Care & Feeding of Your Cosmetic Brush-Babies

How often should I clean my brushes, and why?  Once every week or two for powder-only brushes should suffice, and after each use for brushes used with any liquid or cream-type product.  The answers for "why" leads to a more in-depth response...

Think of your cosmetic brushes as an investment.  When you invest your hard-earned money into something, you should take care of it, right?  The same goes for your brushes - on many different levels.  The best care you can give your brushes (and yourself) is a proper, regular cleaning.

I am often asked why it is important to clean your brushes beyond knocking the powder out of them and dry-cleaning them with a cloth.  There are several reasons.

For one, it extends the life of the brush.  Over time, brushes that aren't properly cleaned on a regular basis will become matted, misshapen and even become brittle and break at the bristles, especially with natural hair brushes.

The most important reason is it is imperative to your skin's health.  Brushes  (whether natural or synthetic) literally collect and trap oils, dirt, dead skin cells, makeup and bacteria.  A dirty brush can lead to breakouts, blemishes and even infection.  Let's get a little gross for a minute so I can show you an example:

Say you have a cold sore/fever blister and you apply your makeup as usual.  If you don't clean that brush, you run a VERY high risk of spreading that herpes virus - even to your eyes.  Yes... the same virus that causes your cold sore (HSV-1) can be transmitted to your eye - which is a mucous membrane and making it more susceptible - and cause conjunctivitis or even Ocular Herpes, both of which are very contagious.  Ocular Herpes can also cause vision loss and corneal scarring.

Does that convince you to regularly clean those brushes now?  Good.  Here's my opinion and personal practice:

First rule of thumb - Always clean new brushes before you ever let them touch your face.  This will remove dust, dirt, bacteria and any chemical treatments that may be present.

I believe you should think of your brushes like you do your hair.  Whe your hair gets dirty, you shampoo it.  Shampooing takes out the buildup and basically sanitizes your hair on a rudimentary level.  Apply that same thought to your brushes.  Put a tiny bit of shampoo in your palm (it doesn't take much), wet the brush and pat back and forth to work the solution into the brush.  Use your fingers to gently work the bristles and rinse all of it out with warm water until it runs clear and no longer feels soapy.

The next thing is to condition.  Yup.  Conditioner.  Conditioning the bristles keeps them soft, moisturized, and also strengthens them.  Shampooing alone can leave the bristles dry, brittle and scratchy.  Follow the same steps as you do with the shampoo.

Always let your brushes air-dry.  Don't blow dry or apply heat to dry them.  This will weaken and melt the glue holding the ferrule to the handle.  To dry, gently squeeze excess water from the brush between the thumb and index finger, working your way to the tip.  Place the brush between your palms with the bristles pointing downward and briskly rub back and forth to expel any remaining trapped water in the bristles.  Reshape the brush and allow it to air-dry.

If you really want to sanitize your brush, UV toothbrush sanitizers will work fine for your personal use and can be purchased for less than $20.

Saphoros is now offering a new Two-Step Brush Cleaning Kit with all-natural shampoo containing a special blend of essential oils to clean and sanitize, and an unscented, specially-formulated conditioner with biotin, keratin and panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5) to maintain bristle strength and softness for only $5.95.  Give it a try!