Makeup Brushes: Protect Your Investment with 3 Easy Steps
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I recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear and his whole premise is to “habit stack” - add one habit to another to remind you to do it, which builds good habits. Here’s an example, I added “resetting” my living room to my habit of loading the dishwasher before bed. Now when I get up in the morning my kitchen is clean AND my living room is tidy. It makes every day feel like a fresh start and I love it.
Why am I telling you this? Because you can use this trick to remember to wash your makeup brushes. I’m going to go ahead and guess that you’re not washing your brushes very often and that’s ok, I get it. It isn’t the most fun chore on your to-do list. As a professional makeup artist I have to wash upwards of 50-100 brushes a week and I deeply wish elves would wash them while I sleep, but alas….
Linking the task to a recurring event, like paying your rent, settling your credit card bill, or another regular monthly activity, is an effective way to remember it. It could be when you start a new pack of birth control or receive your paycheck. Just ensure it’s tied to something that happens consistently to trigger your memory.
Now that you’re committed to washing them monthly, here are my tips for keeping your brushes clean, well-maintained, and lasting a lifetime.
WASH
Use hot water. You need the warmth to break oils and pigments down. Hold the bristles under the running water until they’re soaked through.
CLEAN ONCE
Get the bar of soap wet and swirl your brush onto the bar. Get it good and saturated with soap so that the pigments and oils break down easily.
RINSE
Thoroughly rinse the brush under running hot water.
CLEAN AGAIN
Repeat. Washing twice really gets them clean.
RINSE AGAIN
Rinse again under hot water.
SQUEEZE
Squeeze the excess water out of the brush heads.
DRY
Lay your brushes flat on a towel with their heads hanging over the edge of the counter. By drying them flat (vs upright in a cup) you’re preventing the water from loosening the glue bonding the hair in the ferrule, which leads to your brushes shedding.
Let them dry overnight. If it’s cold, you might need 24+ hours for them to dry completely.
Clean brushes = no bacteria. No bacteria = clear skin. Clear skin = needing less makeup. Cause and effect at its best.
