HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR BRUSHES - detailed instructions

Dear Buyers, for your investment to pay off, and your brushes to stay in a pristine condition as long as possible, they should be regularly cleaned. The reason for this is not only the most obvious and important one, i.e., common sense hygiene. In addition, brushes logically provide their maximum functionality when completely clean. If they are used over and over again, without adequate care and cleaning, makeup can begin to look smudgy and “dirty”, due to excessive accumulation of pigment layers which gives the makeup look an unwanted nuance, and also “suffocates” the tip of the brush which does the primary part of the job. Oversaturated and dirty bristles tend to stick together, which prevents the maximum effective blending.

So, how often should makeup brushes be washed?

The answer is it depends on who you ask. :) In my opinion, in the ideal situation, for maximum effectiveness of brushes, they should be washed after every single use. However, I know that many of you don’t have the time and it is perfectly OK if (only for personal use) you take the short cut for a while, by wiping the brushes in the direction of hair growth on a soft microfiber cloth after each use. The cloth will retrieve a good part of the remaining pigments and this method is perfect if you use the brushes only on yourself, in order to prolong the interval between each washing. Therefore, if you use brushes only on yourself and only with powder products, you can wash them once a week, while using a cloth in between.

If you use the brushes on other people (especially paying clients), you’ll have to wash them after each use in order to prevent potential health complications. There are no short cuts this time! :)

Another case where the brush should be washed without any delay is when it is used for applying and blending a cream product, especially more resistant formulas like, for example, MAC Paint Pots. Our Multitasker II will without any problems be able to handle this type of product, but in that case, there is no sense in using it a number of times continually (without washing), given that the cream texture is ideal for the rapid development of bacteria. In addition, the cream will dry and glue the bristles together. Anyway, you get the point - simply wash it and problem solved. :)

All in all, just use common sense and everything will be fine. If you used some of the brushes a few days in a row only with classic powder eyeshadows (perhaps lighter colours) and after wiping on a microfiber cloth, they look just fine, and their effectiveness has not deteriorated – that’s fine, you can still use them for another day or two, if the situation does not change. If the brushes are obviously dirty, despite wiping them on a cloth or your makeup starts to look smudgy, wash them. Brushes that are used for cream products should be washed after each use, whereas the brushes you clean the short-cut way by wiping them on a cloth, definitely wash with water and soap at least once a week (if you apply makeup every day).

What is the best way to wash The Brush Stash brushes?

Brushes are best washed with ordinary, lukewarm water and a gentle soap. Personally, I really love BeautyBlender black Solid Pro soap which, in addition to cleaning the brushes perfectly, can be rinsed out really quickly (especially from goat bristles). That’s why it is excellent for makeup artists and everyone who washes a larger number of brushes regularly. But you can use any soap that is gentle enough so it doesn’t dry out the bristles.

The head of the brush should first be wetted under running water, taking care so as not to wet the handle above the ferrule! Then, place a little bit of soap on your palm, gently swirling it into the head of the brush and then rinse. When swirling the soap, you should take care to be gentle so that the brushes do not move in the direction that “breaks” the bristles, but always be gently tapping, rotating and brushing in the direction in which the bristles remain arranged! Once clean water begins to come out of the brush, gently drain it (in the direction of the bristles) into a clean, soft towel or a kitchen paper towel.

And finally, perhaps the most important thing - after washing and draining, fix the bristles by smoothening the head into its original shape. This is especially important for goat hair which is known to be tougher when wet, and after washing, the brushes can spread out a little, if left to their own devices (just like human hair for many of us). :D Naturally, this is not our goal, so they should always be smoothened out, and if you don’t succeed to do that with your fingers alone (which is likely to happen if you drained them too much in a towel), you can always fix the problem by smoothening them out and “glue” them with a touch of pure aloe vera gel or wrap them in a thin paper tissue which will maintain the original shape of the brush during drying. In regard to aloe vera gel, it is perfect for this use because it does not dry out the brush, it can bring disobedient bristles into line and after the brush has dried, it is very easy to remove it from the brush. You can do this by going over your palm or back of the hand with the brush, and all the aloe vera gel will simply shake off and fall off, or you can be a geek like me and have a special comb to comb the brush after it has dried. :D My favorite that I use for this purpose is the Tweezeman eyelash comb, but regular disposable mascara applicator is just as functional.

After you’ve washed the brushes, gently wring them and bring them to their original shape, i.e., prepare for drying, you can arrange them on the table edge and the like, so that the head is hanging freely over the edge in order to make drying quicker. But if you dry them so that they are placed along their entire length on the flat surface, try to place something under the end of the handle so that it is slightly raised in order to quicken the drying of moisture from the head and to avoid the water entering the join between the ferrule and handle, which in time would weaken the brush structure.

All in all, it really isn’t that difficult, and if you take care of your brushes in this way, they will faithfully serve you for many years to come.