How to clean makeup brushes properly (and how often)

If you've never washed your makeup brushes, this is your sign.

Dirty brushes are the reason your foundation looks patchy, your eyeshadow looks muddy, and your skin breaks out for reasons you can't explain. It's also the fastest, cheapest upgrade you can make to your makeup routine.

Here's the entire ritual.

How often to clean them

• Face brushes (foundation, powder, blush): once a week
• Eye brushes: every two weeks
• Spot clean any brush immediately if it looks caked

If you use foundation daily, bump the face brushes to twice a week. Your skin will notice.

What you need

Nothing exotic. A gentle liquid dish soap or baby shampoo works better than the fancy brush cleansers sold at Sephora. If you want a little extra, add a drop of olive or coconut oil — it conditions natural bristles the way conditioner does hair.

That's it. No special mats, no gadgets required.

The 5-minute weekly ritual

1. Wet the bristles under lukewarm water. Point the brush down so water doesn't run into the ferrule (the metal band) — that's where the glue is, and wet glue = shedding brush.
2. Swirl the bristles into a small pool of soap in your palm. Watch the water turn brown, gray, or worse. This is why you're doing this.
3. Rinse until the water runs clear. Keep pointing down.
4. Squeeze out excess water with a clean towel. Reshape the bristles with your fingers.
5. Lay flat to dry on a towel with the bristles slightly off the edge, so air can move around them. Never dry brushes upright — water seeps into the ferrule and dissolves the glue over time.

Total time: five minutes for a full face set. Do it Sunday night with a podcast on.

Signs it's time to replace a brush (not just clean it)

• Bristles that shed no matter how gently you use it
• A brush that lost its shape and won't reform after drying
• Bristles that feel scratchy against your skin even when clean
• Any brush older than 3 years with heavy use

A well-cared-for good brush should last 5–10 years. A neglected one lasts 6 months.

Why this matters more than any technique tip

You can own the best brushes in the world, learn every technique, and still get a bad result if the brush is dirty. Old product, oil, and bacteria change how pigment applies. They also cause breakouts and dermatitis — issues people spend hundreds of dollars trying to solve with skincare when the real culprit is a brush they haven't washed since 2022.

Clean brushes = clean skin = better makeup.

Once you've got your care routine down, browse the full catalog — each brush includes specific care notes for its bristle type.