How To Clean Makeup Brushes - The Ultimate Guide
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Welcome, beauty enthusiasts! Today, we're diving into an essential topic that often gets overlooked - how to clean makeup brushes at home. As artists, we know that our tools are just as important as the products we use. So, let's roll up our sleeves and explore the art of brush care, why it's crucial, and the best practices for keeping our brushes in pristine condition. And finally, we will go into a step by step process of how to clean makeup brushes and look after your beloved tools at home.
Read on to learn about why it's important to clean your brushes and best practices of brush cleaning. If you are short on time, skip to the end to see our step-by-step guide on how to clean makeup brushes.
1. Hygiene - Importance Of Clean Makeup Brushes
Our skin comes into direct contact with makeup brushes during application, making it crucial to prioritize hygiene. Dirty brushes can harbour bacteria, oils, and dead skin cells, which can transfer onto our skin, clogging pores and leading to breakouts. Not great right? Especially for fellow acne prone skin types out there.
Regularly cleaning our brushes helps maintain healthy skin by reducing the risk of bacterial build-up and potential skin irritations.
Prevent cross-contamination! Makeup brushes used on different areas of the face, such as eyes, cheeks, and lips, should never be interchanged without proper cleaning. Each area has its unique set of bacteria and oils, which can be transferred through the brushes. Maintaining separate brushes for each area and regularly cleaning them prevents cross-contamination, ensuring hygienic application and minimizing the risk of infections or skin reactions.
Importance of Clean Brushes
2. Makeup Color Accuracy
Clean brushes ensure true color payoff and accuracy when applying makeup. A brush that is not properly cleaned can retain old product residue, affecting the intensity and tone of the shades used. By regularly cleaning your brushes, you can maintain the vibrancy of your makeup colors and achieve the desired results with every application.
True colors of makeup can show up if brushes are clean
3. Extending Your Makeup Brush Lifespan
Investing in high-quality makeup brushes is an investment in your artistry. By keeping your brushes clean, you can extend their lifespan and get the most out of your investment. The buildup of product, oils, and bacteria can deteriorate the bristles and compromise their performance over time.
Proper cleaning and maintenance ensure that your brushes remain in optimal condition, allowing you to enjoy their quality for years to come.
Best Practices For Cleaning Makeup Brushes
1. Choosing the Right Cleanser:
Cleaning your natural hair makeup brushes requires a different solution to cleaning your synthetic bristle makeup brushes.
Selecting a gentle cleanser specifically formulated is essential for natural hair. Look for products that effectively remove makeup residue, oils, and bacteria without causing damage to the bristles.
If you can, invest in a special cleanser for natural hair brushes otherwise we recommend a gentle shampoo for your natural hair brushes to save money.
Every couple of weeks we recommend using a clarifying shampoo to remove cleaning product build-up. The key here is to treat it like your own hair, after all, they are made of natural hairs with cuticles just like yours's.
For spot cleaning in between uses, we recommend a gentle brush cleaner such as Cinema Secrets brush cleaner. Please note that this does not replace deep cleaning at least once a week.
2. Frequency of Cleaning:
How often should you clean your brushes? Ideally, aim for a thorough cleaning at least once a week, especially for brushes used with liquid or cream products. Brushes used for powder products can be cleaned every two weeks (minimum). However, keep in mind that heavily pigmented or darker shades may require more frequent cleaning to prevent colour staining and inaccurate product application.
Keep in mind the above applies to personal use of makeup brushes at home.
For makeup artists, maintaining impeccable hygiene practices is essential to uphold professional standards and prioritize client safety. Using clean brushes not only ensures a flawless application but also demonstrates professionalism and a commitment to client well-being. Regularly cleaning and sanitizing brushes between clients is a non-negotiable practice to maintain a hygienic working environment.
Method - How To Clean Makeup Brushes
1) Wet the brush bristles under lukewarm water, avoiding submerging the entire brush to protect the ferrule and the glue that holds the ferrule in place on the handle.
2) Gently massage a small amount of brush cleanser onto the bristles to create a lather. Now press the brush hairs gently between your fingers to massage the product build-up out. Do not rub!
3) Rinse the bristles thoroughly until the water runs clear, ensuring all product and cleanser residue is removed.
4) Gently squeeze out excess water from the bristles with a clean towel or cloth, gently pat dry in the natural direction that the brush hairs are facing. Please do NOT rub or pull. This may cause breakage in brush hairs and result in frizz.
5) Reshape the brush bristles and lay them flat on a clean surface to air dry completely before using again. You can also hang them up to dry but remember to have the brush head facing the floor when hanging as you do not want the water to seep into the glue weakening the hold of the brush hairs.
Pro tip: to maintain the shape of your brush hairs, use a brush net to cover them and allow it to dry with the netting on. This will result in a perfectly formed shape with no hairs out of place when it’s dry.
All Royume brushes come with a brush net to allow you to maintain the shape of your brushes for accurate application of makeup.
FAQS
How can I remove heavily pigmented products from my makeup brushes?
We recommend starting with the method outlined above. If you still struggle to remove the makeup from the brush, then use a little of an oil based makeup remover and apply it to just the area that is stained. Let it sit for 10-15 seconds before rinsing. Do not soak the entire brush head into the makeup remover solution as this will weaken the glue securing the hairs in place.
How do I wash synthetic makeup brushes?
Use exactly the same method as washing natural hair brushes outlined above. The different is that synthetic hairs are tougher and don't have the cuticles that natural hair does so you can use regular shampoo or even dishwashing liquid to clean if you struggle to get the product off the bristles.
Can I speed up the drying process?
It usually takes about a day or two for the brushes to dry, sometimes overnight if you live in a drier climate. It also depends on the brush that is drying, the denser the bristles, the longer it takes to dry. We recommend after washing your brushes, gently press the brush hairs with a soft paper towel, repeat this process until it is just damp and not dripping wet. Do not use a blow dryer to speed up the process, the heat can damage natural hairs as well as affect the ferrule and handles.
