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Have you ever wondered how to clean your makeup brushes? Don’t panic: If you’re not cleaning them regularly, you’re not alone. One survey reported that almost 39% of women cleaned their brushes less than once a month, with 22% admitting to never cleaning them at all. Their most commonly reported reasons seem to be lack of time and lack of know-how.
Yet the fact is that makeup brushes need to be cleaned. This is because over time, brushes accumulate dirt, bacteria, dead skin cells and oil. And this gunk can lead to breakouts. Ugh. The good news is that the more you clean them, the less acne-inducing bacteria you’re wiping across your skin. Ick, but true. Clean brushes also help you apply your makeup better, because if you’re using a brush to apply a dark eye shadow color and switch to another lighter shade, having a dirty brush will just muddy the color.
Many beauty pros recommended washing our makeup brushes at least once a week. Some makeup artists suggest after each use — especially if it’s a beauty blender — which really makes the most sense when you think about it. Beauty pros say that while you can use something you might already have on hand, such as Dawn dish soap, using a product specifically designed for cleaning makeup brushes is actually much faster and easier.
Since I’ve often neglected my makeup brushes, I jumped at the opportunity to test out the makeup industry cult-favorite Cinema Secrets, a professional-grade liquid makeup brush cleaner that claims to kill 99.99% of bacteria.
An 8-ounce bottle of Cinema Secrets professional makeup brush cleaner is $24 on Amazon, and this cleaner promises a quick and easy way to do this job so many of us have been putting off forever.
Here’s how to clean your makeup brushes with Cinema Secrets: You just pour a little of the liquid into a small bowl, dip the tip of your brushes in it, swirl and wipe them clean. Its fast-drying formula doesn’t need to be rinsed off. Really! My smaller brushes were ready to use again immediately, while my larger ones needed a few more minutes to dry — but only 10 minutes maximum.
Could skipping the rinse and shortening the dry time really make me clean my makeup brushes more often? The answer is YES. This blue cleaner can be used on both natural and synthetic fiber brushes and somehow, magically, it doesn’t leave any residue. You really have to see it to believe it. It washes and deodorizes at once and rendered my makeup brushes clean as a whistle.
I couldn’t help but notice how beloved this makeup cleaner is on Amazon! With 1,969 reviews and counting, it ranks highly with 4.7 out of 5 stars. Customers also note that “a little goes a long way,” which makes the $24.00 cost well worth it in my book, and several mentioned how it “dries almost instantly.”
What do you think? Now that you know how to clean your makeup brushes will you do it more regularly? Your skin might thank you!
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