How To Clean Your Makeup Brushes

Because now’s the time for a makeup brush deep cleaning…

Cleaning your makeup brushes has always been important but now, of course, more than ever. Most dermatologists say that you need to wash your makeup brushes once a week (!), but let’s be honest…that’s pretty impossible to maintain unless you’re a professional makeup artist.

I always say once a week should be your goal, but once a month is a MUST.

I know, I know but dirty makeup brushes are gross, and can cause breakouts and the spread of bacteria, so it’s important to clean them at least monthly.

Hot tip: I have a monthly calendar alert in my iPhone calendar so I remember to do it!

Here’s my easy how-to on how to properly clean your makeup brushes!

Other relevant blog posts:

Step 1: Use the right makeup brush cleanser

I’m sure you’ve heard that you can use baby shampoo and, yes, you technically can…but baby shampoo is really made to wash the hair on top of a baby’s head, not your makeup brush bristles. There are plenty of really good and effective brush cleaners on the market (and most are also really affordable and last forever), so I say let’s buy an a cleanser made to do exactly what you need, you know? And whatever you do please do not use olive oil – that is an urban myth!

Here are a few of my favorites…

Step 2: Wet your brush and/or apply the cleanser

You’ll want to read the directions on the specific cleanser that you’re using, but generally speaking most cleansers that I like require that you wet your brush first before spraying or rubbing the cleanser into the brush bristles and then rinse the bristles. If not, then you just need to spray on the cleanser and skip to step 3 🙂

Step 3: “Paint” out the makeup and color from the brush

Once you’ve applied the cleanser to your brushes, you want to rub (kind of like you’re painting!) the bristles onto a paper towel or clean towel to get allll the color out of the brush. Do this until you stop seeing makeup rub off onto the paper towel or towel and then rinse brushes under water until the water runs clean.

Step 4: Squeeze out excess water

Once you’re done washing your brushes, squeeze out all the excess water using your pointer finger and middle finger (like the image above).

Step 5: Lay brushes flat to dry (hanging off your counter)

This is the best tip yet, courtesy of makeup artist Jamie Greenberg. During an interview I did with her awhile back for HelloGiggles, she told me that she lets her brushes “dry in the air,” as she put it. “Lay all of the brushes flat and hang them off the table so that the bristles of the brush are not touching anything.” She added, “If they’re dripping water onto the floor, there’s too much water left in the brushes and you need to repeat step four.”

This tip is MAJOR KEY to ensure that the brushes dry properly and you don’t lose the original shape of the brush.

SHOP