Cleaning your makeup brushes is often one of those tedious tasks that we 'forget' about doing. It's similar to how we feel about flossing... we know it's good for us, but we have to consciously remind ourselves to do it daily.
It's no secret that makeup brushes can build up bacteria over time. One study* revealed that over the course of a month an uncleaned makeup brush had a bacteria count that was too high to be measured. That sounds scary! And, it was even further revealed that 72% of us don’t wash our brushes. In an effort to fight germs on our precious skin, here are our rules of thumb when it comes to cleaning your brushes.
The Total You Cosmetics Makeup Brush Rules:
#1: For bronzer, blush, or any other all-over face brushes, we suggest washing them once every two weeks. You will start to see they are dirty when you notice the subtle discoloration and the bristles get somewhat 'caked' and start to bend in different directions losing their plump shape.
#2: We recommend using a mild soap or shampoo. We're not picky here, just nothing harsh. We've used everything from hand soap, bar soap {Cetaphil anti-bacterial soap is great}, face wash, dish soap, and various shampoos. Make sure the water is warm, squeeze a pea-size amount of soap {if liquid} onto the brush and begin to work into a lather. You'll notice the water becomes discolored with makeup. Continue to massage the brush with soap, gently wringing out the water from the bristles until it becomes clear. This is when you'll know that most of the makeup is gone.
#3. If you want to clean your brushes more frequently, we recommend using one of our amazing
brush cleaner, squeezing some on a paper towl or in a small bowl and dipping just the ends of the brush ever so slightly into the liquid. Then rub on a hand towl or paper towl to get the excess makeup off. Note, this isn't necessarily a deep clean and we still suggest mixing in a soap/water routine discussed in #2 once a month if you clean daily with makeup remover.
#4. For your small brushes like eyeshadow, eyeliner, concealer, or lipstick, we recommend a bit more frequent cleaning. Since these are more precision tools, they likely have specific colors on them that get changed out more frequently vs. the one bronzer or blush color you use. In order to get the color you're going for instead of a combination of colors leftover on the brush, it's best to clean these after every use. They can simply be blotted on a hand towel or paper towl using a small dab of brush cleaner mentioned in rule #3. And, because this isn't technically a 'deep clean' we still like to use soap/water at least once a month.
#5. Puffs are our favorite makeup accessory! They are oh-so-soft and perfect for all of your blending and contour needs. Because these guys are so versatile and can truly be used for every part of the makeup application process, they get the dirtiest and likely have the most bacteria on them. Depending on how much face makeup you wear we recommend washing them once a week or once every two weeks depending on the amount of makeup used. You will easily notice when these puffs get dirty due to their off-white coloring. Once you can't see most of the white anymore, it's time to wash! We follow the soap/water routine in #2 for our puffs.
We hope this helps your beauty routines, dolls, and that your face feels extra clean by adding these to your regimen. Happy cleaning!
Oh, before you go, check out our
brush selection -- we've got one for every occasion!
Study
*Simonian, A., 2013, The Identification of Bacteria Found on Makeup Brushes, Loyola Marymount University, California.
