How to Clean Your Makeup Brushes
When was the last time you cleaned your makeup brushes? If you’re like most people I know, they probably don’t get cleaned enough. If you don’t clean your makeup brushes regularly, they not only won’t work as well as they should, but they can also wreak havoc on your skin. As an essential tool in any makeup routine, makeup brushes help to seamlessly apply and blend your makeup products. By cleaning your makeup brushes regularly, you’ll be able to extend their lifespan and prevent bacteria from getting onto your skin and causing breakouts.
If you can’t remember the last time you cleaned your makeup brushes or experienced unexplained breakouts, it’s time to get cleaning! Here is a complete guide to how to clean your makeup brushes.
Makeup brushes accumulate oil, dirt, and product build up quite quickly. You can avoid breakouts, irritations, and other infections by simply cleaning them regularly. In a perfect world, you’d wash your makeup brushes after every use, but that’s unrealistic. Aim for one to two times per month instead.
Tools to Clean Makeup Brushes & Sponges
You can use gentle soap and water or a brush cleanser. Avoid using dish soap or body wash on your brushes. They’re much too harsh!
When it comes to brush cleaners, you have two options: solid or liquid. This solid brush cleanser is an excellent option for makeup sponges and brushes.
For liquid makeup brush cleaner, I love this one from EcoTools. It gets your brushes clean and leaves no residue behind. They also make a daily brush cleanser if you can commit to washing your brushes regularly.
Cinema Secrets makes the gold standard for a quick-drying brush cleanser that requires no water. You simply tap your brush into a tiny bit of the product, swirl it around, and wipe it off. It’s an excellent option for reusing brushes while applying your makeup.
This is my favorite (get 10% off with my link!) all-in-one brush cleaner with a solid soap plus a mini cleaning mat attached to get all the gunk from deep within your brushes. It’s awesome.
Paper Towels and Hand Towel
Grab a few paper towels before you start cleaning your brushes to use to remove excess water from your brushes and make sure there is no makeup stuck in the bristles.
Once your brushes are clean, you’ll lay them out on a clean hand towel to let them dry.
Cleaning Mat
While this isn’t a necessary item for cleaning your makeup brushes, it does make the process a lot easier. This silicone pad (get 10% off with my link!) has four different textures to help deeply clean any makeup, oil, and impurities from your brushes. It also washes and dries easily. If you do use a cleaning mat when cleaning your makeup brushes, all you have to do is lather up your brushes with your soap and swirl your brushes around on the textured side. Every so often, run your brush under water and use sweeping motions on the pad until the water turns clear.
How to Clean Your Makeup Brushes & Sponges
Step 1: Rinse Your Brushes & Sponges
Gather any makeup brushes and sponges you want to wash. Fill a small bowl with lukewarm water. And after rinsing your sponges in lukewarm water, soak them in the bowl. This helps speed up the sponge cleaning process while you wash your brushes.
Now rinse your brush bristles in lukewarm water. Be sure to hold your brushes angled to avoid water getting into the barrel (this can lead to loosening of the bristles).
Step 2: Lather and Wash
Once your brushes (and sponges) are wet, take your brush cleaner, and squirt a generous amount in the palm of your hand. Or, if you’re using a solid cleanser, work up a nice foamy lather. Now, swirl your makeup brush tips into your palms to get a good lather. Continue to lather until you see the makeup coloring the lathered water.
If you are using a silicone cleansing mat, this is when you would swirl your brushes (or sponge) on the textured side of the mat and start cleaning.
Once your sponge has soaked in water, squeeze a good amount of brush cleaner onto the sponge. Continue to squeeze and massage it to get a good lather.
Step 3: Rinse and Repeat
Once you have a good lather, rinse your makeup brushes and squeeze the water out of the bristles until the water runs clear. You’ll do the same thing with your brushes! Continue to squeeze out the sponge until the water runs clear.
You will most likely have to do this a few times because sponges and brush bristles are very absorbent. If you need to, add more cleanser!
Step 4: Dry
Once all of your brushes and sponges are clean and you’ve squeezed out excess water with a paper towel, lay them flat on a hand towel until they are thoroughly dried.
Washing your makeup brushes and sponges tends to be something that is often forgotten about. Stay consistent and mark a date in your calendar if you have to, this will make this task a regular part of your routine.
To shop more beauty recommendations, visit my ShopMy storefront and follow along on LTK!
This post includes affiliate links, meaning I can earn commission through purchases at no additional cost to you!