Wash Your Makeup Brushes like a Pro!

Well, wash them like this pro anyway!

These guys are mid suds here. What an action shot!

I figured if I am going to blog, I want to blog about helpful things! So today I will show you how I wash my makeup brushes. 

I, like every other makeup brush owner in the world, generally detest this task. That's why I wanted to come up with a regimen that was the most time efficient. I also have found it to be pretty water efficient too! Which is a nice added bonus. Probably the most water efficient way to wash your brushes is to use bowls of water to wash and rinse, but I don't like that method mostly because I find it gross. Especially where my professional brush kit is concerned, I don't really want to be swirling them around in a bowl of their own dirty water. 

So as I'm sure you have heard (much to everyone's eternal disappointment) probably the best case scenario, bacteria wise, would be to wash your brushes after every use. That of course isn't the most practical scenario however, and would be pretty hard on your brushes, to boot. I, of course, have to treat the brushes in my professional kit a little differently than my personal brushes. My professional brushes get either washed with the method you will see below, or sanitized with brush cleaner spray and/or 90% alcohol after each and every individual client. This is of course to minimize the spread of bacteria and because who on earth wants a nasty, dirty brush on their face? Nobody! So I sanitize each time I use them and then give them a good bath at least once a week. 

For the average person, I'd say shoot for the moon and try to wash your brushes once a week, that way (if you're anything like me) you'll fall among the more realistic stars and maybe realistically wash them once a month. In between deep cleanses, you can always keep some brush cleansing spray and tissues on hand, and cleanse them that way. 

OK. Time for what you came here for. 

Here's the setup:

Why not light a candle? Like a spa treatment for your brushes! 

Here I have two plastic plates, one to set my dirty brushes on and one to set my soapy brushes on. I like to wash my brushes at my kitchen sink because its just a bigger, nicer area to work than my cramped bathroom counter.

The other thing you're going to need? Dirty brushes!

These are definitely ready for a wash.

So the next thing you are going to need is a scrubby palette. You can buy different versions of these on Amazon, but I got mine from Real Techniques at Ulta. Basically it's a little mat that has bumps on it that help to scrub your brushes! Here's what mine looks like:

Not unlike a fancy potholder!

This one has a handle on the back but I just set mine down on the counter to use it! The different sized bumps are great for different size brushes. The large and crisscross bumps are great for most larger brushes, and the little bumps are great for small eyeshadow or eyeliner brushes.

Lastly you will need some all natural dishwashing detergent. I use this for a few reasons. One, I have used literally almost all washes specifically designed for brushes and none have compared to this stuff. Also, because even natural dishwashing detergent is made to cut through oil, this works like a miracle for breaking down makeup and any face oils that are trapped in your brushes. Plus it works up to such a nice lather that I often don't need to use much more than a quarter sized amount for all my brushes!

And it smells nice too!

Here's the brand I like! I found this at Marshalls but it can also be found on Amazon. Any all natural dish detergent should do though. I feel like this is more gentle than your average dishwashing detergent and I have never had any issues with reactions to this on myself or any of my clients! And honestly, by the time you've given them a good rinse the soap shouldn't be hanging around in the brushes anyway.

Next you will just drizzle a quarter(ish) sized amount onto your scrubby mat. Very scientific, I know.

Now you're going to run each brush under the water just to get a few drops, then swirl it around on your scrubby like so:

The swirl shot! Just to be clear, I got a few drops of water on the brush before I put it on the mat to swirl.

Now your scrubby mat is all sudsy. For larger brushes, you're going to want to add a few drops of water before you swirl them, with smaller ones, you can probably get away with just putting them straight into the suds.

YOU ARE GOING TO WANT TO RINSE YOUR BRUSHES AFTER THEY'RE SUDSY! DON'T! (Ok...that was overly dramatic).
Pile them up together on your soapy brush plate and let them sit with the suds until each brush has been soaped up! This is what saves you time and water! Doing things kind of assembly-line style.

Soapy!

OK! Now you have a bunch of soapy brushes on a plate. You're halfway there folks, I promise. This is coming together now...

Time to get rinsing! First I rinse off the plate that the dirty brushes were on, then once it is clean I rinse each brush under the water...

Like so! And then I pile them up on the other plate one by one until they are all rinsed! This can be accomplished fairly quickly because now that they're all soapy and they have been given a minute to soak, the soap and makeup come out pretty easily!

And voila! A pile of clean brushes. Look at em! All squeaky clean. The worst is over my friends! 

Now you're just going to grab yourself an old bath towel, fold it in half, lay it on the counter, and make a roll in the middle so that your brushes can lean on the roll. 

Just pinch in the middle and roll! Most of your brushes you won't want to lay down flat because you want all the water in the brush running out of the brush hairs and onto the towel. Placing them at an angle helps this! This prevents mildew in your brushes and keeps the glue that holds your brush together from disintegrating, which can cause your brush to fall apart! I do lay down little brushes, dual ended brushes, or any brushes like fan brushes that would dry bent if they were put at an angle. 

So we place them like so: 

Remember, your brushes will dry the way they are when wet, so you want to give them a little dab on the towel and then reshape the hairs, then lean the brush handle on the roll of your towel, and leave them overnight for about 12 hours, or until dry throughout! 

And you're done! Marvel at the beauty of your clean brushes!

Oooh, Aaah!

I've gotten this little routine down to about 15-20 minutes depending on how dirty my brushes are and how many of them need to be washed. 

So there you have it! That's how I wash my brushes. I've tried many methods but this is definitely my favorite. I love that it's quick, and that it doesn't use a ton of extra water or soap. I don't love using a bowl to rinse, but you could do that and it would save even more water! 

How do you clean your brushes? Let me know! I'm always trying to pick up new tips and tricks. I hope if you try this method it works for you! It certainly does for me!

Until next time folks, 

Steph out!