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What’s the biggest dust collector in your make up repertoire?  Brushes are designed to apply whatever is on them so if you have a layer of dust on your brush and then you apply to your skin, you are effectively putting that stuff on your face - not a good thing.  Brushes have got to be cleaned well and often to ensure you’re not applying things to your skin you don’t want.

I like to clean the brush part about once a month now, I used to do this more often but now I draw the line at a month, that seems reasonable and responsible.  I’ve used Cetaphil, baby shampoo and specialized make up brush cleaners.  I didn’t notice a real difference with the more expensive make up brush cleaners.  Cleansers are basically the same in my experience so try out using something you already have on one of your brushes as a test.

Lather up the soap and try to go through all the hairs of your brush, rinse and repeat a few times making sure there isn’t a drop of soap on your brush.  If you have a cheaper brush there is a risk of the glue coming apart so don’t use very hot water.  To dry the brush, the best thing to do is hang it bristles down, squeeze out the excess water.  A rubber band on the handle is the best way to acheive this, just hang on a doorknob.  In this way you will avoid water settling on the glue or in the base near the handle.

It will take a while for your brushes to dry so make sure you have a back up if need be.  Another thing I’ve done in the past is put my brushes in a ziploc and put them in the freezer for 2 days.  This freezer sanitizing method will not take the make up out of your brush but it will kill any microbes or dust mites.  Also take a minute to sanitize your make up handles once in a while.  As with everything else, test these methods on  your particular brushes with your least used brush.  Happy cleaning.