My love for makeup brushes began about a year ago when I saw an amazing deal on groupon for a full set that came in it's own neat little case for storing them in. Up until then I used the little packs you can buy at any drug store with the spongy ends for my eye shadow and used my hands for my foundation and concealer. I used the brush that came with my Bare Minerals for my powder application as well as for applying my blush, but that was about it. Before I began using my brushes, I knew the importance of cleaning them, but I never really took the time to actually DO it. My Bare Minerals all over color foundation brush took the most abuse from this behavior and boy do I regret it. I need a new one desperately, but most times I just can't bring myself to spend almost $30 on a single brush! I mean, for the same price I can go buy a high end foundation or a few other goodies.
So why is it so important to clean your brushes regularly? When you wash them (and wash them properly) you are not only washing away old makeup, you are ridding your brushes of dirt, oil, dead skin and bacteria. It's an awful thought, isn't it?
I went on a fun little shopping spree on ELF Cosmetic's website and found this little gem. It costs $4.50 and cleans really well. I was concerned that because of how cheap this cleaner is that it would leave my brushes feeling dry and would ruin the overall quality of my brushes. This is the only brush cleaner I have used, and I couldn't be happier. I don't see the need for spending high dollar amounts on brush shampoo, ever. It's $4.50 and is 4.1 fl oz. It is pretty concentrated and it lasts forever.
Want to see what it looks like when you don't take care of your brushes?
I don't normally fill up my sink to wash them, but I wanted to show you the transformation of the water from beginning to end. I purposely didn't clean my brushes for quite some time so I could show y'all just how important it is. (My skin didn't care for this demonstration much at all.)
I started by putting a little bit of the brush shampoo under running water to make a little bubble bath heaven for them. I figured I would let them soak a little while to help to break down the built up residue on some of them, mostly to break down the build up of my gel eyeliner on my angled brush.
Here we go...
After letting them set for about 10 minutes and swishing them around in the water, you can see the water went from crystal clear to this. How gross is that?!
After a few more minutes it went from a bright foundation color to a muddy, murky, smokey brown color. The idea of this was enough to make my skin crawl: this will be a one time only experiment.
This is the end result of the water, and this is just from SOAKING them! I still haven't scrubbed or anything else. I will show you just how deeply into the brushes your makeup likes to hide.
I pulled back the bristles on my MAC Brush No. 191 square foundation brush and in the center, you can see how much foundation is just caked onto the inside of the brush. From there I just add a little drop of shampoo a little smaller than the size of a pea and massage it into the bristles.
Sometimes I repeat this process a few times or at least until I see the water run clear when I rinse it off.
On the left side of the photo (or top, rather) I have the set of brushes that were just removed from soaking, lying on a clean and dry towel. I go through the next step of cleaning under running water in the sink, and then reshape the brushes, blot out any excess moisture and then lay flat to dry on another clean, dry towel on the right (or bottom).
Look at it shine!
Tada! Squeaky-Clean brushes! I let mine air dry overnight, just to be sure. I don't want to put them away in a dark place while they are still damp: they might grow moldy!
Have any questions? Let me know in the comments below!
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