My brushes are from: Bobbi Brown, Inglot, and Laura Mercier.
If you’re anything like me, your make-up brushes are hobos and could do with a good shower. If you’re anything like me, you also suffer from chronic laziness and will wish for a never-dirty brush set , like Legolas’ never-empty quiver. Given that it’s a fresh new year and I’ve decided to be captain cliché (I’ve joined a ‘gym’ too, more on that later), I’ve given all my make-up brushes a good clean, and while I’m at it thought I’d share how I like to go about it. Now, there are many different ways to clean a brush, as Dr. Google will advise, and while I usually opt for the glob of olive oil + glob of antibacterial hand-soap option simply because the two ‘tools’ are readily available, my brushes are nevertheless drunken hobos because both olive oil and hand-soap are routinely called back into to the kitchen. Out of sight, out of mind. My trick, if you want to even call it that, is using the oil cleanser that’s already sitting by the bathroom sink, the one that you trust on your skin type, and use daily. Just one glob of that should take care of three small brushes, or one big brush – the dirt lathers out, while keeping essential oils within the brush hair (another reason I tend to avoid the baby shampoo option). When it comes to calculating cost vs. use, depending on how many brushes you own, it’ll be like washing your face two-ish more times a month. Which, let’s be honest, balances out the number of times you fall asleep in full clothing/make-up clutching a kebab in one hand every month. Or is that just me. Anyway, here’s a few more tips to get you going:
- A foundation brush/sponge, especially if you use liquid foundation, should be cleaned once a week if not daily, and for brushes used to apply powder make-up, once a month.
- My personal favourite is the DHC oil cleanser that’s made of olive oil, but that’s not available where you live, Shu Uemura cleansing oil is a great alternative (for face cleansing!) albeit slightly more expensive.
- Swirl the brush in your palm to let the dirt lather out , then rinse until water runs clear.
- Use warm water to rinse, never hot as it can ruin the brush hair and loosen the glue that holds the brush together.
- NEVER dry a wet brush with the hair pointing upwards, the water will leak into the stem and loosen the glue, destroying the brush. Use a brush guard, or a paintbrush holder from an art store and dry upside down.
Happy cleaning!