Brush Cleaning #1 - Making life easy for yourself

Cleaning your makeup brushes is essential if you want to look after your brushes, care for your skin, and get the best from your makeup.  That said, it's a bit of a chore and although I find it therapeutic and love the feeling of looking at all your clean brushes drying, it's still sometimes just something I'd rather not have to do!

But, if we've got to do it, and honestly, we really do, then I like to make it as easy as possible.  

To spot clean my brushes I like to use MAC Brush Cleanser.  But it's expensive at £9.50 a pop so I don't want to waste it.  I used to pour out some of the fluid on to my towel/kitchen roll and then wipe the brushes, but I don't think it's very efficient, then I went for the 'pour some in the lid (make sure the lid is closes!) and dip small brushes in' but to be honest it was all becoming a bit of a palava, so in the end I chose to decant...and I've never looked back!! 

I picked up this spray bottle from Boots for £1.55 although you can get smaller ones for around 50p, they just didn't have any in stock at the Boots I went to and it's perfect, because not only is it small enough to make it easy to travel with, it's also a spray top and that is the really important bit! 

Simply pour some of the cleanser into your spray bottle of choice, screw the lid on tight, and you're good to go! A post is coming up very soon on how I actually use the cleanser, so keep your eyes peeled!!

And now we come to deep cleansing.  

My weapon of choice for this task is Johnson's baby shampoo because it is cheap and very kind to your brushes because of course it's designed for little bambinos so it's gentle formula hasn't got anything horrid in it that could damage your baby or your make up brush!!

When giving brushes a deep cleanse it is important that the brush remains angled down, so that no water gets into the ferrule (the metal bit that holds the brush hairs together and separates the handle from the brush head) as this can melt or break down the glue that holds the brush together and you'll end up with a brush that sheds and eventually falls apart.  When you're trying to tip product out of a big bottle at the same time it can all become a bit tricky! I know that you can buy Johnson's baby shampoo in a pump bottle form, but I don't have it so I improvised! 

All you need is an empty hand soap dispenser (or any thing with a pump lid), I've used this Original Source one *lovely hand soap by the way*, and after a good wash, all that's required is to pour the shampoo in, screw on the lid and bob's your uncle! 

If you're worried that other people may mistake your brush cleanser for a hand wash, or you're worried you'll forget which container you put it in, you could always use a clear bottle like I have to make it easier to tell, or you can remove the label (I think it looks nicer like this anyway) or even add your own label either with a Sharpie or a sticker...simples! 

The pump makes it so much easier to get the right amount of product without faffing around trying to keep everything at the right angle! 

And now you're good to go! A full brush cleaning post detailing the way I do it is coming up so if you're interested check back to see how I keep my brushes squeaky clean! 

xxx