Cleaning your makeup brushes and other beauty tools is definitely a chore you should not put off. When you don’t clean your brushes, they gather buildup from dead skin cells, dirt, oil, dust, and other debris, which can clog your pores with bacteria and cause acne. As you continue to dip these brushes into various products, it causes the bacteria to spread. Not only are dirty tools unsanitary, but application worsens due to color buildup and abrasiveness from caked-on product. Not to mention that cleaning your tools will save you money because it makes them last longer. Blending sponges and tweezers require more attention, with experts prompting people to clean them after each use. Other tools, like eyelash curlers, can be cleaned less often, but it is still important to do so.
Cleaning your tools is pretty important. Different tools require different attention and proper care techniques. Here’s a quick list of how often you should be cleaning different makeup products:
- Makeup brushes- minimum of once a week
- Blending sponge- every use (replace after three months)
- Tweezers- every use
- Eyelash curler- once a week (replace curler pad after three months)
You may be looking at the list thinking about how much you’ve been slacking on your cleaning regime and/or shuddering while thinking about how dirty your beauty tools are. We’ve all been there. The good news is that many of these products are extremely easy to clean and some won’t take longer than a few seconds.
Makeup Brushes
Materials:
- Some type of soap- your choice of makeup brush cleaner, baby shampoo, or dish soap will be perfectly fine
- Lukewarm water
- Towel
- Optional: brush cleaning mat
Start out by simply wetting your brushes. Then add a drop of soap to your brush cleaning mat (or the palm of your hand). Swirl your brush around, rinse it off with water, squeeze out the water, and set it on the towel to dry. Make sure that between every brush, you’re either using a clean area of the mat or rinsing the entire mat off. Ideally, you should be putting your brush on a brush drying tree, but if you’re looking for a good broke-college-student hack, insert the handle of the brush through a ponytail holder or rubber band, hold the handle up to a towel rack, and look the other end of the brush to the rack, securing the brush so that it hangs upside down like the image below. This hack not only makes your brush dry faster, but also ensures that the water won’t break down the glue, making the brush last longer.
Blending Sponge
Materials:
- Some type of soap -your choice of makeup brush cleaner, baby shampoo, or dish soap will be perfectly fine
- Lukewarm water
After use, completely wet the sponge with water. Add a drop of soap to your hand and swirl/squeeze the sponge until it soaks up the soap. Run the sponge under lukewarm water and squeeze it until the water appears clear again. If you’re looking for a deep clean, you can try out the popular cleaning hack that’s all over the internet. Place some dish soap into a mug and add water until it is about half full. Then place your sponge into the mug and squeeze it until it soaks up the water. Place the sponge in the microwave for one minute, carefully dump out the water (the water will be extremely hot), wait a few minutes for the sponge to cool, and run it under water until the water is clear. I swear this gets out the toughest of stains.
Tweezers
Materials:
- Single-use alcohol wipe
or
- Rubbing
- Cotton ball
Cleaning your tweezers after every use may sound like a hassle, but I promise it is the easiest item on this list to clean. When you tweeze your brows, you’re pulling out hair and leaving the follicle open. If you’re using a dirty pair of tweezers, you’re leaving a perfect space for bacteria, dirt, and other debris to collect. Luckily, cleaning them is so easy. All you have to do is wipe them down with an alcohol wipe or rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. That’s it. You’re done!
Eyelash Curler
Materials:
- Single-use alcohol wipe
or
- Rubbing
- Cotton ball
Cleaning your eyelash curler is just as easy as cleaning your tweezers. It only takes a few seconds to wipe the tool down with an alcohol wipe or alcohol on a cotton pad. For your eyelash curler, make sure you are getting the top and bottom of the clamp, as well as the area around the pad where product can collect.
While cleaning your beauty tools often may seem like a tedious task, it insures that your products remain sanitary, your tools last longer, and your makeup applies better. Many cleaning techniques don’t take more than a couple minutes- or even seconds- leaving you no excuse to not clean your tools.