How To Correctly Clean Makeup Brushes

Cleaning Your Brushes With A Brush Cleaner

Firstly as a professional hair and makeup artist with over two decades experience, I can tell you that makeup brush cleaning sprays and fluids do not clean effectively.

A makeup brush is dense with bristles, (which I hope are the vegan kind and not animal ) and spraying or wiping them with a brush cleaner, really won’t be able to remove all the old makeup, bacteria, fungus and oils etc. Also many of these cleaners are not cruelty-free and contain synthetic ingredients and fragrances.

How to correctly clean makeup brushes and tools is simply by washing them with a cruelty free detergent or shampoo and rinsing very thoroughly!

*A beauty salon should use an autoclave to kill off all diseases and germs between clients..

How To Correctly Clean Makeup Brushes

If they are not your own brushes and tools, then it is advisable to wear gloves when cleaning.

You will need a cruelty-free, natural shampoo, or natural dish-washing detergent and a clean towel to lay them on.

How To Correctly Clean Makeup Brushes

• First rinse the brush in warm water

• Add some shampoo to the bristles and work them into a rich lather

• Rinse well under warm water.

• Repeat with a secondly shampooing and rinse well again. You may need to do this a few times until the water runs clean, especially if the brush is heavily caked.

• Now gently squeeze out the water from the brush. You can also squeeze some out with a clean towel, but do not rub bristles, as you will damage the shape of them.

• Shake the brush vigorously to further remove any excess water.

• Using your fingers, gently form the bristles back into the original brush shape and then lie the brush  flat on a towel to dry completely before using. You may need to turn the brush around to ensure even drying.

• Another trick is to let the bristles hang over the edge of a towel laid on the end of a bench, so that they are not pressing against the bench or the towel. This is a great way to ensure large, full bristled brushes maintain their shape.

• Wash your latex and other cosmetic sponges and puffs using the same method.

• You should also wash your tweezers and eyelash curlers as they too get covered in dirt and grime.

Hepatitis C From Sharing Makeup Brushes and Tools

Hepatitis C is a very hardy disease and can survive outside the body on surfaces for possibly up to 30 days. It is also is not easily killed and can survive alcohol and bleach. Have a read more about Hep C transmission.

Many makeup artists may use  a brush cleaner or alcohol to wipe or spray down their brushes in-between clients. This again will only partially clean the brush and if in the rare event that a client has a serious and highly contagious disease such as Hepatitis C and she had any open sores on her face, or bleeding areas; e.g  cracked lips, bleeding pores from eyebrow tweezing, or open weeping pimples, then alcohol spraying makeup brushes and makeup tools is not enough.

*If as a makeup artist you are working on a male client and he has recently shaved then be very careful as there are often shaving nicks and rashes. It is best to wear disposable latex gloves and use disposable sponges and applicators.

An autoclave is the only sure way to kill Hepatitis C on equipment.  But most makeup artists don’t have one and this is why washing with a bleach, (I personally never use bleach as it is toxic to us, animals and the environment.) or cruelty free detergent is so important, as while it won’t kill the virus, you are at least washing it off the surface.

Makeup Artists Brush & Tool Hygiene

A makeup artist should always use a new makeup sponge per client, a disposable mascara wand and cotton buds to apply lipstick and eyeliner. It is best to ask your clients to provide their own tweezers.  Never use brushes on any client with open sores or cuts on their face.

I personally have not use brushes in my work for many years now. Instead I use Ecotools disposable eye-shadow applicators, one use mascara wands and latex sponges and pointy cotton buds to apply eyeliner, line brows and fill in lips. I still get a professional finish as you can see here in my portfolio www.nicolegroch.com.au

If you do use brushes and tweezers then you need to have plenty of sets and wash each brush as outlined below before you use it on another clients.

The Health Hazards  Of Sharing Your Makeup Brushes & Tools With Family & Friends

It is advisable, just as with makeup products, to not share your makeup sponges, brushes, eyelash curlers and tweezers with friends and even family.  As while thankfully you probably won’t have the risk of Hep-C, you still have eye infections, viruses, cold sores and bacteria to contend with.

You don’t share your toothbrush so why would you share your lip-brush?

If you do still want to share then you should wash them after someone else uses them, or at least wipe them down with alcohol.

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