Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Style > Beauty

Why and How You Should Clean Your Makeup Brushes

You might be a master at picking out the right makeup brushes for defined contouring and the perfect romantic smoky eye, but did you also know that you should be cleaning your brushes on the regular?

Failing to clean your brushes results in clogged pores and annoying breakouts. Regular cleaning will help to remove dirt, debris, dead skin cells, oil, and old makeup — even bacteria that get stuck in the bristles. This is a routine that preserves the life of your brushes, helps to apply your makeup more evenly without leftover product in the way, and keeps your skin clear.

I suggest that every time you use your makeup brushes, you provide them with a quick cleaning using a daily brush cleaner. You just spray the formula onto your brushes and wipe them clean onto a paper towel. Every week, you should provide your brushes with a deep cleaning. Here’s my method to do just that:

Materials:

  • Shallow bowl or cup
  • Your Sink
  • A cleansing soap, such as gentle clarifying shampoo or baby shampoo (Personally, I use the Blender Cleanser from Beauty Blender)
  • Paper Towels

Directions:

1. First, you’ll want to rinse your brushes off under lukewarm water to rinse off the basic residue that will be on your brush. Keep your focus on the bristles instead of on your brush handle, since doing so can loosen the glue that connects the brush head to the base.

2. Squirt some of your gentle cleansing soap into your shallow bowl or cup. Then, add some lukewarm water from your sink to the bowl or cup without overflowing it.

3. Swirl your brush head into the bottom of your bowl or cup. Depending on how long ago you washed the brush or how much makeup was on it, you may need to repeat this process twice. Make sure that you clean the brush until the water runs clear.

4. After cleansing, rinse the remaining soap and residue from your brush, while reshaping the bristles.

5. Use a clean paper towel to wipe your brush clean.

6. Leave your brushes flat to dry on a new, clean paper towel.

 

Now that you know how important it is to clean your brushes and have an easy tutorial of how to do so, make sure that you make this practice part of your weekly routine!

Do you clean your makeup brushes regularly? How do you clean them? Sound off in the comments below!

 

Jen is a 2016 graduate of Messiah College, where she majored in journalism and minored in gender studies. She's a proud Bostonian who is obsessed with tattoos, puppies, magazines and Sephora. She's been reading Her Campus since high school and was thrilled to join the HC team as a National Contributing Writer in September 2013. She became an HC Beauty Blogger in February 2014 and continued to write on-trend beauty posts until July 2016. A few highlights from her time writing for HC included attending and writing about two BeautyCon events and Cosmopolitan's Fun Fearless Life in 2015. You can follow her on Twitter @JenFlanagan14 and on Instagram @jenlea14.