This article builds upon Part Three of ‘the All About Brushes’ series to explain how to clean your make-up brushes using these products.  Brush cleanser, baby shampoo and make-up anti-bacterial spray are all effective products for keeping your brushes fresh, clean and ready for make-up application.  Washing your make-up brushes regularly (at least every one or two weeks) makes for good hygiene, prevents product build-up, maintains the bristles and ensures effective application of make-up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: You might find Part One and Part Two of this series helpful if you would like to learn more about the various types of eyeshadow brushes and how to choose brushes which may best suit your needs.

‘Spot cleaning’: cleaning and removing product from a dry brush using brush cleanser

1. Fold a piece of kitchen roll/paper towel in half and shake out a couple of drops of brush cleanser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Take your brush and ‘swirl’ your brush into the cleanser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. You should see the product coming out onto the kitchen roll.  Continue ‘swirling’ the brush until no more product comes out of the bristles.  Your brush is now clean and ready to use again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Deep cleaning’ with brush cleanser

1. Dilute 1 teaspoon of brush cleanser into 3 teaspoons of water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Rinse your brush under the tap and then swirl your brush into the deep cleaning mixture.  You can add more water to the mixture if you have a larger brush to clean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Take your brush out and lather the mixture through the bristles to remove the product.  Rinse the brush under the tap until the water runs clean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Very gently squeeze the excess water out of the bristles and lay the brush flat to dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Deep cleaning’ with face wash or baby shampoo:

1. I like to use two small plastic lids (or tubs, whatever is to hand) when I wash my brushes with face wash or baby shampoo.   Wet the brush bristles, dot a ‘blob’ of baby shampoo (or face wash) onto one lid and then lather the brush on the second plate.  This means that you do not have to lather the brush bristles with your hand, preventing your fingers from getting ‘wrinkly’ from continuous rinsing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Rinse the brush out under the tap whilst lathering on the plate to remove the lather and product.  You can also use your fingers to help remove the lather under the tap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Finally, squeeze out the excess product and lay the brush flat to dry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips and tricks

1. Make sure you only wet the brush bristles and do not submerge the section where the bristles are held in the ferrule (the section holding in the bristles).  Submerging the brush in water can sometimes cause the bristles to come out of the brush ferrule.

2. Try to squeeze bristles gently when removing excess water.  Tightly wringing out the brush may damage the bristles.

3. I like to lay out a small face cloth or tea towel before washing my brushes.  This means that I can lay my brushes out on it one by one as I wash them, rather than having to juggle wet brushes.

4. Lay your brushes out flat to dry.  This means that loose water does not gather in the brush ferrule, causing the glue holding in the bristles to soften.  Laying the brushes flat also helps the air to gather around the bristles more easily.

5. Make sure you wait for the bristles to dry completely before using to apply make-up.  Using damp make-up brushes (unless intended for specific purposes) can cause make-up to apply streakily or damage products which are not meant to get wet.

I hope you found this article helpful.  Are there particular products which you like to use for cleaning your make-up brushes? Let me know in the comments section below.