How to Clean Makeup Brushes and Make it Hygienic at All Times
How to clean makeup brushes is what you need to know to keep your brushes always clean and hygienic. Brushes that have been kept away from cleaning for a long time are not advisable to be used. You can only imagine if the bristles of your brushes are loaded with makeup but are still unwashed, grimy and dirty.
How to clean makeup brushes is essential to your skin like choosing the right makeup. You cannot just skip cleaning your brushes. As we all know it, there are a lot of bacteria in your brushes that can cause skin irritations after you use it.
Why does cleaning your brushes very significant in maintaining healthy skin? Of course, if you clean your brushes regularly and keep the bristles in its perfect shape, you can expect to use it longer. Unclean bristles can degrade your brushes and shortened its usage. Also, it will be impractical if you invest in purchasing brushes, then you will just let it unkempt and dirty. It’s just like throwing out your savings to nowhere.
For you to better understand the significance of cleaning the brushes—you should know that after using them, there will be a build-up of residue within the bristles. This type of buildup will decrease the performance and shorten the lifespan of your brushes. Another thing, if you’ll compare a new brush with a used one, you’ll see the difference in how the powders are correctly distributed. It will lead to repetition in makeup application, or worst case this can contaminate your makeup palette.
Now that you know the importance of cleaning a makeup brush, you need to learn the different ways of cleaning your makeup brushes. How to clean makeup brushes with fulfillment? As much as you use your brushes when you put on your makeup, you must at least return the favor to your beloved brushes.
So, here is what you need to know on how to clean makeup brushes. First, you have to choose what cleansing formula you need to use. The solutions that you can have for cleaning your brushes are those with a gentle formula.
The Basic – Clean Makeup Brushes DIY Method
There are various selections of cleansing solution for brushes which are available across the beauty bars and shops. But you can also use baby shampoo.
Follow these simple steps:
In a basin, add a little amount of shampoo then dip the brush into it.
Put a light swirl to your brush in a circular motion.
Repeat the dipping and rinsing of brushes until the bristles are all clear from makeup leftovers.
Once you are done washing your brushes, put your brushes to some conditioning. Like healthy hairs, the bristles need conditioning once in a while to maintain its softness.
Use olive oil or other natural oil, mixed it with soap and apply it to your brushes. It will keep the bristles from drying out or in a dry straw-like feeling.
After the conditioning part, you can rinse the brushes with lukewarm water.
Then, gently squeeze the hair and remove excess water.
Afterwards, you will need to reshape the bristles of the brush. Reshaping is necessary because, as you will see, the shape of the brushes has been deformed by the wetting, scrubbing and squeezing.
You can wrap the ends of the brushes by using a mesh protector. It will keep the flow of the air and maintain the tightness and shape of the brush.
When you are done with reshaping your brushes, you can dry it.
Use a folded towel or a makeup brush drying rack. For the towel, you can fold one edge of your sheet to create a slight slant. Then lay the brushes flat on the towel with the handles on the folded side.
Make sure that the dripping of water while drying is downward, towards the bristles.
The Conventional Method
Other professional makeup artists are using the conventional method in cleaning their brushes. Imagine cleaning more than a dozen of brushes? Well, there is no fun in doing that. But the fulfillment feeling of seeing your brushes clean and free of bacteria is essential if you are really serious about keeping your expensive brushes.
More than a dozen makeup brushes, including beauty blender, will need a cleansing solution to wash off the makeup residue easily. You can choose a foaming, antimicrobial and oil-based cleanser. There are soap and other liquid detergents that you can use for cleaning your makeup applicators.
Then you will need a textured mat for a more efficient way of cleaning your brushes rather than using your fingertips. Rubbing your brushes over the cloth will make the cleaning of bristles evenly. Also, the mat is useful not only for brushes, but it can be used in almost different makeup applicators. And you can quickly rinse your brushes and blenders using this mat.
For the drying part, if you cannot wait overnight for your brushes to dry, you can use a faster means. Get your hair blow-dryer. Set the dryer to the lowest setting, and you can enjoy drying the bristles. Make sure it is not too hot for the bristles to avoid drying it out and uncomfortable to use. It could also lead to your brush hairs to fall out. So, we suggest you use the blow dryer once in a month or if only necessary.
Importance of Clean Brushes
The necessity of cleaning the brushes can be compared in washing your face. It is beneficial to your skin.
The use of clean brushes will prevent extreme unhealthy skin conditions like staph infections and pinkeye from the swarm of bacteria coming from your makeup brushes. Also, this can stop the clogging of pores that can lead to skin irritation.
Can you imagine using dirty brushes on your skin? Well, of course, you will not be okay with that. Using dirty brushes can lead you to some skin conditions. Many health cases were recorded and related to using dirty brushes. Some of these are rashes, spots, breakouts, congestion and skin irritation.
Especially when you have sensitive skin, you can easily get infected by using dirty brushes. For instance, collagen and elastin breakdown, oxidative skin stress, skin infections and cellulitis, and other factors that lead to premature skin ageing can be avoided by just using clean brushes.
Other than brushes, other makeup applicators like beauty blender are not exempted in harboring dirt. Beauty blender should be replaced every three months. And, you should also be cleaned every makeup applicator.
Moreover, one of the makeup hygiene that you need to practice is sharing makeup applicator, especially those that are not yet been cleaned. This is the typical spreader of infections and virus. Therefore, make it a habit to clean the brushes after you use them and before keeping them in the makeup kit.
Schedule of Cleaning Makeup Applicators
There are no strict schedules on cleaning makeup brushes. But we should be as hygienic as possible. You can have a plan of cleaning your makeup applicators including your brushes.
How to clean makeup brushes depends on how often you use them. You will also need to know the volume of makeup you have used in your brushes. Make sure you know the routine of your brushes so you can identify what your priority brushes are.
Cleaning your makeup brushes once every month is not advisable. A month-old makeup in your brushes and blender can be harder to clean and can you imagine how many bacteria it harbored already.
Your Dos and Don’ts in Brush Cleaning
Besides knowing the benefits on how to clean makeup brushes, we made a quick list of what to do and avoid during the process.
To keep away the scary things from your brushes, here are the general rules to follow in maintaining proper hygiene to your makeup brushes.
Clean your brushes every two weeks with a cleanser or baby shampoo.
Wash your brushes every two weeks or as necessary to keep off bacteria build-up.
When working with clients, clean your makeup brushes after each use with a brush cleanser.
Make sure you re-shape or re-mold each brush into its original shape.
Most importantly, you need to avoid the following when cleaning your brushes. It is crucial to maintain the quality of your brushes and other makeup applicators.
Fully submerging your brushes in water is a big no-no. By doing this, you will just cause the handle to crack. It will also loosen the glue that holds the bristles and the wand.
Drying upwards is not advisable for your makeup brushes. If the drying is upwards, the water will be trapped at the base of the brush. It will cause rotting of the wood.
Don’t allow water to enter inside the handle. If water is trapped in the grip, it will lead to an unpleasant odor and worst scenario bristles will start to fall.
Stop squeezing the bristles when you need to dry it because it can alter the shape of the brush.
Your Style, Your Image
Indeed, how to clean makeup brushes is crucial to maintain your makeup applicators. It is a sign of good hygiene when you use clean brushes every time you apply makeup. The cleaning might consume more of your time. But after you finish cleaning, you will be delighted that your makeup brushes will always be fresh and clean. The bristles are also intact and in good shape. It feels like you want to use it again for your makeup fashion.
