Cleaning My Makeup Brush

As much as possible, I try to wash my makeup brushes once a week. I feel uneasy whenever I think of the bacteria that could be growing in my brushes, especially with the foundation brush and the powder brush. My sisters hate me because I get mad when they try to use any of my brushes, because of that, they irritate me by doing it intentionally.

I used the Sephora Makeup Brush Shampoo before, (you can read about my post here). I used a lot of it to wash my brushes weekly so it ran out pretty fast. I didn't repurchase anymore, I just used whatever's available around the house to clean my brushes.

I read on Allure that you can clean your brushes using your facial cleanser. I did this and felt that I'm wasting my cleanser because I'd use a lot just to wash my brushes repeatedly (until the foam comes out white and clean). So I searched around the house for other alternatives...

I then used a Dial bar soap because it's antibacterial. It's a good substitute, but bar soaps are hard to use as a brush shampoo...

At one point, I even tried using dishwashing liquid. I used Dawn with Olay Hand Renewal Dishwashing Liquid, because I can't seem to clean out my foundation brush well, there's always some bb cream left inside, which I really REALLY hate. I have to rinse my brushes really well when using dishwashing soap because I don't want any harsh soap residue to get left behind. Sadly, dishwashing soap didn't clean out my foundation brush either.

I also tried dipping my brushes in baking soda mixed in water. I thought it might clean the bb creams off the foundation brush. I failed again as the bb creams are still there. It's also hard to rinse out baking soda off completely. When my brushes dried, some felt stiff and powdery, there was still baking soda residue in it. I had to re-wash them again.

Now, I just use antibacterial hand soap to wash my makeup brushes. My hand soap is antibacterial so it's also good to wash brushes with. I use Softsoap, Dial or Equate.

Make sure to use hand soap with Triclosan listed in the ingredients. It's the antibacterial agent in the hand soap.

Hand soap still doesn't wash out my foundation brush clean so if any of you have some tips in washing your makeup brushes, especially how you clean your foundation brush, I'd be very happy to hear about it.