How To Clean Your Makeup Brushes Like A Pro

Can we ask you a question? How often do you clean your makeup brushes? Cleaning your makeup brushes once a week is super important and oddly enough it’s one of the steps makeup lovers seem to put on the back burner. Let us tell you why this step is a MUST in your routine.

Makeup brushes aren’t cheap

Makeup products don’t grow on trees (wouldn’t that be nice). Any makeup product can be pricey and this is especially true for makeup brushes. When you are spending anywhere from $8 - $30 on a single makeup brush, you really should take care of them as best you can to make sure you are getting longest life out them.

Makeup brushes can carry bacteria

EEWWWW! Just think of how much bacteria is on your face daily. It’s actually terrifying to think about because every time you touch your face or walk outside tons of little bacteria particles are sticking to your skin. The bacteria along with your natural oils transfer onto your brushes every time they come in contact with your skin. And if you are a MUA who does makeup on clients, you may be picking up germs and transferring them from client to client.

Clean brushes = better makeup application

Clean brushes mean soft bristles and better makeup application. Makeup builds up on your brushes and can make them feel scratchy or cause streaks in your foundation.  If you have this problem when doing your makeup try these next steps on how to clean your brushes like a pro! We promise it will make a world of difference.

If you’re a brush cleaning amateur don’t worry, we’ll tell you just what you need to do to make your brushes like new again.  

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

• White Bar of Soap
• Liquid Soap – Ex. Dr. Bronner's Soap
• Rosehip Seed Oil, Olive Oil, or Almond Oil
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Brush Cleaning Mat
• Towel
• Soft Cloth

HOW TO DO A BASIC BRUSH CLEANING

Step 1: Grab your bar of soap

Step 2: Run your brush head under warm water 

* Pro Tip: Make sure not to get the water above the ferrule to avoid damaging your brushes.

Step 3: Scrub your wet brush head against the bar of soap until it is nice and frothy.

Step 4: Rinse the brush head under warm water until the water runs clean.

* Pro Tip: Make sure not to get the water above the ferrule to avoid damaging your brushes.

Step 5: Smooth out the bristles and lay it flat on a towel to dry. 

HOW TO DEEP CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES

Step 1: Grab your Brush and Oil

Add a few drops of oil to a paper towel. Run your brush through the oil to breakdown the built up makeup. This will give you a much deeper clean. 

Step 2: Grab your Brush Cleaning Mat, Dr. Bronner's Soap, and Brush

Add a few drops of soap to your brush cleaning mat. Run your brush under warm water to wet it. 

* Pro Tip: Make sure not to get the water above the ferrule to avoid damaging your brushes.

Then run the brush on the cleaning mat with the soap until it is nice and frothy.

Step 3:  Rinse the brush head under warm water until the water runs clean.

* Pro Tip: Make sure not to get the water above the ferrule to avoid damaging your brushes.

Step 5: Smooth out the bristles and lay it flat on a towel to dry. 

Step 6: Clean the handle

When you use your makeup brushes you are transferring germs, bacteria, and makeup onto the handles of your brushes. So please remember to also clean the handle as well. To clean the handle of your brushes, pour rubbing alcohol onto a soft cloth and rub over the handle of your brushes. This will not only clean but also disinfect the handles. Yay!  

HOW TO CLEAN BEAUTY BLENDERS

So many of you ask how to clean these and the process is pretty much like cleaning any other of your makeup brushes. You can use the same soap you used to clean your brushes, but this time skip using any oil. Wet the Beauty Blender with lukewarm water and squeeze a small amount of soap directly onto it. Roll the Beauty Blender in your hands to help work the soap completely into the beauty sponge. Once you’ve rubbed in the soap rinse it out until the water is clear. If the water isn’t clear yet, there is still product in the beauty blender. You may have to repeat this process a few times to get the beauty blender completely clean since they do soak up a lot of product. Once clean, squeeze out any excess water and lay it flat on a towel to dry. You will know when the beauty blender is dry because it will have shrunk in size.

* Pro tip: keep your beauty blender packaging to use as a drying rack for your clean Beauty Blender.

And there you have it, two ways to make sure your makeup brushes are clean and keep the germs away. Thanks so much for reading Makeup Geeks!