I try to take good care of my makeup brushes, since they play the most significant role in whether or not my makeup looks decent. I have researched how to clean makeup brushes and have found MANY different approaches. One stood out to me as simple, very inexpensive, and highly effective, though, and I’m going to share it with you today!

All you need to clean your makeup brushes is some water,  a washcloth or paper towels, 1 Tbsp shampoo and 1 Tbsp olive oil. You are ready to go!

First, mix your olive oil with your shampoo. I just used the back of one of my makeup brushes to get them mixed together.

Then, dip your dry makeup brush into the solution. Now it is time to get to work. Use your fingers to gently but firmly massage the mixture down into the brush. That’s where all the makeup is trapped! Don’t move past this stage too quickly. For my large kabuki brush, I spent about 2 solid minutes massaging in the solution to really get all that makeup to come loose.

Then run your brush under water. I am using a cup of water here because the lighting by my sink is atrocious. But I do recommend running water over a cup of water. But do what ya gotta do!

One tip: try really hard not to fully submerge the brush in the water. Your brush bristles are glued onto the brush handle, and if that area gets too wet, the glue could come loose. Don’t freak out over this…just be aware and therefore, don’t try to get the handle super wet.

Blot your brushes dry with your washcloth or paper towel. If you are seeing as much residue coming off as I did in the picture above, then you need to go back in for another cleaning session!

Allow your brushes to dry overnight and they will be ready to go in the morning!

So why the olive oil, you may be wondering? The olive oil does play a role in the cleansing process, but it also conditions your brush bristles to help leave them in even better shape than they were in before! Clean and conditioned…that’s the ideal outcome for any time you clean your brushes. No need to go buy expensive makeup brush cleaner; this works wonderfully!

I hope this helps you learn how to clean your makeup brushes in an affordable and effective way! And if you are looking for some new, affordable makeup brushes, I make mention of my favorite (and crazy cheap!) bamboo concealer brush here.

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