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116 Comments

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Paty

pretty much the same here: Mac Brush Cleanser on a spritz bottle and a tissue every day, and baby shampoo every weekend…

Suzy R

L’Oreal Skin Genesis Gel Cleanser — the same thing I use on my face — If it cleans make-up and dirt off of my skin without stripping or drying and no residue, it can do the same for my brushes

Natalie

When I am on a job – MAC brush cleanser
After the job & at home – MAC cleanse off oil and Palmolive Antibacterial handwash gel, followed by conditioner

[email protected]

an antibacterial soap + olive oil (a tip i got from michelle phan) for deep cleaning. but for quick spot cleaning, i use mac’s brush cleanser. i put my cleanser in an empty sprizter and i spritz straight onto the brush then wipe it off with a towel. i was wasting so much cleanser by putting the liquid directly onto a towel so i’m glad i came across that tip.

Joleen

I do the same thing! 🙂 I haven’t heard of many other people doing it though even though I got the tip from MichellePhan as well

JayJay

The antibacterial soap really dried out some of my brushes. A couple of Sephora brand ones started having terrible hair breakage. I went back to using the Olive Oil first, and baby shampoo afterwards.

FYI, Antibacterial is really a buzzword. If you wash your brushes thoroughly, they will be free of bacteria.

Please take good care of your brushes!!! I almost lost some of mine to this method 🙁

Kate & Zena

They shouldn’t have been breaking if you were swirling more EVOO than Dawn (or any other antibacterial soap) when you wash them. If you weren’t using a gentle antibacterial (Dawn or Palmolive), the soap might have been too harsh.

Joleen and Dani–I use the same method, but I learned mine in art class years before Michelle did her video. Lots and lots of artists use the method as it’s just cheaper (and smells better) than buying brush cleaner. Brush cleaner for art brushes is notoriously expensive (gallon sizes start at $24.99 and can go up into the $50s!) so most of us use Dawn & EVOO, especially if you paint constantly.

Labelle

Sephora’s daily brush shampoo. My boyfriend’s sister uses baby body wash & olive oil to clean her brushes though. She said the olive oil helps keep the bristles from becoming dry and brittle.

I would use this technique but the spray bottle is more convenient for me to use since I have a busy schedule.

Kathryn

spot cleaning-mac brush cleanser
deep cleaning-philosophy purity cleanser or bare escentuals brush cleaner

mars

for daily cleansing MAC brush cleaner in a spray bottle. For deep cleaning MAC Cleanse Off Oil (especially for the white bristled brushes) followed by a 2 in 1 shampoo.

Natalia

I use　face cleansing oil. I live in Japan and there’s a lot of cleansing oils here for reasonable price. Not like overpriced Shu Uemura ones.

Fresh

Baby Shampoo for the big clean ups.
Blush Cleanser for more regular clean ups and for the major stain removals – MAC Cleanse Off Oil

Ashley

Mac brush cleaner for spot cleaning & palmolive antibacterial soap and Johnson’s & Johnson’s baby shampoo for deep cleaning.

Ally_D

Spot cleaning = Clinique brush cleanser
Deep cleaning = baby shampoo or build-up remover shampoo, depening on how dirty the brush is and what product is on there

I have also been known to use anti-bacterial liquid soap on synthetic brushes

Carrie

I just use the same cleanser I wash my face with. If it’s gentle enough for my skin, it’s gentle enough for my brushes.

nikki c

johnson and johnson baby shampoo for weekly deep cleaning
usually the purple lavender one but i ran out recently so i’ve been using the regular one
mac brush cleanser with a pump to be more economical and easier to use for spot cleanin

Dar

Every few days I cleanly brushes with MAC Brush Cleanser. It gets pretty expensive so I usually put one part cleanser and one part water and amazingly it works just as well. So I get to actually double the use of the bottle.

I use baby shampoo for deep cleaning.

(I’m curious about using cleanse off oil or olive oil on my brushes but I will definitely try that method next time).

Kate & Zena

Oils need to be in conjunction with another thing like an antibacterial soap (I prefer Dawn as it’s gentle yet deep cleans thoroughly). Alone, EVOO won’t clean your brushes thoroughly. After you deep clean, swirl your natural hair brushes in EVOO (it must be EVOO. regular or virgin will clog your pores), work it into the bristles gently for thirty seconds and wash it off.

You can use EVOO on your synthetic bristle brushes as well, but I find that my synthetic brushes are harder to work with (particularly when blending) when I use EVOO.

shuz4ever

I use my make-up brushes only once and then clean with Johnsons baby shampoo when i run out of clean brushes.

TheJoey

Foundation and lip brushes (sometimes concealer bushes) get the heavy duty wash with dish soap. My powder bushes get the cream hand soap I have in my bathroom or my regular cleanser. I have a brush cleaner but I use it more for disinfecting foundation brush every now and then. I also filled up a ‘finished’ moisturizer bottle with water. The stubborn stuff that would not come off the side makes a great conditioner and final rinse for the brushes. They come out so soft.

Arianne

i stopped using baby shampoo when i realized that its not anti-bacterial! and therefore, not thoroughly cleaning my brushes!

Sarah

Dawn Dish soap and olive oil, Dish soap to clean, olive oil to condition. Michelle phan on youtube did a video about it. It leaves the brushes really nice and conditioned. For spot cleaning I have an Elf Daily Brush Cleaner that I just got so I haven’t been able to test yet.

condesa

I use shampoo, but I previoulsy desinfect them w/ a desinfenctant. After washing, I condition them as i love them to be soft (larger brushes only)!

Nikki

I use dove deep moisture body wash. Yes it’s important to kill bacteria which the mac brush cleaner does. But once a month you should use some type of conditioner or conditioning agent. You’ll strip all the moisture from the hair and cause breakage if you only use shampoo’s and brush cleaners.

Bahar

I used to use baby shampoo but recently I started using the brush cleanser from bare escentuals. I use MAC brush cleanser for spot cleaning

MJ

MAC brush cleanser for daily cleaning or I sometimes wipe my brushes on MAC’s facial cloths. Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple for deep cleaning.

Lisa

I am having the best results just using whatever bar of Lush soap I happen to have in my soap dish.

Fred

Baby shampoo for cleaning but I do swipe on a rubbing alcohol soaked tissue sometimes to remove colour in between proper washes 🙂

Anitacska

I don’t really spot clean, so just use baby shampoo to wash my brushes every week. I bought a bottle of Mac brush cleaner, but I don’t use it, I think I should just swap/sell it. It would be more useful if it came in a spray bottle, but I find it too annoying as I pour a lot of it away by accident when using it.

Shal

I spot clean after every use with Make Up For Ever’s cleanser and once every few weeks I deep clean with shampoo.

astrorainfall

Sometimes hand soap or facial wash with water. When the rinse water turns clear, I’ll stop the tap and then set the brushes aside on a small towel for them to dry. Usually takes a day for them to dry. My brushes have lasted several years with this type of care…

Hilana

My regular shampoo I was my hair with and a bit of conditioner afterwards. Worked pretty well so far and my brushes stay in good condition despite having them for some time already.

Roxanne

MAC’s brush cleanser. Sometimes baby shampoo but that doesn’t desinfect the brush so I’d rather use the MAC one.

Kim l

I use a special shampoo for real and synthetic hair extensions because some of my brushes are real hair (i think) and most are synthetic. its antibacterial, and very gentle!

jennifer

i do have the mac brush cleanser but in this hot weather i find that i can just clean my brushes with johnson and johnsons lavender baby shampoo and they dry in no time.

jennifer

i do have the mac brush cleanser but in this hot weather i find that i can just clean my brushes with johnson and johnsons lavender baby shampoo and they dry in no time. much faster than spot cleaning IMHO. just bring the brush over the sink, get all the product out and lay flat to dry.

felicia

I use baby shampoo daily, MAC Brush cleanser weekly and if I’m really lazy I’ll swipe my brushes across my Clinique facial bar soap and rinse.

Lady Di.

Hhhm, I use antibacterial hand soap and I am so glad you posted this because I am going to get some baby shampoo after ready all these other posts. That is the greatest thing about this beauty blog, we get to pick up great ideas from so many other people!

Charlene

pretty much the same as most here. Mac is the best b/c it seems to condition my brushes where other cleaners make them feel a bit rough.
Baby shampoo for large brushes.

Cynthia M.

spot cleaning= Enkore’s (on YouTube) homemade cleanser in a spritz bottle. cheap and effective. it also disinfects!
deep cleaning= baby shampoo every 2 weeks, then spritz to disinfect.

Leslie

Olive oil to break down the color and the soap and co ultra creamy body wash. I have never seen my brushes so clean before!!!

Nichole

Equal parts of baby shampoo and distilled water, a little alcohol and an all natural leave-in conditioner.

Janine

The blender cleanser that came with my beauty blender. Works great on all brushes, and gets the blender spotless!

Shayna Marie

Pantene Moisture recovery shampoo. It keeps the brushes soft yet gets rid of all the color!

JayJay

I spot clean with a 50/50 mix of MAC Brush cleaner and distilled water. For deep cleaning, I pre-treat with Extra V. Olive Oil, then I wash them with baby shampoo. I dry them using the brush guards.

LNU

I use to just use my facial cleanser and conditioner, but now I’ll pick up baby shampoo and MAC Brush Cleanser to disinfect my brushes.

Clara

Mac Brush Cleaner-daily
J&J Head to Toe Baby Wash-foundation & concealer brushes (I wash those after every use)
Palmolive Dish Soap & Olive oil-deep cleaning (twice a month)
I don’t do a complete face (eyeshadow, blush etc. everyday so my brushes don’t need to be deep-cleaned as often)

stephanie

Mac brush cleaner for something quick. For a full clean, I use Dr. Bronner’s magic soap. I like peppermint, but they have unscented as well. I love it cause its organic, rinses clean, and gets my all my white and skunk brushes looking like new. Plus you get so much for the price.

Jen

Usually I use baby shampoo. Mainly because I have a 1yr old so it is always on hand. Sometimes I use Mac brush cleaner

Kate & Zena

For my natural hair brushes I use an even mix of Dawn and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. When you clean your natural hair bristle brushes, you have to put moisture back into your brushes since shampoo (even baby shampoo) or Dawn (a deep-cleaning gentle soap) strips them of their natural moisture. This dries out your bristles and can cause the bristles to break over time. EVOO is non-comedogenic (won’t clog the skins pores) and moisturizes your make-up brushes (it also makes bristles softer).

Since synthetic bristles aren’t stripped of their natural moisture when you clean them, I use just Dawn.

I learned the Dawn/EVOO mix in art class when we were required to wash our own brushes and I’ve used it ever since.

Araceli

I use MAC brush cleanser for quick cleaning. And use clarifying shampoo for deep cleaning. I think I am going to try the baby shampoo after seeing that so many people use that

CJ

Neutrogena Fresh Foaming cleanser, I never use it b/c it feels kind of harsh on the eyes, but it cleans my brushes pretty well

Leticia

I do the same as many of you guys – I use baby shampoo and MAC Brush Cleanser. Every month I wash my natural britles brushes with baby shampoo and rub some regular hair conditioner; I leave them a while for the conditioner to be absorbed and then rinse them. If I need to clean a brush in a hurry, I use the Face Secrets tissues I got at Sally.

Heather H

A mac artist told me that cleaning your brushes with baby shampoo isn’t good for them. She told me to only use their brush cleanser with water. But i feel like just doing that the brushes don’t seem as clean.

Love Ann Dougherty

I made EnKore’s brush cleaner (You Tube guru) and use this for daily cleansing. I use baby shampoo for deep cleaning.

Christina

Eyeshadow Brushes: Ben Nye Brush Cleaner for everyday use and baby shampoo for “deep” cleaning
Brushes used for foundations/cream products: Alcohol

ColleenAndrea

Daily: Palmalive anti-bacterial and Extra virgin olive oil as needed.
Weekly: MAC Brush cleaner

serene

Baby shampoo. Sometimes I use my facial oil cleanser for super duper through cleansing.

Tip: I read a blog where someone used baby bottle cleanser to clean their brushes, with excellent results. Makes sense too! It’s designed to really clean the bottles for baby consumption.

Cassandra Rae Ferguson

I use Pantene shampoo and follow with Pantene conditioner (leaves them very soft for my clients!). Prior to washing and between clients, I clean with Isocol rubbing alcohol (so much cheaper than brush cleaner and contains the same alcohol but without colours or fragrances).

eko99

I use Philosophy Amazing Grace Shampoo and if the brushes are a little crispy, some Amazing Grace Conditioner. My brushes are clean and smell LOVELY!!!!

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