Spring Cleaning Your Dirty Make Up Brushes!

Brush goals!

This month, we’re all about giving our lives a little Spring Clean. And what better way than deep cleaning our makeup brushes! You can spend all the money you want on skincare, but if your tools are dirty then there’s just no point!

Who actually cleans their brushes as much as they should? (Not me.) If you use brushes daily, you should wash them weekly - all your other brushes are fine to be washed at least every two weeks. (Obviously, if you do makeup on other people you have to clean them after every use.)

WHY SHOULD YOU WASH YOUR BRUSHES?

Do your brushes look like this?

YOUR SKIN: When you use your brushes, they will get full of oil, dirt and bacteria. They also pick up bacteria from lying around on the surfaces around your room! This gunk will touch your face every single time you use your brushes and cause clogged pores and serious break-outs.

YOUR EYES: Unclean brushes can cause eye infections, and dirty eyelash curlers built up with mascara can rip your eyelashes out.

YOUR APPLICATION: Using dirty brushes makes products look patchy, muddy and difficult to blend due to all the build-up in the brushes.

YOUR $$$: Washing your brushes makes them last longer, protecting your investment – meaning you don’t have to replace them so often!

YOUR MAKEUP: Unclean brushes can form a solid layer over powder products, due to the oils transferring from the brush. They also don’t pick up pigment properly, wasting loads of product!

You can tell your brushes are ready for a Spring Clean when they are visibly dirty, discoloured, and no longer soft. Also, if you're breaking out or your makeup isn’t applying how it should do – it may be time to give them a scrub!

PROFESSIONAL BRUSH CLEANER OR DIY?

You need to decide whether you want to invest in some good quality brush cleanser, or use a more natural, home-made version. They both work excellently so it’s really up to you. 

Here are our favourite store bought cleansers from Real Techniques, Estee Lauder, Clinique & MAC.

If you’d rather make a homemade solution, they work just as well! Make sure that you are using one part that really deep cleans the brushes and one part that conditions the bristles. Your average soap and shampoo will seriously dry out your brushes, so use the picture below to mix and match, and create a cleanser out of what you have at home!

- Don’t use anything massively perfumed as it can irritate the skin

- Steer clear from shampoo with a high amount of silicone, this coats the bristles and makes them pick up less product

- Make sure you deeply condition natural bristle brushes as they easily dry out

ON TO THE CLEANING!

1. Start running a tap with luke-warm water (not hot!)

2. Start with the dirtiest first (like brushes used for foundation or cream products), they need the most attention!

3. Wet only the bristles of the brush. Any further up, and liquid can loosen the glue and make the brush shed - as well as make them smell nasty! Water getting into a wooden handle can also make them swell, crack and rot.

4. Dip your brush in your solution and swirl the brush around your palm gently. For a real Spring Clean, use a specialised cleaning pad – Sigma and Real Techniques both do great ones!

5. Squeeze the water and product out the bristles gently with your fingers.

6. Repeat until the water runs clear.

7. Reshape the bristles with your hands, and lay them to dry on kitchen roll or a towel.

8. Rub the handles with alcohol – don’t forget there’s bacteria on there too!

9. Leave the brushes to dry completely for 6-8 hours. 

Ideally you want them hanging off the edge of a surface so the bristles dry evenly - but this can be tricky! You can buy a brush drying rack (like this one from Sigma), but if you don’t want to spend the $$$ just make sure you turn your brushes regularly to dry them evenly!

NEVER dry your brushes upright or back in their pots – this is another way water can get into the brushes making them fall apart!

Don’t forget beauty blenders, eyelash curlers and any mini brushes that come in kits! For sponges, simply roll the sponge around in your hands with your cleanser and keep squeezing until the water runs clear – this can take a while with sponges!

If youre not into spending a long period of time deep cleaning, there are some other ways you can get away with doing it less! 

-You can buy a machine that cleans and dries your brushes in ‘seconds’. I’ve never used one, though, and they can be expensive.

- SPOT CLEAN more! After use, use a cleansing spray to dampen your brush, then wipe all the product off with a paper towel. 

Spot cleaners from Bare Minerals, The Pro Hygiene Collection & NYX. 

- Invest in a few more brushes so you can rotate them, meaning you always have a clean brush and don’t have to deep clean weekly. My favourite set is this one from Morphe – it’s lasted me so long!

Finally, never be afraid to say good bye to a battered brush! Throw them away when they start shedding on your face, losing a lot of bristles or just aren’t keeping their shape!

How often do you clean your brushes? Will you be giving your tools a scrub this Spring Clean season? Let me know!

*This post is supported by Soap & Glory but as always all views & opinions are my own*