How to Wash Make-up Brushes

I like make-up, so I have quite a collection of brushes to apply it with. I want to take good care of my brushes so they will last a long time, and I still wash them quite often. I never use the same eyeshadow brush twice if I can avoid it, so the loose shadows won't mix and get dirty. And since I don't want to be washing brushes every day, this means I have around 10-15 eyeshadow brushes in use. My foundation brush gets washed whenever I wash the other brushes, blush and powder brushes less often. So far my brushes have held up fine, the oldest one is a blush brush that must be around nine years old, but of the more often used and washed brushes the Gosh eyeshadow brushes must be oldest, they are three years old.

I think quality brushes help apply make-up easier, but it's all down to your own preferences. Some people like to use large, fluffy brushes for the whole eye make-up, other prefer small, stiff, precise brushes. The main thing is that a brush should never feel uncomfortable. If it scratches your skin, it's not for you!

Here's how I wash my brushes, I learned my technique from Luna at Toxid Lotus a long time ago :)

You need:
A clean hand towel
Soap (some people like to use baby shampoo, and it's a good option if you have brushes with non-synthetic bristles. I use leftover hand and body soaps and the tiny soaps you get from hotels.)

1. Prepare the towel

Fold the towel in half and roll half of it. You will lay your wet, clean brushes to dry on it later. If you have many brushes, use a larger towel. Brushes usually need at least 10 hours to dry thoroughly, so pick a spot where they are not in the way during that time.

2. Get ready

Grab your soap (mine is tiny, it's the last piece of a bar from Dreaming Tree, I wanted to use every bit!) and let the tap run. Place the soap on your fingers so you have room to swish the brushes on your palm.

3. Wash!

Wet the brush in the running water, the swipe it on your soap. Swish the soapy brush on your palm to get the soap to penetrate the bristles. Rinse lightly and repeat until the brush doesn't let any more colour.

Wet...

Swipe...

Swish!

4. Rinse

Swish the brush in the running water for a while, make sure to bend the bristles so the water gets everywhere. If you can avoid it, don't let water get anywhere but the bristles and the ferrule, if it goes on the shaft, you might end up with the ferrule coming loose or the shaft swelling because of the moisture (only if it's wood). If the handle looks dirty, wash it quickly and dry immediately with a paper towel, or just wipe with alcohol (hand sanitizer works).

Rinse thoroughly!

5. Dry

Squish the bristles between your fingers to force out most of the water, but be careful not to pull them! Set your brush on the half rolled towel to that it's leaning down with the bristles at the lowest point. This prevents the moisture from the bristles from corroding the ferrule or the glue inside it that keep the bristles in place. Never dry your brushes bristles up, the moisture will only seep down into the ferrule and can even cause the glue to grow mold over time!

Squish gently.

And place to dry. My eyeshadow brushes take around 10 hours to dry, but the time depends on what material the bristles are (EcoTools dry the fastest, they have synthetic but very soft bristles) and how thick the brushes are. Large face brushes take a lot longer!

How to position brushes on the half rolled towel.

If you want the brushes to dry faster, you can try putting paper towel on top of the regular towel and changing it a few times over the drying time. For a quick help, I have Elf brush cleaning liquid that's basically alcohol. You spray some on the bristles, swipe the brush on a paper towel, repeat until no more colour sticks on the towel, and let it dry. Alcohol evaporates a lot faster than water, so your eyeshadow brush will be ready to use in about 15 minutes.

I personally think using quick alcohol cleanser often might affect the glue and dry out the bristles, so I prefer to just wash my brushes regularly and have many of the same brush. I don't use quick cleanser for face brushes at all, because they would still take ages to dry, and the alcohol would have a lot more time to dissolve the glue keeping the bristles in place.