How Often Should Make Up Brushes be Cleaned?

By Amy Nutt

One of the biggest questions that is asked by people that apply makeup on a regular basis is how often they should be cleaning their makeup brushes. The answer may be surprising to most while not surprising at all to others - You should clean your makeup brushes as often as possible.

There is no real right or wrong answer to this question, because your makeup brushes are not going to go stale or anything if they pass a certain date, but when you have dirty makeup brushes, dirty powder puffs and dirty sponges, you should realize that a lot of bacteria has been accumulated. Even if you apply makeup after you cleanse, your skin will still have some sort of oil, adding even more bacteria to the tools. If you don't clean your tools on a regular basis, they are not all together very good for your skin.

In many cases, some makeup application tools like powder puffs and sponges are simply disposable, and so you can simply replace them as needed. Puffs and sponges typically do not dry out very well after they are cleaned and so it would be simpler and more cost effective for you to simply replace them as needed. The same is not true for your cosmetic brushes however, especially if you are working with a quality caliber set.

A dirty makeup brush is going to be not only unhygienic and bad for your skin in general, but also much more likely to worsen breakouts and rashes and other skin issues or to cause more in general. What this means is that you are going to want to clean your makeup brushes fairly regularly in order to remove the build up of makeup, oil, skin cells and bacteria. For most people who apply makeup casually from day to day, cleaning all of your makeup brushes once every two to four weeks is generally going to suffice. If you apply makeup much more often or if you are reapplying several times on a daily basis, then it would be wise for you to step this schedule up a bit, cleaning your brushes weekly or at least biweekly.

There are a number of different brush cleaning options that are available on the market. There are two excellent brands of makeup cleaners that are well worth bringing up, which are Pink Soap and Master Brush Cleaner. Both of them are capable of cleaning your brushes really well and rinsing out easily. You are going to find them in any high quality art supply store or cosmetic store.

It is also possible for you to simply use a high quality organic shampoo product. Make sure that you allow the brushes ample time to air dry. It is not recommended that you use artificial means to speed up the drying process because heat can damage your brushes in the same way that it can damage your own hair. Heat may also cause the glue binding the brushes to their handles to melt, which can cause the brushes to fall apart or otherwise become destroyed. - 30525

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