Cleaning Your Make-Up Brushes

I’m so excited to be posting on a regular basis on Chic Critique! Jo-Lynne has pretty much taught me all I know about blogging, so it is very exciting to be included as a contributor here.

Being the mom of 2 young kids and a hardworking hubby, I do try to keep my beauty regime simple and inexpensive. I truly think that some beauty products are overpriced while others are more than worth the money and there’s a lot in between. So, I’m excited to share any of my finds here with you!

About a month ago, I wrote this post on Eco Make-Up brushes. I have to say that I am still enjoying them. I wouldn’t say they are the finest brushes ever made but this is one of those finds that I think are more than worth the small price.

I do have some more expensive brushes that I purchased about 10 years ago. Brushes that last 10 years or more are great if they’re in your budget. While I might not make that choice now, I am so happy that I have them. They are a few of my favorite make-up tools and I don’t regret a bit that I spent the money on them. The cool thing about purchasing expensive brushes is that the sales woman seemed to genuinely care about the product she was selling me. She gave me some very sound advice on cleaning them that I am going to share with you.

• It’s good for your face. Brushes get dirty. Dirty is not good on your face.

• It’s good for your brushes. Dirty brushes break down faster. Breaking down faster is not good on your pocketbook.

Now you can go and buy cleaners specifically for your brushes. There are a few products out there like this spray cleaner from Sephora for about $14. For me, these are the items I would rather not spend my cosmetic budget on so this is what I do instead.

1. To quickly clean them each week.

Yeah, in an ideal world.

Ideal world meaning that some fairy comes in and does my laundry each week so I can spend my free time cleaning my brushes.

But if it were an ideal world and I was cleaning them each week (I get to it about every couple weeks) I would do it like this.

• Mix a small solution of half water to half rubbing alcohol. Place the mixture in a spray bottle. Spray the mixture on your brush or lightly saturate a towel or tissue.

• Brush your brush lightly back and forth over the towel until you can no longer see make- up. Kind of like you are painting the towel except you want to see less color as you paint.

2. To clean them more thoroughly about once a month.

• Use a mild facial wash or shampoo. Something that is not going to be too drying for your brush hair.
• Place a little in the palm of your hand. Wet the tip of the brush in warm water. Remember there is glue that holds the brush in the handle so don’t soak them.
• Dip the tip of your brush into your hand and swish it around a bit. You will see all kinds of icky make-up coming off of them.

• Rinse gently with warm water, gently squeeze out excess water and brush it lightly over the towel until you don’t see any signs of make-up. If you want to keep them super soft, use a little conditioner just like you would in your own hair. Rinse gently with warm water. Gently squeeze excess water out.

I dry mine flat.

I did find this great little video on Real Simple that does a nice job explaining what I just did. Some people are more visual and this is for you!