How I Deep Clean My Makeup Brushes

Let me start off this post by saying that I hate cleaning my brushes but try to do it about once a month. For spot cleaning I use the spray brush cleaner from Sephora. I just try some toilet paper and rub my brush back and forth to remove the makeup from it. But cleaning your brushes is really important to remove the makeup, dirt, and bacteria (you don't want to be putting that all over your face). Cleaning your brushes regularly helps to keep up the condition of your brushes. The longer that the makeup sits on the brush the worse off the brush will be in the long run. I currently have almost 50 brushes so it takes me about 30-40 minutes to clean them all. This is just how I clean them and there are several different ways. This just works well for me.

Makeup Brush Collection

Here is what you will need:

1. A few towels

2. Brush cleaner (I use an all natural and sulfate free baby shampoo)

3. A sink

4. A table to lay your brushes on (so that the brushes can hang over the edge to dry)

Steps to Deep Cleaning Your Brushes:

1. Collect all your brushes to clean

2. Take your first brush and get it slightly wet in lukewarm water (make sure to only get the brush hairs wet and not the rest of the brush). If you get the entire brush wet it can loosen the glue and ruin your brush. I have some very expensive brushes and do not want this to happen.

3. Pump some of the baby shampoo into your hand (I prefer a natural/sulfate free one as it is less drying on my hand and therefore less drying on my brushes).

4. Swirl the brush around your hand, occasionally adding a little bit of water to make it lather. Sometimes if my hand starts to get dry I will do this in the sink. It can work just as well as in your hand.

5. Squeeze out the excess water and watch the makeup leaving the brush hairs.

6. Repeat this if necessary. (Some thicker brushes take longer to get out of the makeup out like foundation brushes).

7. Place your wet brushes on a table where they can hang over the edge so that they can dry faster.

8. Allow them to dry for at least a few hours. Thicker brushes will take longer, some even may take overnight. 

Here are some photos how I do my cleaning: 

Baby Shampoo

Sink to Clean Brushes

Baby Shampoo in Hand

Running brush under water

Lathering Brush in Hand with Baby Shampoo

Lathering Brush in Sink (I do this when my hand starts to get dry)

Squeezing water out of brush

Dirty makeup from brush

Dirty MAC 217 

Clean MAC 217

Sephora Brush Cleaner (I use this to spot clean)

Makeup Brushes Drying on Coffee Table

So I hope that you all found this to be helpful. I think that this very important and I know a lot of people skip this step. Brushes are an investment so you should take care of them. I will be doing a post soon on my makeup brush collection and will talk about what are some of my favorite brushes and how I use them.  How do you clean your brushes?

xx
Meredith