How I Clean My Brushes

Happy New Year! Today is January 2, 2014 and my first post in the New Year. I've been MIA during December because a) I work in retail and b) Matt and I actually moved on Christmas Eve. It was a huge pain in the butt. Our new place is so cute though and in a much nicer area. I'll post a tutorial and more about my holidays soon but right now I just want to show you how *I* clean my brushes.

There are so many different methods of cleaning brushes but this is the one I do most often to get a good deep clean and keep my brushes soft. I have another way to clean my brushes that is faster and sanitizes them which I do any time I have had a breakout or done make up on a client but it tends to leave my brushes not in their soft prime.

Here we go:

First, I put all my dirty brushes on the side of the sink. I take my make up palette and squeeze a dollop of shampoo on one side and a dollop of conditioner on the other side. I use brush guards to keep my bristles in tip top shape so I also get those out on the counter.

I've been using I Love Juicy shampoo by Lush Cosmetics lately and seriously don't think I will ever go back to using anything else!! I know a lot of people use baby shampoo because it's milder but my best instructor in make up school used dish soap or hand soap depending on what she had on hand and her brushes turned out ok. I Love Juicy is seriously cleans EVERYTHING out of my brush in one quick wash. I've used milder shampoos and they just don't get out product as well. None of my white bristled brushes have even a trace of stain on them, I don't have to scrub and rewash my foundation brushes. I Love Juicy has pineapple, papaya, kiwi, and mango in it and the enzymes are amazing for removing makeup!

Second thing I do is turn on the water to a lukewarm temperature. I take the brush by the handle and wet the bristles. Hold the brush bristles down and avoid getting water onto the ferule as much as possible. DO NOT TURN THE BRUSH BRISTLES UP! The water will drip down into the ferule. After the brush is damp dip it into your shampoo. Swipe the brush back and forth on your palm. The shampoo will suds up and remove product. Thoroughly rinse the shampoo and repeat again if there is still colour in the brush. Repeat with conditioner. Minus the swiping and sudsing part. I don't have a picture of this step because it's a two handed process, Here is a picture of brush guards.

After the brush is cleaned and conditioned, I remove all the excess water onto a clean towel by pressing gently. The angle of this picture makes it look awkward but it's not. 

I pop a brush guard on and leave the brush with the bristles at the end of the counter on another clean towel. 

This is the part where Phileas decides the counter top is HIS napping space. I finally get him off just in time for Amelia to jump up! At my old place, the cats knew better than to jump up when I was cleaning brushes but I think the counter access from both sides intrigues them.

Here is what it looks like when I am all done! I need to get more brush guards. I hate not having enough!

And that, is how I clean my makeup brushes!