By Natasha Keating

Friday 9 August 2013

How to: DEEP Clean your makeup brushes

Hey Beauties!

Hands up who washes their makeup brushes regularly? Be honest now girls! You would be amazed by the amount of bacteria your brushes can harvest so if you have dirty brushes stop blaming that new product you have been trying out, until you have read this post & cleaned your brushes! 
Today I have a little ‘HOW TO’ post on how I deep clean my makeup brushes. You may already have your own way that works for you & that’s great but this is just to show you how I do it & what works best for me. I have to admit I am a bit lazy in the deep cleaning department but as I do be using my brushes regularly on clients I do always spot clean my brushes & deep clean every 3 weeks.

I am not claiming to be a pro at cleaning brushes just showing what works for me. You could also check some videos on YouTube for more ideas.



In the above picture you can see everything you will need for this process. As you can see you will need:
Your dirty brushes (obviously)
Kitchen Roll
Towel
Johnsons’ baby shampoo
You also need to be at the sink to do this so that you can wet & rinse the brushes.

 

Firstly, wet the brush with lukewarm water avoiding the handle or any metal parts so that rusting can’t occur. And DO NOT submerge the brush in water! Submerging the brush in water could cause the bristles to fall out if the glue was to soften, especially with hot water. I usually point the brush downwards into a running tap of lukewarm water.



Secondly, put a small amount of Johnson’s Baby Shampoo into the palm of your hand. I use Johnson’s as I find it works best, you will find it is a popular choice across the board of other bloggers & vloggers. But that’s because it works & it is also more affordable than fancy brand names brush cleaners.


Thirdly, swirl the brush around your palm, in the shampoo, until it begins to lather. As you swirl you will see the colour of the makeup starting to colour the lather but keep swirling until you can see the brush is starting return to its normal colour. You may need to repeat this step again if there is a lot of makeup on the brush. (You will be surprised by the amount that the brush holds!)




Fourthly, now rinse the brush under the running tap the suds of the brush & don’t be afraid to use your fingers to work the suds out of the brush.
(Note: I understand this may seem like to be a waste of water to be having the tap running but if you turn of the tap between steps until you need it you should be fine.)


Now give the brush a little squeeze to get the excess water out.


Next fold a piece of kitchen roll in half & in half again just to have those extra layers. Now swirl or press the brush onto the kitchen roll to test if any makeup is present, if any colour transfers to the kitchen roll then repeat previous steps. The doubling up makes for ease of moving the brush & avoid tearing the paper towel.


Next I like to give the brush a gentle squeeze with a hand towel to try speed the drying process up. But do be gentle and try more to fold the towel over the brush and press lightly.




Now reshape the bristles to represent original shape, or close to the shape it is supposed to be as you can, just to ensure the brush doesn’t dry out of shape & would mean you would never have the same brush again.


  Now lie the clean brush flat on the towel  to allow to air dry. Do NOT apply heat to the brush such as hair dryer or on to a heater as this could cause the glue in the ferrule to melt. I recommend leaving the brushes on the towel over night in the bathroom or on the towel, on the floor below a cooling radiator (ensure it will not be going on while the brushes are there).

Always make sure your brushes are fully dry before using them & never put them in a drawer or bag until they are to avoid mould.

I will doing a post on how I spot clean my brushes between deep cleans & to change use of brush soon. There are a number of companies that have brush cleaners out there which can be cheap or expensive & I am sure they all work great but the baby shampoo is a great alternative & leaves brushes smelling great. Instead of the baby shampoo you could try MAC’s brush cleaner which under lukewarm water lathers into a great shampoo for deep cleaning or can be used as a spray for spot cleaning.

How often do you clean your brushes? 
Comment & let me know, don’t be shy.  I won’t judge!
Natasha xx
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2 comments

  1. I never would have thought to use Johnson baby shampoo. Great points, thank you chick x

    http://www.thereddutchess.com/

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    Replies
    1. It is brilliant for it. Bottle lasts for ages & brushes smell so nice after it xx

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