How Often Should You Clean Your Makeup Brushes?

I am totally guilty of not cleaning my brushes as much as I should.  I noticed the other day that one of my brushes was, well,  just plain gross.  

Here’s the deal, if there is bacteria on your brush and if you use the brush on your face, then you’re putting the bacteria right back on your face.  It defeats the point of even washing your face to begin with.  Brushes get bacteria quicker than you might think.  I have sensitive skin and my pores clog easily. Sigh.

The most common solution, if you don’t want to buy a separate makeup brush cleaner, seems to be to first use warm water to moisten the bristles and then wash your brushes in an all natural dish soap or gentle baby shampoo (without conditioner).  It helps to use a glass to swirl the brushes around in the soapy water.  Then use another glass with clean water to rinse out the brushes.  Refill the glass with clean water and repeat as much as necessary. Gently dry.  If there is makeup residue on the towel you use to dry the brush with, repeat. It helps to wipe any liquid makeup off the brush prior to cleaning.

Make sure the bristles are dry before you store the brush with the handle down (bristles up) because any excess water can creep down from the bristles in to the handle.  The likely result of that is exactly what we’re trying to avoid – BACTERIA. Plus the liquid can loosen the glue. Always dry your brushes flat (when they are wet) and in their original shape also.

Some argue that shampoo and dish soap don’t get off enough bacteria and you need a separate makeup brush cleaner instead.  If my dish soap doesn’t remove bacteria, then I probably have bigger problems than worrying about the cleanliness of my makeup brushes.    So I’m ok using all natural dish soap, but obviously the choice is yours.  You could use a few drops of tea tree oil which smells nice and has antibacterial properties.  A lot of the makeup brush cleaners I’ve seen are alcohol based and, therefore, seem to dry very quickly which is convenient. Washing in dish soap or baby shampoo requires my brushes to dry over night.  Your brushes should be completely dry before you use them again.

A cleaning every 2 weeks seems to be the consensus for most brushes.  If you have the time to do it once a week, that’s all the better. HOWEVER, if you use a brush with liquid makeup you are supposed to wash it every day! Bacteria grows more quickly on liquid makeup brushes. I also suspect that wet brushes pick up a little bit more skin and oil per use than the dry brushes.

Speaking of cosmetics,  La Jolla Mom is hosting an e.l.f Cosmetics giveaway.  Click here if you’d like to enter. People seem to really like e.l.f. brushes, especially the shadow and Kabuki ones!

Now go clean your brushes!

Tagged as: Health, Health, Homekeeping