The Best Way to Clean Makeup Brushes

Getting clean makeup brushes is so much easier than you thought! Here’s my once a month cleaning tutorial that only takes 10 minutes!

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As a self-proclaimed (and often reaffirmed by my husband) clean freak, I always get a good laugh when I notice an item I’ve so obviously neglected.

Enter: makeup brushes.

Now there’s lots of expensive makeup cleaners out there, but with so many DIY options, why not try that first?

Just for kicks, I’ll show you my process to clean makeup brushes. It takes less than 10 minutes. (However, if you have heavy build-up on your brushes, it may take longer to wash until the water runs clear.)

Oh, and these are my FAVORITE makeup brushes. Really affordable and long lasting (which usually isn’t the case).

How to Clean Makeup Brushes

Grab all your makeup brushes and lay them out on a clean hand towel.

Put a small pour of baby shampoo in to a small dish.

Wet a brush and start swirling it in the bowl.

Continue wetting and swirling until you have a nice soapy lather.

Then while pointing the tip of the brush downward, rinse in the sink moving the bristles back and forth until all the soap bubbles are gone.

Give a light squeeze to drain the extra water.

Repeat this process for each brush.

Depending on how dirty your brushes are, you may need to clean out your dish of baby shampoo before cleaning the next brush. Note, I had to do this between EACH brush 😐 😐 😐

It’s best for the brushes to dry at a downward angle to prevent water from getting stuck inside the brush. The easiest way to accomplish this is to add a hand towel (or roll up a small wash rag) to prop up the ends of the brush while drying.

Quick Tips: Clean your brush in the morning AFTER you put on your makeup to allow them to dry for a full 24 hours before you need them again. It’s also helpful to rotate the brushes once within the 24 hours so that both sides dry evenly.

Since I’m in ‘makeup cleaning mode’ (if there’s such a thing), I also wiped down my actually makeup and inside my cosmetic bag with a face cleansing wipe.

Easy peasy! Clean makeup brushes. Now if only the rest of my house was as clean 🙂