Is Brush Cleaning Really that Important?
We all have our fair share of bad beauty habits, and one of the most common offenses is unclean brushes. Although it may seem unimportant, failing to sanitize your tools can be worse than forgetting to wash your face! Taking proper care of your bristles helps their performance, extends their lifetime, and prevents harmful bacteria from forming. We chatted with New York-based dermatologist Elizabeth Tanzi, M.D., as well as makeup artists Sonia Kashuk and Dick Page, to better understand this essential part of your beauty routine.
How dirty brushes affect your skin
While your bristles pick up pigments, they also collect dirt, oil, and bacteria—and this affects Beauties with sensitive or acne-prone skin the most! "This buildup can be transferred to your skin and cause breakouts," says Dr. Tanzi. She suggests cleaning your tools with warm water and a gentle soap such as Cetaphil every three months to avoid unhealthy bacteria accumulation. Another danger to watch out for? The spread of viruses. "In the worst case scenario, herpes can be spread by lip gloss brushes,” warns Dr. Tanzi. “Eye shadow and liner brushes can transfer pinkeye or other viral infections, so try not to share them!" The risk of infection is lower with blush and face powder brushes since they are not coming in contact with wet areas like the eyes and mouth, which can harbor more bacteria and viruses.
Cleaning tips
In addition to nasty side effects, filthy tips can interfere with your artwork. "Washing your brushes once a week keeps bristles soft for easier application and allows you to grab the true pigment you want," explains Sonia. If you're prone to acne, wash your sponges, brushes, and eye lash curlers daily. There are many methods for cleaning brushes, Dick recommends using a combination of baking soda and baby shampoo to clean fluffy brushes. "The sodium bicarb helps to deodorize and disinfect. Then hang the brushes upside down," Dick advises. "This is important because you don't want to have any liquid seeping back into the base of the brush." Sonia also suggests spritzing a cleansing spray which can also be used on pressed powders too and laying brushes flat on a clean paper towel overnight.
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ArtistrybyBriana N.
Take care of your makeup brushes, and they'll take care of you! Caring for your brushes is just as important as using the right brush. You should keep your brushes clean. There are brush cleansers you can get from beauty supply stores. You use these by spraying them on a tissue/towel and then wiping the brush on them. This is good to do between uses for a fast way to remove product and germs. However, for a deep cleaning, you should wash your brushes every so often (ideally about once a week but no less than once per month).
My favorite product for cleaning brushes is Laura Mercier's Brush Cleanser. It’s great because you can spray it onto a tissue/towel and wipe the brushes on it for a click cleaning, or you can spray it on wet brushes and it’ll lather up for a deep cleaning. You can also use your face wash to wash your brushes. I wet my brushes, then I squeeze some of my face wash into the palm of my hand and swirl the wet brush around in the face wash. Squeeze the remaining product out of the brush, rinse and then squeeze the remaining water out of the brush. Now here’s the important part: You must lay your brushes FLAT to dry! Never leave the brushes standing up while they’re wet, or the water can seep in and loosen the bristles. - Artistry by Briana
Davia G.
I have known through my own personal experience that if you don't take care of your brushes that it can cause you to break out and no one wants that..also your shadows and pigments will settle at the head of the brush creating color chaos...not cool!
Katy H.
going to go clean my brushes right now! this gave me the extra boost i needed!
Keyry H.
I use Hand wipes to spot clean my brushes and Olive oil and Dish soap to deep clean my brushes every sunday, I haven't had a bad skin day in months :)
Vik A.
I remember the first time I cleaned my powder brush (the only one I used at the time) and was just HORRIFIED at the color that washed down the drain. It hit me that I was just brushing that nastiness on my face and no wonder my pores were clogged and wow. WOW. Never again! I use castile soap now, about once a week (if not more).
Enis S.
I try to clean my brushes every 3 weeks. Sometimes I get lazy and end up cleaning them by the 5th week. I only use baby shampoo, I'll give the baking soda a try though.
Amanda C.
I clean my brushes every month.. But every three months? That's a bit long for me lol. I use a non-detergent/non-ammonium shampoo (i.e. Baby shampoo lol) lather and rinse thouroughly. Actually it's about time for me to clean them again haha. I honestly think I would have forgotten because I'm super busy. :)
Julianna S.
I clean my brushes every week and some times every use. I don't use them on others at all and I usually put foundation on with my clean hands. It doesn't make a difference and I 100% agree. however EVERY3 MONTHS!?!? gross.
Gennett M.
I use my brushes no more than two days in a row then I break the cleans one's out. I feel like when my brushes are clean my makeup goes on better, especially when I am dealing with liquid foundation. Once I started wearing makeup I purchased enough brushes for seven days a week so I would not have to reuse the same brushes.
Yasmin K.
"She suggests cleaning your tools with warm water and a gentle soap such as Cetaphil every three months to avoid unhealthy bacteria accumulation." -- EWW! Bacteria grows on a DAILY basis and while doing a deep daily cleaning is not practical for everyone the best thing a person can do to their brushes is use an alcohol based cleanser on a daily basis.
The lazy way to do it is to use straight isopropyl alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol) and either dip the brush into the alcohol and clean off on a towel OR spray it. The alcohol will quickly evaporate. If isopropyl is too harsh then use ethyl alcohol (grain alcohol aka VODKA). There is one company that I've seen people on Beautylish talk about and the main ingredient in that brush cleaner is ethyl alcohol! So save your money and make a DIY version at home for far less money for far more product.
To properly clean my brushes I use Mona Lisa's Pink Soap. Someone here on Beautylish once recommended it and I went and bought it. I don't use any other store bought brush cleanser but Mona Lisa's Pink Soap now but I also spot disinfect my brushes daily IMMEDIATELY after use and a deep cleaning once a week with the Pink Soap. I will deep clean any brush that I've used wet (foiling, liner, lips) immediately after I'm done with my makeup.
I just cringe at the thought of people not cleaning their brushes for months at a time. Gross!
My tip on using brushes when sick - DON'T! Get disposables for lip glosses, mascaras, shadows and don't double dip! You can buy a bag of 100 lip gloss wands, mascara wands and shadow applicators for under $3 at most beauty supply stores. Store in a zip loc bag and when stick pull out several to use and again don't double dip since it defeats the purpose of using a disposable in the first place!