Are you giving the right attention to your makeup brushes?

Makeup brushes come with hefty price tags, so you should always ensure to get the most out of them. They are just like our everyday items, but the only exception is that they are not cleaned nearly enough.

Continuous painting our face with makeup every day, get the beauty weapons loaded with oils, residues and dead skin that further acts as a breeding ground for bacteria and other tiny monsters, resulting in breakouts and clogged pores. And who the hell wants that!

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Wanna know what dirty brushes can do to your skin and to your makeup? Say hello to some of their nuisance here:

1. Bacterial Growth:

Makeup brushes come in contact with variety of surfaces from products to your face, makeup bags and bathroom shelves. Also when they are resting on your vanity, millions of bacteria get settled on them through air. A study at Loyola Marymount University revealed that dirty brushes harbor bacteria in a number that is beyond the reach of researchers to measure!

You now probably got your answers to recurring acne!

2. Irritation, Clogged pores and Conjunctivitis

Makeup residues make the bristles hard. When you rub the brushes against your skin, hard bristles causes the wear & tear of outer epidermis resulting in irritation. This leads to pores opening, due to which residues from the bristles settle down and clog them. Repeated process over time forms a vicious cycle resulting in skin issues.

If you share your makeup brushes, there is an increased chance of conjunctivitis and other skin infections. Hence, cleaning them should be one of your weekly errands.

3. Damaged Brushes

Continuous product buildup on bristles can weaken them, resulting in their breakage and fiber loss. Since they cost a fortune, you would always want them to last a lifetime.

4.  Spotty application

Dirty makeup brushes can be a reason out of many that you never nail a flawless makeup. Why? Products accumulated between the bristles from past usage, gives a muddy and unfinished look. This can make your face age faster.

Now that you know the issues with not so clean beauty wands, you might be wondering about what should be your brushes cleaning routine and how often they are to be cleaned.

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Although, there are no rules to it, cleaning makeup brushes depend upon one’s usage. According to famous Dermatologists and Makeup artists, you should spend few minutes once in a week to give your brushes a spa treatment. While it is fine for those who are not into their makeup all day, every day, beauty buffs *like me* should practice cleaning them twice a week or more.

This goes compulsory for everyday brushes like foundation, concealer and lip brushes to prevent any buildup. Take note from Tom Pecheux (Makeup artist and YSL global beauty director) who swears by hand sanitizer for disinfecting lip and concealer brushes after every use to maintain hygiene (MUAs Alert!). For less used tools like eye brushes and eye lash curlers, you can clean them once in 15 days.

Products I recommend

I like cleaning my makeup brushes like the pros do it, to ensure proper hygiene. There are tons of Makeup brush cleaners available but I personally find The Sigmagic Brushampoo Foam by Sigma Beauty and Brush Cleanser by MAC the best cleaning agents by far. However, a gentle clarifying or a baby shampoo will do the trick just fine, if you do not wish to go the fancy way.  

Image source: brownthomas.com

Image source: sigmabeauty.com

Apart from the Sigmagic Brushampoo Foam and Mac Brush Cleaner, there are few products that stand out for me. Let’s take a look on all of them.

1. 2X Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Glove!

Boy! Where should I start? When it comes to business, nobody does it better but Sigma. 2X Spa Brush Cleaning Glove is a patented Sigma product which is a two sided cleaning mat (one for face brushes & other for eye brushes) in a double thumb glove. The spa glove has eight cleaning textures to wash, refine and rinse the bristles all at same time.

Different texture allows the soap to clean even the densest makeup brushes. With double thumb, you can easily flip over to any side of the glove. It’s a lot easy to rinse and drain excess water with the grooves between the thumb and the index finger. What more? You can clean multiple brushes in one go!

Buy here.

Image Source: sigmabeauty.com

2. Sephora Collection Dry Clean Instant Dry Brush Cleaner Spray

Like dry shampoo for hair? Well, here is one for your makeup brushes. It’s a solvent spray for a quick fix. Make it your best buddy while travelling. Although it’s great for instant cleaning, be sure to do a wet cleansing whenever you get a chance.

Image source: sephora.com

3. Sigma Dry and Shape Tower

A one of its kind product, Sigma Dry and Shape tower ensures that the brushes are dried in the right way, keeping their shape intact. The three storied tower is made of three rims that have multiple compartments to hold variety of brushes differing in shapes and styles.

The lower most compartments consist of little stretchable pockets to reshape the bristles. Both face and eye brushes can be dried in one with this drier-cum-shaper.  I would highly recommend this to makeup professionals.

Buy here.

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Steps to clean Makeup brushes

1. Soak the brush in lukewarm water before cleaning.

2. Pour 2- 3 drops of cleaning agent directly on the brush or on the cleaning pad/ on your palm.

3. Rub the bristles for 2 -3 minutes.

4. Rinse them with lukewarm water.

5.  Squeeze the excess moisture with a clean lint free towel.

6. Reshape the bristles.
7. Let the brushes dry by hanging them from the edge of a counter in a horizontal position.

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There are two things to take care of mid-wash:

1. Always clean and dry makeup brushes holding them with bristles facing down. Tilting them can cause water to run down to the base (where it is joined with the wand) and cause the glue to disintegrate. This can result in bristle loss.

2. Never rub makeup brushes with a towel to fasten the drying process, this will make them mildewed and can harm their shape.

And there you have it! Your brushes will be clean a whistle. 

So here was a quick and easy insight on what problems can arise from dirty brushes and a guide to clean them properly.

Till next time,

Much Love
Hina Rehan💜