How to | Deep Clean your Make up Brushes

Hello lovelies!

It has come to that time again where I need to Deep Clean my make up brushes. I'm sure that many of you are aware of why we do this and the importance of it, but, there are also those who are unaware and have gone months, years with the same dirty foundation brush! So let me tell you why we do it. When we apply foundation/powder etc to our faces using the brushes, we are also picking up bacteria from our face, which then lies on our make up brushes. The next time we use our brush the same thing happens, only now we our putting that bacteria which has been living in our brush back on to our face! This then continues and gets worse each time in a never ending circle!! This can only result in poor skin and breakouts of spots! 

The difference with a Deep Clean as oppose to a Spot Clean is exactly how it sounds. A Deep Clean really gets to the roots of the dirt where as a spot clean is perfect for between Deep Cleans. While you think a Spot clean gets rid of all the dirt, when you Deep Cleanse your brushes you will see that's not the case! So without further ado, Read on to see how to make your brushes sparkling clean...

Step One

Many of you may be looking at these 'ingredients' thinking "Really Kelly? Washing up liquid and Olive oil?" but TRUST ME it works! The washing up liquid works to clean the dirt, as you can imagine, but the added Olive Oil makes the brushes so soft and like new! The added bonus as well is that these things can be found at home already in your kitchen cupboards! 

Add these two together in any bowl in these ratios to get started :)

Step Two

Take a brush (dirty one of course) and swirl it around in the mixture, combining the oil and the washing up liquid, creating a lather on your brush.

Step Three

Using the palm of your hand, rub the bristles on to your hand under running water. As you do circular motions on your hand, you will be creating a lather of soapy make up on your hand. NOW is when you realise just how dirty your make up brushes can get. And to think you're rubbing all that on your face! As you can notice, the whole time I am cleaning my brushes, I am holding the brush with the bristles facing downwards. This is so important! If you turn your brush upside down, you are allowing water into the ferrule (the metal ring) and this will make it a lot longer/harder for your brushes to dry out. There also may be the possibility that the warmth of the water can damage the glue holding the brush together, and we don't want that!

Continue to do this until the water is running clear from your brush. Squeeze out all of the excess water as shown in the picture, making sure to follow the shape of the brush! 

Step Four

Once you are happy with how clean your brushes are, lay them out on a clean towel. It is important to make sure that the towel is folded so that the brushes lay at an angle, with the bristles facing downwards. Why? For the same reasons explained above about keeping the bristles down! Repeat these steps for all of your brushes that you need cleaning, making sure to squeeze out any excess water. Place them all on a towel and simply leave them to dry naturally overnight. I find that cleaning them in the morning after I have done my make up and then leaving them for the rest of the day and overnight works perfectly!!

Here you can see the difference cleaning your brushes can make, with the brush before on the left and the brush once being cleaned on the right. 

Step Five

Enjoy your newly cleaned brushes, knowing that it is contributing to your skin being flawless and breakout free! (With an added bonus of being cheap and easy!)

If you found this 'How To' useful, let me know in the comments, along with any other 'How To' Post ideas you may like! How do you clean your brushes? What are your favourite 'ingredients'? Do you have any tips?

♥