brush is still releasing makeup residue, repeat step 2 until the water rinses clean. Pat your brushes dry with a towel.

Step 4: To really clean your brushes well, take any of the optional products mentioned above and pour it into a dish. Dip the tips of the bristles into the cleaning product so that the product reaches half way up the bristles. Do not dip all the way up to the top of the brush as the hairs will naturally move the product upwards. Swirl the brush on a small towel, and then dip the brush once again into the disinfectant.

Step 5: Once finished, take care to reshape the bristles into place and lay the brushes out on a clean towel. Wait until they are fully dry before you pack them into your makeup kit once again.