Brush Cleansing

Spot cleaning, deep cleaning, liquid cleansers, cake-cleansers. It can all be a tad confusing, right? Let me explain my approach to blush cleansing, break down some of the confusing terminology, and get your brushes squeaky clean.



Spot cleaning
Spot cleaning refers to giving your brushes a quick, superficial clean, basically to remove any colour that might be there. Its not going to give it a deep clean, to really get rid of any bacteria that might be growing there, but it does solve the eternal 'I've used black eyeshadow, forgotten to wash my brushes, and now want to use champagne pink' dilemma.
One of the most popular spot cleaners going around is the MAC Brush Cleanser, but I've heard the Dr Bronner offering is also delightful. You basically lay your brushes flat on a wad of kitchen roll, drip a bit of the cleanser on to the bristles (don't submerge the ferrule in liquid, as this will eventually start to loosen the bristles and result in mass shedding). Then swirl the brush around on the paper until the colour departs, and leave the brushes to dry. The benefit of these spot cleaners is that they're formulated to dry super fast, meaning your brushes are almost instantly ready for action again. The bad news is its only a temporary measure. I would recommend deep cleansing brushes once a week, just to make sure there's no nasties growing among the bristles.

Deep cleaning
Deep cleaning basically does just what the name suggests. About once a week, you should give your brushes a really good wash, mainly for hygiene reasons. Bacteria can quite easily multiply in the bristles of make up brushes, whether they be natural or synthetic hairs, particularly if they're damp. If you've been ill though, you should wash your brushes properly after every use.
I've taken to using Johnson's Baby Shampoo to deep clean my brushes. I figure if its gentle enough for a baby's head, its good enough for my brushes, right? Again, I wet the bristles, put a pea-sized drop (sometimes a bit more depending on the size of the brush) of the shampoo in the palm of my hand, and swirl the brush around until the colour comes out. I then rinse it really well in warm (not hot) water, and lay them flat to dry. I like to leave them hanging over the side of a table, as the bristles won't dry flat on one side. The only downside of this is they will probably need to dry overnight, so don't deep clean if you need to use them again in a hurry. I learned that the hard way.