Brushes are one of the most important steps in makeup application, there’s no point having expensive makeup and horrible brushes. With the right brushes every makeup application can look great.
For brush cleaning I HIGHLY recommend the Masters Brush Cleaner & Preserver, which is designed for art brushes, but works fabulously for makeup brushes. It’s super gentle on the bristles, but removes EVERYTHING and leaves your brushes feeling super soft and smelling great. There’s a reason so many makeup artists love it.
I DO NOT recommend using shampoo, hand wash or dishwashing detergent; these usually contain sulfates which can be very damaging and drying to the bristles of your brush. Baby Shampoo should also be avoided as the mineral oil content leaves a film over your brushes which can sometimes alter the performance and application of some products.
Wet your brush underneath a small amount of warm water. Avoid getting any water above the metal part of the brush (the ferrule) as this can cause water to seep down into the glue of the brush making the bristles become loose, causing shedding.
Swirl your brush over a brush soap, you only need a small amount of cleanser.
Massage the brush into the palm of your hand, this will really work the brush cleaner in so that any product in the bristles is broken up.
Rinse your brush underneath warm water again, to rinse out any of the brush cleaner.
"Squeeze" the bristles of your brush from the base so that you get out any excess brush cleaner or product left in the bristles.
Now rinse again to make sure you get ALL the brush cleaner out. With dense brushes like this flat top kabuki you may need to cleanse it twice to thoroughly get all the product out.
For cleaning natural hair brushes the same technique is used, first wet your brush under warm water.
Swirl the brush over the brush soap, again you only need a small amount.
Massage the brush into the palm of your hands, with natural hair brushes a lather will form.
Thoroughly wash out any brush cleanser from the bristles, for large powder brushes it is not necessary to “squeeze” the bristles but it is a good idea to reshape them.
For eyeshadow brushes the process is the same, start of by wetting your brush underneath some warm water.
Swirl your brush over the brush soap, for eyeshadow brushes you only need a really small amount.
Massage the brush into the palm of your hand to worth the brush cleaner into a lather.
Rinse out any of the excess brush cleaner. TIP: If any of your brushes have dry bristles or stubborn product left in them you can leave some of the brush cleaner on the bristles for a 15 minutes or a few hours.
Pop a brush guard onto the larger brushes and lay them flat to dry or have the bristles hanging over a counter top (if you can it also helps to elevate them so the water runs out, do this by placing a book or rolling the towel up at the end where the handles are)
I recommend cleaning brushes after each use (especially brushes that have been used with cream/liquid products) but understand this is not possible for most people. Natural hair brushes that have been used with powder formulas can be used every day for a week without cleaning (if you aren’t using different colours/formulas/products) but it’s essential to clean brushes used with cream products after every use (even if it is just wiping them on a face wipe or spot cleaning them)
