Make-up brushes. They can be a girl’s best friend, helping to create a myriad of looks ranging from elegant and chic to funky and fun. But if these beauty tools are not taken care of properly, they can wreak havoc on the wearer’s skin, carry a zoo of bacteria and germs, and last half as long because of bristle breakage and fall out. Here are my 4 simple tips to clean and care for your make-up brushes.
1) Clean your make-up brushes on a weekly basis.
Even a freshly washed face still carries bacteria and germs, especially near the eye area. Apply make-up to this “clean” face and the brush bristles that are so great at holding in powder and product are now holding in germs and dirt as well. Make-up brushes need to be cleaned regularly, period. Set a reminder on your phone or in your planner to remember to clean these beauty tools. Your skin, and your brushes, will thank you.
2) Ditch the expensive brush cleansers and use gentle dish soap instead.
I too, bought into the the hype and for years purchased special cleansers for my make-up brushes. But then I saw a commercial talking about the gentleness of Dawn dish soap. Scientists were using it to clean oil off the feathers and fur of animals who had been affected by an oil spill. If that soap could clean off such oily gunk and grime and still be gentle enough on these sweet animal’s skins, it had to work just as well on my brushes. I started using Dawn soap five years ago and my brushes still look and work fabulously.
3) Do NOT submerge or soak your brushes in water.
I learned this the hard way. The water warped my beautiful MAC brush handles, causing the outer coating to peel and flake off. To clean them, I now gently and repeatedly dip, swirl, and rub just the brush heads in 1″ deep water.
4) Re-shape your brush bristles after each cleaning.
After being thoroughly cleaned, rubbed, and washed, sometimes make-up brushes resemble a well-loved Barbie doll’s hair. Wiry, frizzy, and all out of place. Do yourself (and your brushes) a favor and gently re-shape the bristles after each washing.
I hope these simple tips help you keep your make-up brushes clean and pristine.
