How to Clean Your Brushes & Makeup

This is Part II in our Spring Cleaning series. If you’re just catching up, be sure to check out Part I where we teach you to Marie Kondo your makeup bag.

So you’ve gone through and ditched your expired, passé and impossible makeup, leaving just the most beautiful goodness. Feeling better? We sure are. But your spring cleaning work isn’t quite finished. Today we’re here to tackle maintenance: how to take care of the beauties that were worth holding on to, ensuring the best results, and a clean, happy face. You do know to clean your makeup brushes regularly, right…?

BRUSH CARE BASICS

One of the reasons we love love love (and strongly advocate) using brushes is that it’s more hygienic than dipping your fingers directly into a product over and over again. But that’s only if you’re cleaning those brushes on a regular basis. We’d recommend a shampooing every 1-4 weeks, depending how often you use the brush.

How to Clean Makeup Brushes

You should wash a brush like you wash your hair: soak the fibers first, then lather it in a mild shampoo and rinse, pointing the brush downward and keeping all the bristles in one direction so the pigment runs out and the fibers don’t tangle.

To dry your makeup brush, press the water out, reshape it and lay it off the edge of your sink or on a towel so it regains its natural shape. Visual learner? Check out the video of this technique on our Brushes page.

Can you use dish soap to wash a makeup brush?

Nope—you wouldn’t get that stuff near your own hair, so please keep it off your brushes too.

Can you use facial cleanser to wash a makeup brush?

Sure, if it’s good at removing the makeup from your face. If you use a very mild cleanser post-face wipe (or three), it’s not a good choice. A good brush shampoo lathers well and is only lightly conditioning, so if you love our PURE PLUSH or PURENESS cleansers, go for it. On the other hand, OIL OBSESSED (which is amazing at removing makeup from skin) shouldn’t be used on your tools — it contains moisturizing essential oils that are so great for your face, not so great for your brushes.

Daily Cleaning Tips

If you’re a fan of the smoky eye or have been working on your contouring skills, you probably learned this one the hard way: you should clean a brush every time you use it for a new color. Those gorgeous shades become grey if you mix them together, so be sure to use a quick change brush cleaner between every shade: spray a tissue until it is slightly damp and rub it lightly into the bristles — you should never spray a brush directly. If you find yourself smashing the brush into your damp tissue, it’s time for a good old brush shampooing (see above).

What Not to Do

Please don’t soak your brushes (if you want them to last). We recommend pointing the brush downward when you rinse it to keep water from penetrating and disintegrating the glue that’s holding it together.

MAKEUP CARE BASICS 

Your favorite makeup gets you through dream-job interviews, terrible dates, unexpected breakouts … time to give it a little TLC in return.

Caring for Loose Mineral Makeup

Our minerals need to stay dry to last, but we know that swirling in the cap of products like ORIGINAL Foundation can cause discoloration over time. Get that pristine, fresh-from-the-box look by wiping the inside of the cap (NEVER the top of pot) with a tissue spritzed with alcohol. Rubbing alcohol works well — make sure it’s over 70% alcohol to disinfect as you clean, and wait until it dries fully before closing the product.

Caring for Compact Powders

Keep. Them. Dry. This is absolutely key, but if you notice your compact has changed color, you spill a different product on it, or otherwise feel compelled to clean, spritz a tissue with alcohol and remove the upper film to uncover new product.

Caring for Eye & Lip Liners

Keeping pencils sharp prevents them from falling apart. But when you fish out your sharpener, only sharpen the pencil tip to about 90%. Otherwise, yup, you’re back to increasing the chance the tip will break off. If this sounds weirdly high-maintenance, don’t worry — if you apply your liner by gliding it at an angle, you’ll naturally maintain a gentle point. Just sharpen a little bit when you need to expose more product — which sounds/is way more manageable.

Caring for Creams

Wet products tend to expire faster, and the best way to slow this progress is to screw the cap on fully after every single use (no matter how late you are).

What Not to Do

Cleansing wipes can take makeup off your face, but you don’t want to use them on your beauty products. Not only are they very wet (without the fast evaporating quality of alcohol), but they contain humectants for retaining moisture, and you certainly don’t need to moisturize your makeup.

Happy cleaning!

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