How I clean my brushes!

Wow.... I am a truly terrible blogger. It is now Monday and I haven't posted a single thing since Wednesday. I fully intend to one day have a decent blog schedule down, but as of right now so many things are happening at once and I am finding myself too tired to muster up the desire to post.

That sounds terrible, doesn't it?

Don't get me wrong, I love my little corner of the internet. I am very thankful for all 157 of you that have viewed my blog so far. I want to have readers that come back more than once. I am a baby in the blogging universe, but that's okay. I have a lot of faith in this thing. Words can't describe how excited it makes me to watch my blog grow little by little. I can't wait to get comments and start connecting with people. I think that is one of the reasons I started this. I want to connect with people who are like me. I have been lurking different blogs for years now, and I love the sense of community they seem to have.

Anyways, on to today's post!

My brushes get gross. I maybe do a full face of makeup once a week, so my foundation brush tends to just sit there with week old foundation hanging out on it. Also, my friend Ana tends to stay the night several nights a week in order to carpool to school and she loves to use my eyeshadow brushes in all kinds of crazy color combinations and NEVER wipes them off. Never. I want to strangle her... I mean, what?... I have found that, for me, the best way to clean my brushes is with things found in my kitchen.

WARNING: IF YOUR BRUSHES ARE SUPER GRIMY THIS WON'T CUT IT. BE SURE TO CLEANSE THEM WITH A GOOD CLARIFYING SHAMPOO ONCE/TWICE A MONTH DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH YOU USE THEM.

You only need three things!

• A lemon
• Apple cider vinegar
• Olive Oil

 First I take a large coffee mug and fill the bottom with the apple cider vinegar. I do not measure it exactly, so use your best judgement. I then take my lemon and squeeze some of the juice into the cup. It helps to roll the lemon around on the counter beforehand to loosen it up a bit. I normally just use the rest of the lemon on my face later to help with my acne scarring, so I just stick the remainder of it back in the fridge. Lemon has natural antibacterial properties, so I also cut off a slice and put it into the mixture. I use a knife to break it up a bit. Then I fill the cup up a little over half full with hot water and allow my brushes to soak in it for 10 to 15 minutes.

Next I put a bit of olive oil onto a paper towel or a cotton round. I take my brushes out of the apple cider mixture and gently squeeze to get some of the water out. Then I gently rub them around in the olive oil and begin wiping them on the clean areas of the paper towel. The olive oil really softens your brushes and helps loosen the product stuck to them. For my rounder brushes, such as my beautifully dirty foundation brush above, I swirl it around on the paper towel.  For my eyeshadow brushes and other flatter brushes I sweep back and forth as if I am painting.

Lovely, isn't it?

After the olive oil I set my brushes back in the apple cider vinegar and let them soak for a few minutes, before thoroughly rinsing them in cool water. I have found that the olive oil works wonderfully for some brushes, but for others it can make them feel greasy. Synthetic brushes are usually the worst about this, mainly my E.L.F. brushes, so you may also want to shampoo some of them in a mild baby shampoo as well. I do not recommend the olive oil more than once a month because it will make your other brushes feel too greasy as well. 

Also, the apple cider vinegar smell does linger on your brushes. Personally, it does not bother me, but if you are sensitive to that particular scent you might want to stick to good old baby shampoo.


How do you cleanse your brushes?