One-Stop Shop: Cleaning Makeup Brushes
Hey everybody! Thanks for stopping by. This post is about this "one-stop shop" product that I use to clean my makeup brushes, beauty blenders, and so much more. So let's get right into it!
This magical product is...
Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap!
I think Dr. Bronner's line of castile soaps is an underrated and somewhat hidden gem, especially in the millennial community. I only wear makeup once or twice a week, but I clean my brushes on a regular basis because it takes no time for bacteria and dust and all kinds of nasty stuff to get caked up in them. But I could never find an effective solution that would actually clean them without compromising the texture of the bristles or breaking the bank. Brush shampoos that you find at places like MAC and Sephora are great products, but they can also be pricy so I generally steer clear of those. I'm also a minimalist of sorts. I don't like having too many duplicates of stuff and I don't like buying anything that only serves one purpose for one particular item. So long story short, I wanted something that cleaned my brushes and my beauty blenders, not just one or the other (and by beauty blenders, I mean my knock off ones lol you'll see them pictured below).
So I was making my weekly Target run, picking up my regular items and I decided to stop and take a look at this castile soap that I always overlook. I read the label, went home, did some research, went back the next weekend, and then finally decided that it might be worth the buy. Brought it home, tried it out, and let's just say it's magic! So let me tell you about this soap.
There are lots of different kinds, I think the only big difference between them in the scent. I purchased the lavender one because lavender is my fave. So for one, the soap is Fair Trade, which basically means that in the countries where it's made or it's ingredients are sourced, the workers on that end are paid fair prices. Two, it's made of ingredients that I can pronounce, which 9 times out of 10 means that they're good ingredients (you can see the full list here). Three, it cleaned my brushes and beauty blenders flawlessly. Four, it's super affordable, and five, you can use it for so much more than cleaning makeup brushes!
So in addition to cleaning makeup brushes, you can also use Dr. Bronner's for just about anything. Literally, anything. Body wash, face wash, shampoo, bath soap, baby body wash, dish detergent, laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner for countertops, windows, floors, rinsing your fruits and vegetables, do you see why this is a one-stop shop product?! And the best part is that it comes in a concentrated form, so a little goes a long way and it lasts for forever basically. That's what I call a bang for your buck. You can find it on Amazon, but you can find it so much cheaper at Target, Walmart, GNC, grocery stores, etc., hence the reason I didn't add it to my aStore. Save money, honey!
Okay! So lastly (back to the original topic at hand), here are my basic steps for cleaning my makeup brushes:
Sigma Brush Cleaning Glove
To dry the two-sided Tarte brush, I just flipped it after a couple hours to give the other side some drying time.
- Wet brush with warm or cool water (anything but hot water, that dries out your bristles!)
- My Sigma Brush Cleaning Glove is my go-to for this because it has different patterns for washing, rinsing, and refining and I think it's faster and more effective than washing by hand. But the palm and back of your hand will still do the trick. So add soap to either your hand or your glove and and run the brush across until you start to see the makeup product(s) in the suds.
- After the brush is clean, use your glove or hand to rinse it, refine or reshape the bristles with your glove or fingers, and put the brush on a towel to dry with the bristles facing down. This is very important! Drying your brushes with the bristles facing up causes the water to drain down into the area where the bristles are glued. So unless you want your brushes to start falling apart, turn 'em upside down! Check out the picture below.
- For beauty blenders, I use the same steps listed above with a minor change to the drying process. I like to roll them on a paper towel while applying some pressure to soak up the excess water before placing it on the towel with the brushes.
So there you have it! Hopefully you found this useful. Thanks for journeying with me :)