Friday, 30 May 2014

Make Up Brushes: Deep Clean


I've been doing some intense Spring cleaning all morning! As in... the whole sha-bang... bleach, polish and all that fun stuff (not quite) and I decided to give all my make up brushes a good clean! For day-to-day cleaning it's fine to just use some kind of spot cleaner (I use one from Mac, it's about £10 and has been lasting ages) but every few weeks it's important to do a proper clean! This helps reduce spots on the face because it gets rid of all the bacteria clogged inside the brush (ew!) and it helps make up application by giving a better finish, and being easier to blend :) It is slightly time consuming, but the good thing is you don't always have to wash every single one, just the ones you use daily (having a bigger brush collection is useful here as you can be lazy and just rotate them.. oops haha)

 Here is how I go about giving mine a good cleanse!

10 steps...


  1. You'll need some soap, (I just use a regular soap that's good at making skin soft and anti-bacterial... as it has the same benefits for brushes! but you can use a proper make up brush soap) some water, (I just use the sink) and a couple of towels.
  2. Lay a towel (or 2/3/4... depending on how many brushes you're cleaning) at the edge of a desk or shelf. Fold it over half way so that the back bit is higher than the front.


  3. Go to the sink and either make a little pool of water, or just leave the tap running and be naughty (wasting water). Squirt some soap directly onto the brush.


  4. Swirl around your hand, rinse, and repeat until the brush looks clean. The aim of the game here, is to keep the brush facing downwards as much as possible! This is to stop water getting down into the brush which can interfere with the glue and leave you with lots of fall-out hairs.


  5. Once clean, pat dry with a flannel, and give it a little squeeze with your finger and thumb to get rid of any excess soap.

  6. Now, lay it down on the towel so that the brush is hanging over the edge... this stops it from drying with a flat edge and keeps its fluffy round shape in tact! Also, having the back elevated will again stop water from going down into the brush where the glue is (bit complicated hey! but it comes in handy in helping your brushes last A LOT longer)

  7. Repeat with all the brushes you want to clean (yawn).

  8. Once they're all done, lay them out to dry over-night or on a day that you won't be needing them as they can take a little while.


    I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY ALL FIT IN TWO LITTLE IKEA POTS HAHA (ALL FROM EITHER REAL TECHNIQUES, ZOEVA, BARE MINERALS, MAC OR EBAY) - I THINK SOME MAY HAVE TO BE DONATED TO MY MUMSY!

  9. Done! Now they will feel all beautiful, clean and soft... enjoy it when you next use them!

  10. One more quick step... you'll now need some bleach for the sink, probably a new soap and a cup of tea on the sofa haha (your back will probably start to ache after brush number 10)! 

I hope that little cleaning tutorial was useful to you :) I wouldn't panic if you don't ALWAYS keep on top of the process but every now and then I find it's really good for your skin, make up application and the brushes themselves to freshen them up a bit :) PS... all of the photos in this post were taken with my new camera (CANON POWERSHOT SX700 HS) :D

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