How To Clean Makeup Brushes The Right Way

Makeup brushes. From the blush brush to the eyeshadow brush to the mineral powder brushes, we all use some kind of makeup brush every day. It's an important, daily step in building your canvas or beauty portrait.

But if you pause for a moment, take a closer look at your collection of makeup brushes.

Are your brushes clean? We'll be honest, we have often neglected cleaning our makeup brushes on a proper schedule. And if you think about it, makeup brushes can do great things for your complexion and give your face a polished finish. But these brushes can also absorb lots of grease and grime. Yuck. And you wonder sometimes, where these breakouts come from?! And the dirt that builds up also flattens the hairs on these brushes, limiting their ability to give the coverage they were designed for.

We will show you how to clean makeup brushes the right way. You have a few options to choose from:

1. Professional Brush Cleanser. Good ones to try are MAC ($11) and Japonesque. These cleansers clean, disinfect, and condition the brush hairs or fibers, and that means a longer lasting makeup brush. The solution also cuts down drying time.

Fill a small bowl with an inch of Mac Brush Cleanser and submerge brush hairs into the solution. Let brushes soak for 15 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly with warm water. And dry brushes on paper towels.

2. Shampoo. Baby shampoo is even better, because it's very gentle. This is how we clean our makeup brushes. Fill up your sink with water and enough shampoo to build a nice lather and submerge your brushes. Massage brush fibers and watch the grimey buildup wash away. Rinse throughly and dry on paper towels.

3. Liquid dishwashing soap. Some makeup artists swear by this stuff. You can try Dawn. This one is really tough on grease, and it can also get busy lifting away impurities off your makeup brushes. Just fill a small bowl of dishwashing soap. Submerge the brush hairs in and swish around. Rinse with warm water, and again, dry on paper towels.

4. Gentle Facial Cleanser. We have a friend who uses Philosophy's Purity Face Wash. Contains no dyes or perfumes. It's gentle on skin, and therefore, kind to makeup brushes. And just a little dab massaged into brushes and then rinsed, will do the job.

By the way, if you can't find the time to clean makeup brushes once a week, then every other week is fine. Just remember to clean brushes. It's the only way to extend the life of your makeup accessories and important to keep the face bacteria-free.