An essential part of any beauty routine is taking proper care of your tools, which raises the question: How best to clean your makeup brushes? No matter how flawlessly your favorite pointed concealer or powder-diffusing iterations may still perform, the only way to keep them bacteria-, dust-, and dirt-free is with a weekly washing, says the makeup artist Troy Surratt, “Cleaning brushes and sponges is mandatory not only for hygiene purposes and keeping bacteria and germs at bay but also for performance reasons,” explains Robert Sesnek.

How often should you wash your makeup brushes? “For optimal application and the truest color payoff, it’s important to use clean brushes,” says Surratt. “If you apply a similar makeup look daily, I recommend washing your brushes thoroughly once a week.” That said, “you may need to wash them more often if you regularly change your colors.

Washing your brushes can [seem like] a chore, so create an experience that’s enjoyable,” Surratt suggests.

If a brush is entirely caked in foundation or a sponge is soaked in silicones and oils, on the other hand, Surratt says that Dawn dish soap “works wonders” for degreasing. Be careful of “cleansers that have a high alcohol content or contain harsh solvents, as they can loosen the glue that holds the brush together, eventually affecting the life of the brush.

Article from the vogue.com