Washing Makeup Brushes

[MeadowHay]

So I'm really grot when it comes to washing my makeup brushes . I deffo don't do it anywhere near as often as I should, but determined to change that as I'm sure it's not helping my acne!!

What is the best thing to clean makeup brushes with though? Is it worth buying special stuff to clean your brushes or is it better to use soap, or shampoo, or conditioner, or what? I've read/heard lots of conflicting things.

I suffer/ed with adult acne. I wash well with my antibacterial hand wash, rinse, then leave in hair conditioner for a minute, rinse and dry. Works for me.

I nick DD's Real Techniques brush cleaner and it seems pretty good but must admit I've just used shampoo in the past and that's also been fine. Top tip - dry them flat because if you stand them up the water will drain down and loosen the glue that holds the head to the handle.

Shampoo is your friend! Swirl your brushes around a sink full of hot water with shampoo and watch the makeup/dirt come
free. Empty the sink and repeat until the water is clear (hopefully should just be twice). I stole that tip from the Lauren Conrad website a few years ago and it works a treat.

I find Makeup Revolution's Solid Brush Soap (£5, Superdrug) to be excellent. Better than Sephora & Beauty Blender's soap which cost much more.
It gets brushes clean quickly and the soap rinses away fast too.

I do Johnsons baby shampoo. Second the the not drying them standing up glue thing.

I clean dds clogged up brushes firstly with olive oil, then with Fairy.

I use my DC's tea tree shampoo. It works a treat.

I use a detox shampoo then conditioner.

I never wash them

Baby shampoo is meant to be the best thing. You should dry them flat on a tea towel ideally.

Anti bac soap as I'd never washed them since last year

Do people use different brushes for different shades of blusher?

Having tried baby shampoo to little effect I use MAC brush cleaner. Yes its a bit expensive, but you need a very small amount in an egg cup, swirl your brushes round and they really do come clean in no time, when you rinse them under the tap there is no sludgy make up clinging to the sides of the sink, they come clean amazingly quickly. I lay them on a cloth and put over radiator to dry. I actually enjoy doing them now (a sort of weird satisfaction) and from previously finding it a real pain, clean my foundation and eye make up brushes at least twice a week!

For the poster who asked about using different brushes for different shades of blusher - I do both a daily spot clean and a less frequent deep clean which gets around this.

Daily clean - Most brushes I have used get wiped with a tissue after use, often after a quick spritz of alcohol-based brush cleaner. This sanitises, gets rid of any residue, and dries fast. I sometimes use a basic homemade cleaner for this, made up of four parts isopropyl alcohol to one part leave-in conditioning spray. I don't use the spray on my more delicate brushes however.

Deep clean - I use a gentle liquid soap, currently the Beautyblender one, but even baby shampoo is fine. I rinse them (carefully avoiding the metal ferroule) and leave flat to dry. I do this weekly for brushes I use often (especially those used with liquid or cream products, such as concealer brushes). Less often for other brushes.

I just use a tiny bit of shampoo and wash them twice over and let them air dry. It works just as well as actual make up brush cleaner.