Germs and bacteria are not new to us, this year has made us keenly aware of them, though. Right? No doubt, we have all taken extra steps to keep our homes and spaces clean amidst the coronavirus. But, you may have neglected to clean one super grimy item(s) in your beauty arsenal. Your makeup brushes!!!!
Over time, makeup brushes & sponges collect skin cells, oil, bacteria, dust and other nasties that can clog pores, lead to infections and break your skin out. Gross! Not washing your brushes can also shorten their life span, and ruin your investment into them. So, what do we do? To take care of your tools, and your skin, its important to wash your brushes regularly. Ideally, makeup brushes would be washed weekly. However, working this into your monthly cleaning routine would be a great start. New routines can be tricky, but fortunately, for this one you’ll just need a gentle soap and water. Most brushes can be cleaned with a simple, unscented castile soap.
Pretreat Extra Dirty Brushes. Similar to how you’d pretreat a stain in your laundry, some makeup brushes may need to be massaged with an oil to break down any built up product. For example, if you use a gel or cream eyeliner and a separate brush, that thick, pigmented product will need an oil to help break it down before washing it with a soap. For this, I recommend your favorite olive oil. One little drop will help you break down thick, waxy eyeliner.
Rinse Your Brushes With Warm Water At The Most. Like the hair on your head, using too hot of water on your brushes can ruin them. Only use room temperature, or warm water on your brushes to help preserve the bristles and not break down the glue inside of the ferrel of the brush ( the metal part that keeps the bristles highly packed).
Add In The Soap. Add a drop or two of castile soap to the palm of your hand, and using a gentle swirling motion, massage the brush into the palm of your hand. You’ll see the old makeup start to break down. Gross!
4. Rinse And Repeat. Continue this process until the brush rinses clean.
5. Press And Dry. Gently press out any excess water from the bristles, and lay the brush on a towel to dry.
Drying brushes upright in a container may cause the glue inside of the ferrel to decay. Once the brushes are dry, you can totally store them upright for easy access. This may seem daunting if you have never washed your brushes like this, but don’t worry! Once you get your assembly line going, you’ll be good to go. If you’d like to see exactly how I clean my brushes, watch the full tutorial below. Stay safe!
~Shana