Cleaning Brushes: How? How Often?

Hello there makeup lovers, today I decided to give out some of my very common tips for cleaning brushes. Before I proceed, I just want to say that I do believe I clean my brushes a little too often for what is recommended, but I just have dirty brushes phobia, its a problem, but I don't mind it.

To start off, I usually have two different methods of cleaning my brushes. The brushes I use with liquid or gel products are the ones I clean on daily basis, and I have a different way of cleaning those. So, I guess I'll start by talking you through my cleaning routine. As mentioned, I deep clean these brushes after every single use, I cannot tolerate the idea of me using a dirty foundation brush all over my face, it grosses me out a little bit, even though I only use it on myself. I don't use gel liner at all, I used to have one, and I used to clean the brush after every use as well, especially because gel liners would make the brush feel so hard and stiff, very scratchy and uncomfortable. I would advise everyone to not use a dirty foundation brush, but I don't think it's as problematic as I imagine it to be if it is used for 3 or four times without being cleaned. Anyway, here is how I clean my foundation/gel products brushes:

Gel products are harder to clean with regular shampoo or baby shampoo or any other kind of shampoo. So, what I use to break down the liquid is olive oil. I coat the bristles in a little bit of olive oil and run them on the palm of my hand for a short while, then I start adding some water to help get rid of the product, I give the brush a couple good squeezed just to get rid of the oil and the foundation, and then I either use dish soap, or a regular shampoo. I let the shampoo to really soak into the bristles and clean them thoroughly for a minute and two, and then I rinse the brush out and keep on squeezing the bristles until I see that the water is clear and no soap is coming out of the bristle.

Now for brushes I use with powder products such as eyeshadows, blushes, and the like, I clean them once a week, usually on a Saturday or a Sunday. Eyeshadow brushes are the ones that I spot clean very often because I use different shades every day, in other words, I like to change things up on daily basis. To make a long story short, I just shampoo them and rinse them out till the water is clear and the soap is all out. To spot clean my brushes, I just use my face cleansing water, as long as its alcohol free and not oily. If the brush felt like it was full of shimmer, I will deep clean it, but as long as I don't see a ton of shimmer stuck between the brushes, spot cleaning is fine for the week.


Now to dry them out, I just lay them flat on my vanity, making sure that no water can find its way into the ferrule of my brushes, because this is the part were the glue that hold the bristles is, and you if water gets in the glue, then the bristles will fall out and the blush will become history. So always make sure not to get water in your brush ferrules, because you want to keep your brushes in as good of a condition as can be, and for as long as they can potentially last.
To keep them in shape, I use brush guards, and if the brush doesn't come with one, I'll try to make my own. If you'd like to see a video on how I make my brush guards, let me know.

So, that concludes my brush care regimen. Hope you enjoyed it and found it helpful!