It is super important to wash your makeup brushes or they can become a breeding ground for bacteria. All of the dirt, oil and makeup leftover on the brush is pretty nasty. I am going to show you how to clean your makeup brushes and provide a recipe that you can make to cleaning them.
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It wasn’t until recently that I was thinking about my makeup brushes, and I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I cleaned them. I also had to figure out exactly how to wash makeup brushes. So, this recipe and post was born!
Enough about my makeup brush cleaning revelation, let’s do this!
How Often Should I Clean My Brushes?
I guess it would depend of the type of brush that you are cleaning. For a foundation brush, you would almost want to clean it daily. Other brushes should be cleaned every 5-8 days.
I don’t wear makeup everyday and I don’t live in a perfect world, so I try to do it each weekend. I just add it in as a part of my weekend cleaning routine. It doesn’t take all that long to do.
Plus, your makeup just applies better with a clean brush. And there is a weird satisfaction that I get when I see all the makeup coming off the brush.
How To Wash Makeup Brushes
- Rinse the tip (about 1/4) of the brush under warm water.
- Fill a small bowl with your makeup cleaner (recipe found below).
- Swirl the tip of your brush in the makeup cleaner.
- Swirl your brush on the palm of your hand to create a cleaning lather on your brush.
- Rinse the tip of the brush (about 1/4) under warm water to rinse clean. You do this with the brush bristles facing downward towards the water.
- You may need to do this a few times, depending on just how dirty the brush is.
- Gently dab off some of the water on a wash cloth or paper towel.
- Lay flat hanging over the edge of the sink to dry or on a towel rack with a hair tie. Whatever you do, you do not want to leave it standing upright to dry, as this can ruin your makeup brushes.
Surfactants – It’s what does the “cleaning” when washing makeup brushes
Ok, so we know why and how to clean makeup brushes. Now, let’s go over the surfactants that we will be using in our makeup brush cleaner.
You have to use a surfactant in your brush cleaner to actually ‘clean’ them. Simply put, a surfactant has a head the is hydrophilic (loves water) and a tail that is hydrophobic (loves oil). The surfactant head will grab onto the water, while the tail stick to the makeup / oil.
Cocamidopropyl Betaine
Cocamidopropyl Betaine, ok so the name sounds intimidating, but this ingredient is actually derived from renewable natural resources. It is a mild surfactant that is used to increase the viscosity of our makeup brush cleaner. It also helps to increase the bubbling of the cleanser.
In fact, using this particular surfactant with a non-ionic surfactant, increases the cleansing abilities of our makeup brush cleaner.
Decyl Glucoside
Decyl Glucoside is a non-ionic surfactant that is made by reacting cornstarch glucose with natural fatty alcohol. This is mild and gentle, but it does some serious cleaning.
Other Ingredients
Isopropyl Alcohol
Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) is used to speed up the drying time on the brushes.
Broad Spectrum Preservative
Optiphen plus is the broad spectrum preservative that I am using. I cannot stress this enough, any time you are adding water to a recipe, you have to use a preservative. If you don’t you’re just creating a breeding ground for bacteria.
Makeup Brush Cleaner
Equipment
- Scale to weigh ingredients
- Container to store makeup cleaner
- Paper towel or washcloth
Ingredients
- 1.73 ounce | 64.2% Distilled Water
- 0.41 ounce | 15% Cocamidopropyl Betaine
- 0.27 ounce | 10% Decyl Glucoside
- 0.27 ounce | 10% Isopropyl Alcohol
- 0.02 ounce | .8% Broad Spectrum Preservative Use the rate suggested by manufacturer
Instructions
- Place all of your ingredients into a container and mix.
- Pour into a container to store.
- This recipe is almost too easy!
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