Why You Should Clean Your Makeup Brushes

The perfect makeup look starts with great skin and skincare! But what if you’ve been breaking out recently?

If you haven’t been using new products, you’re eating the same, and consistently changing your sheets… you might want to ask yourself when the last time you cleaned your makeup brushes was.

In this article, we’ll deep dive into the reasons why you should be consistently cleaning your makeup brushes and how to properly clean them to keep your skin blemish-free.

Prevent Breakouts by Cleaning Your Makeup Brushes

It can be very difficult to identify the underlying cause of acne, especially for women who have a monthly cycle.

However, if you’re not particularly acne-prone and you’ve suddenly started experiencing breakouts, one cause might be your makeup brushes.

Even if we apply makeup with our brushes to clean and prepped skin, makeup brushes pick up germs from your face and hands.

With all the product buildup on the brush hairs, a makeup brush can become a breeding ground for bacteria. As time goes on and the bacteria multiply, this can lead to the perfect storm for acne every time you apply your makeup.

So, whether you use powder makeup or liquid makeup, you need to wash your dirty makeup brushes. If you don’t wash them regularly, this can wreak havoc on your skin and lead to acne breakouts and skin irritation.

While it might sound tedious, cleaning makeup brushes isn’t too difficult. To give your makeup brushes a deep cleaning, all you need is some water, a gentle cleanser, and time to air dry them.

How To Properly Clean Makeup Brushes

Here is a step-by-step guide to washing your makeup brushes:

Step 1: Wet the makeup bristles.

Step 2: Apply a gentle cleanser such as Dawn dish soap, Ivory soap, baby shampoo, or a brush-specific cleanser––such as this one from Beauty Blender––to the makeup brush bristles.

Step 3: Gently massage the soap into the bristles by swirling the brushes on a silicone brush mat or the palm of your hand. If you have sensitive skin, wear a latex glove as shown.

Step 4: Rinse the makeup brush under running water to clean away soap and makeup, and repeat step 2 until the water runs clear.

Step 5: Gently rub the brush bristles on a dry towel (microfiber is best) to get rid of excess water.

Step 6: Lay the brushes down on a dry towel or hang them upside down with the bristles pointing towards the floor, either with a brush drying stand or our makeup brush drying hack.

Step 7: Once clean, store your makeup brushes in a clean, breathable fabric bag or a pocket of your makeup bag that is separate from your other makeup and skincare products.

Note: Avoid getting any excess water deeper into the brush head, as this can weaken the glue that holds the brush head on the handle. This is why you should avoid drying them upright.

Best Cleansers To Use on Your Makeup Brushes

While you could use whatever soap you have lying around, if you want the best results, we recommend using one of these cleansers to get your brushes squeaky clean.

Dish Soap

While it might seem too harsh for your soft bristles, a good dish soap is one of the best ways to completely clean your makeup brushes of oil-based products and other tough-to-rinse residues.

If you’re looking for a specific brand recommendation, Dawn dish soap is really good at cutting through the dirt, oils, and bacteria that can cling to your brush bristles. This is what we used in the above demonstration.

Shampoo

While most brushes are made of synthetic fibers and not actual hair, it makes sense to use a shampoo that is designed to carry away dirt and oils without impacting the integrity of the hair––or, in this case, the brush––fibers.

Baby shampoo, in particular, is often used as a gentler and more effective cleanser for makeup brushes.

Brush Cleanser

If you’re a little nervous about cleaning your brushes with everyday household products, you could buy a cleanser made specifically for makeup brushes. 

These cleansers are great at breaking down makeup products and leaving your makeup brushes like new.

How Often to Clean Makeup Brushes

Unfortunately, we are probably all not washing our makeup brushes enough. 

In researching this article, we were rightly horrified to discover that makeup brushes used for liquid and cream makeup and sponges should be washed daily.

If you’re one of the few doing this, congrats. For the rest of us plebs, it appears we had better step up our makeup hygiene. Yikes!

On a positive note, brushes used for powders need to be washed “only” one to two times a week.

FAQs