Currently Craving: Our Favorite Makeup Brush Cleaners

There’s a hidden cause behind your breakouts and it may not be what you think. Sure, you take amazing care of your skin, you cleanse, you tone, you moisturize, but then you sit down to put on your makeup and you use a brush that is harboring dirt, dust, and loads of bacteria just waiting to completely wreak havoc on all of your hard work!

Have a pet? Chances are her dander is getting stuck in those bristles. Do your hair where you do your makeup? Hairspray and other products are getting packed in there, creating a lovely breeding ground for bacteria. Keep your makeup in the bathroom? Every single flush sends particles of whatever is in that toilet straight to your beauty stash. So, when we don’t clean our makeup brushes and blenders at least every two weeks, we’re opening our skin up to irritation, breakouts, and even diseases like pink eye. Gross. All skin-crawling facts aside, when you don’t clean your brushes you aren’t getting the best application of your (often expensive) products so for the sake of your makeup and your mug, create a cleaning routine today! Here are some of our faves for getting your brushes and blenders squeaky clean:

BeautySoClean

Sanitize your brushes and your makeup with BeautySoClean’s line of products which make it simple to clean before every application. Using natural ingredients the Conditioning Brush Cleanser dissolves makeup residue and also dries fast leaving brushes almost as soft as when you first bought them. They even come in fun scents like the new On the Beach Scented Brush Cleanser ($10) or the one I personally use, Chocolate is a Girl’s Best Friend ($9). Just spray, swipe over a paper towel, and voila!

beautyblender®

Keeping blending sponges clean is almost more important than cleaning your brushes since a moist sponge is the perfect home for bacteria and dirt, but beautyblender’s cleansers are perfect for getting blenders clean in a snap! I use the travel-friendly beautyblender solid ($15.95) which is great as a brush cleanser as well and has a lovely lavender scent. Simply wet your sponge or brush, rub them over the solid soap until they lather, squeeze/rinse until the water runs clear, repeating is usually necessary.

Sigma Spa® Brush Cleaning Mat

Take your cleansing up a notch with the Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Mat ($32). The mat features seven different textures to help you completely clean off every type of brush you may have and has suction cups so that you can securely place it in your sink. You’ll place the mat in the sink and wet all of your brushes, then place the cleanser of your choice on to the mat’s wash texture and swirl your brush. Then you will run the water and sweep your brush over the rinse texture, then swirl over the refine texture and repeat this process until the water runs clear.

Do you have a favorite way to clean your brushes? Let us know in the comments!