How To Clean Your Makeup Brushes!

This is a deep cleaning treatment that I give my brushes every 2 weeks or so, depending on how badly they need it!  It leaves my brushes feeling super soft and fluffy, I love the way they feel after!  Cleaning your brushes is sooooo important, I can't tell you how bad it is for your skin to keep using dirty, bacteria-filled brushes without washing them or cleaning them regularly :(  I even have a gross story about that: when I was in makeup school we had to pair up and do each other's makeup.  We were using the same brushes because we got one brush set to a pair of girls.  Anyway, the girl I was paired up with had some bad acne and an open sore on her face...and I guess we didn't clean our brushes properly after swapping over.  The next day I broke out really badly and got an open sore too!!  Even when I got some mild acne as a teen, I had never experienced anything like that before.  So CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES girls!!  

In between this treatment, I also just clean them with regular brush cleanser.  For this treatment you will need olive oil and some toilet paper (if you're cheap like me...otherwise you can use cotton pads!)  The olive oil helps to break down the makeup in your brushes and get rid of the colour.  All you do is pour a bit of olive oil onto the toilet paper and rub your brush into it, just like you're painting.  Do this until you get a whole bunch of gross wads of toilet paper like this:

Then bring your brushes over to the sink, run the tap at a lukewarm temperature (not too hot, not too cold) and using a gentle shampoo, wash the brush hairs using your hand.  I usually pour a little shampoo into the palm of my hand and kind of swish the brush around in it until all the colour is out.  Then rinse, holding the brush facing downwards and do the same thing using a gentle conditioner.

I either use a baby shampoo and conditioner or recently I've been using this moisturizing line from Shielo, which is 100% natural and organic.  

When you're done, lay your brushes flat on a towel but let the tops hang over it so that they can air dry.  I have mine on a radiator (this actually wasn't switched on) which you can do but make sure the heat isn't on too high!  I then leave them to dry overnight and the next morning they are incredibly soft and feel amazing!  

(Video tutorial on this coming soon!)

So those are my brush cleaning tips...what are yours?  How do you clean your brushes and do you have any horror stories?!

Stay Stylish!

xoxo