I am a bad, bad beauty addict – I don’t wash my makeup brushes nearly as often as I should. To me, it falls in the same category as housework like doing laundry or washing the dishes, so I tend to avoid doing it. I’m so lazy they can sometimes go unwashed for two or three months, which is way too long! Bacteria builds up in the makeup residue stuck in the bristles, transferring onto your face when you use the brush, and causing breakouts.
To make the process as quick and hassle-free as possible, I use either the Daiso brush cleaner or Dr Bronner’s Organic Castile Liquid Soap. They’re both really effective at removing the huge build up of gunk on my brushes in just a few washes. I like using the Dr Bronner’s soaps because they come in a number of fragrances (I’m using peppermint in this post), it’s an environmentally and socially conscious brand that I’m happy to support, and their castile soap can be used for heaps of other uses. And check out those labels – how can you not have a laugh at the nutty ramblings crammed onto them*? On the other hand, you can’t beat $2.80 for the Daiso brush cleaner.
Before we get started, here’s a quick closeup of just how dirty my face brushes are:
Step 1. I fill a small bowl with a few centimetres of warm water, then add 4 or 5 drops of soap.
Here’s the bronzer/contouring brush I’m going to wash first:
Step 2. Swirl it around in the soapy water a couple of times until the water is dirty. Make sure not to get the ferrule wet, as the water can cause the glue to loosen and the bristles will fall out.
Not bad for a first wash, right?
Step 3. Rinse the brush under the tap, again making sure to point the brush downwards so no water gets into the ferrule.
Step 4. Repeat steps 1 and 2, or if the brush needs a deeper clean, work a few drops of soap into the bristles. I then rub the brush in a circular motion on my wet hand, creating a nice lather that really gets all the makeup residue out.
Step 5. Rinse again. Good as new!
I use this same method for all my face brushes. Here’s a large powder brush getting a first wash…
There’s still quite a bit of makeup in there, so it needs a deep clean as well.
Rub, rub, rub…
So clean!
I wash my eye brushes slightly differently, because as I stated at the beginning of this post, I’m super lazy. I just chuck them all in to the water and wash them together, like so. It works well.
Step 6. Finally, I lay them out in the sun to dry. I fold a teatowel over to create a bit of an edge to rest the handles on, so the brushes are pointing down – again, so no moisture gets into the ferrule. In the hot Australian sun even the big brushes dry in just a few hours!
Dr Bronner’s Organic Castile Soaps can be purchased from David Jones and health food stores. The Daiso brush cleaner can be purchased from Daiso.
How often do you wash your makeup brushes? What do you use to wash them?
*I discovered there’s actually an interesting story behind the… shall we say, unique design of the labels on the Dr Bronner’s soaps. The original Dr Bronner was from Germany and emigrated to the US just before the outbreak of WWII. He lost his Jewish parents to a Nazi concentration camp, and took it upon himself to spread the message of peace. So he became one of those types who stands on a soapbox and preaches to the public – handing out his homemade castile soaps as a thank you to anyone who would stop and listen. Through word of mouth, his soaps developed quite a reputation, and people would come from far and wide to obtain a bar of his famous soap. Dr Bronner realised people were turning up just to get soap, and not actually listening what he was saying, so he decided to print his speech onto the label, in the hopes that people would read it at home. I have to admit, it does provide entertaining reading in the shower, so it did succeed in that regard! Here’s a closeup of the label:
Some of these products were provided for review, which did not affect my opinion. For more information, see my Disclosure Policy.
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