Brush cleansing 101

In a beauty routine, I am all for hygiene! I use a new washcloth for every cleanser or mask and I clean out my make-up and skincare stash regularly. The most important however, is to properly clean and maintain your make-up brushes.

Think about it: you likely use make-up brushes to apply powders and liquids, whether that be to apply eye make-up or to use foundation, setting powders, bronzers, blushes and the like. You probably do this every day, right after you've used your face creams and serums etc. After that, you leave your make-up brushes standing up in one of those very instagrammable brush holders, or (and I almost want to say "worse"), you stuff them in a zip-up make-up bag. All of this ensures that a wealth of dirt accumulates on a make-up brush (going from make-up and skincare remainders, to the bacteria that grow in this humid environment).

Have you grossed you out? Yes? Good. Now get to cleaning those brushes! I clean my brushes once every other week, but you could be an even better student and do this on a weekly basis. I do cleanse thoroughly: I used a specific soap, i.e. the Beautyblender Blendercleanser Solid, and lather my brushes up, rinse well and leave it out to dry.

So how should you go about this? Step 1: lightly humidify the brush you want to cleanse. Hold it under the running tap and gently squeeze out the excess water. Subsequently, rub your brush directly on the soap, so that the little brush hairs are all "topped" with a bit of the cleansing agent. Then, start emulsifying this. I find it easiest to work with a little brush cleansing pad, which is the pink object you see in the pictures. It takes most of the work out of this procedure. For really thick brushes, you can go in with your fingers and separate the brush hairs to make sure the soap gets everywhere. Next step: thoroughly rinse under a running tap, until the water is clear. And I mean really thoroughly. Soap rests will damage the brush hairs, whether those be natural or synthetic! Then, squeeze your brushes to get rid of excess water and softly dry and shape them with a towel. Finally, and most importantly, leave your brushes to dry on a flat surface (for example, at the edge of a table, with the brush head sticking out) for as long as you can (minimum 12 hours!). This is crucial, as it will make sure there is no more water in the brush. Don't ever let your brushes dry vertically (with the head up) or start using them prematurely, as any water remaining in the head will sink into the barrel, and loosen the glue there. I don't need to paint a picture there: the brush will start loosing hairs! This is a pity (as brushes are typically expensive), but it is also plain annoying to do you make-up with brush hairs flying everywhere.


Hope this helps with your brush maintenance!


You can always trust me to give you an honest opinion and to tell you when a post was sponsored. This one wasn't and all of the products mentioned were purchased by me (for the love of make-up...).

Photo credits to Femke v.d.H.