Reviews by Wirecutter: Most people don’t clean their makeup brushes and sponges often enough, and some folks never clean them at all. But dirty makeup brushes can cause all sorts of hygiene and health issues, from acne to E. coli infections. Professionals we spoke with—including a dermatologist, a makeup-brush designer, and makeup artists—recommend that you clean your makeup brushes at least once a week.
6 comments:
This is interesting. I don’t wear much makeup that requires brushes, but I do try to clean the ones I do use at least once a week. I have no doubt that cleaning brushes is often something that gets neglected in people’s lives because it is an extra step and not that much fun, even though it may be fast. This makes me wonder about the cleaning of makeup brushes in professional theatres with makeup artists. This article suggests that makeup brushes be cleaned once a week. I wonder if theatres adhere to that or if they are all cleaned after each use, or cleaned each weekend, or any one cleaning schedule they may have. I like to think that in a professional setting like that they are cleaned after every use, but I have no idea. If the brushes are used for the same person every day maybe they aren’t.
I’ll admit I don’t wash my makeup brushes and sponges often enough; it’s not that I never wash them, but I know I don’t wash them once a week. This guide seems pretty comprehensive, and covers everything from supplies needed to how to properly dry the brushes so they stay shaped well and keep as many bristles intact as possible. While we as individuals can get away with not washing our brushes after every use, the same can’t be said for professional makeup artists or people sharing brushes in a dressing room. Especially brushes used on the eyes and lips can harbor tons of nasty bacteria that shouldn’t be spread to another person. While it’s wasteful and bad for the environment, using disposable sponges can be faster and easier than rewashing a reusable one, so unfortunately that is what’s done in many situations. I love the brush holder shown in the article, so I might go purchase a similar one to keep my brushes clean and organized.
I don’t wear makeup very often, and even when I do I don’t clean my brushes as much as I should. Almost all of the brushes I use are for powdered makeup rather than liquid, so they don’t seem like they get ass dirty as they probably do. Though I do use a few of them around my eyes so they definitely need to be washed. I know it would take very little time to clean all of them it just isn’t that fun. However this article seems pretty comprehensive and gives a lot of good information. I don’t think I’ve seen the tip about wrapping the bristles with mesh covers to keep their shape. It would also probably be good to get a real brush holder, since currently I have them all either in a bag or in a cup in my cabinet. Maybe I’ll reference back to this article when I have time to play around with doing makeup again.
I am not a big makeup user, especially in the last year and half, because of masks and staying at home a majority of the time. During summer though, when I found myself going outside more with out a mask mandate, I decided to pull out the old makeup bad again and realized it was, uh, probably time to do some cleaning. Previously I had just used my hands to wash brushes but I purchased a little mat and that changes my life. I felt like all of my bushes were so much cleaner. There were so many good tips and proper processes listed in this article. I appreciate seeing articles like this because I feel that proper makes hygiene isn’t something that has always been talked about and it is important for any makeup users to be educated on what they are putting on their face, either intentionally or unintentionally.
I knew that it was bad to not clean your makeup brushes often, but I definitely didn’t realize that the repercussions of not cleaning them could lead to things as horrible as E.coli and other health issues. I have seen a lot of makeup artists on Instagram or in YouTube clips that are working in the film industry during COVID wearing almost entire Hazmat suits to apply makeup to unmask actors, and this article made me wonder how intense their cleaning policies must be right now with their brushes and other equipment. I am sure that they have always had effective policies in the past for brush hygiene, but these policies must be taken up to another level now I’m sure. I wonder if there is not so much cleaning involved now but if there is just more purchasing of items so no one has to share anything with one another?
This article called me OUT. I am fully aware that I need to clean my makeup brushes more but as this article acknowledges it takes a lot of time. I appreciated that this article took a simple approach that you could add to your routine. In addition, this article provided plenty of different ways to do it so that you aren’t having to buy something new. While this article pertains to personal use of equipment not being shared its techniques can be expanded to a more commercial form like theatre. With that said, when using the same products and/or tools on more than one person disinfecting between every use is incredibly important. Without this bacteria can spread and cause acne or even pink eye. This is one of the reasons why many theatres require that you supply your own mascara. I think now that I have read this article I will take some time this weekend and wash my brushes.
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