Be honest, how often are you washing your makeup brushes? According to the American Dermatology Association, dirty brushes collect product residue, dirt, and oil, making them a breeding ground for bacteria that can wreak havoc on your skin. Gross! But that’s all the proof we need to say it's crucial to know how to clean makeup brushes, how often to do so, and when it's time to just throw them the heck out.
We sweep our faces with these brushes almost every day, but we can't always say the same thing about how frequently we clean them. For starters, giving them a thorough washing every month or so is not enough. According to dermatologists and makeup artists, we should be sudsing up our tools far more often to prevent bacteria buildup, which can lead to breakouts.
"At least a few times a year I'm able to track down a new breakout to a patient's old makeup. But there is always the question of how much the makeup brush may have had to do with the problem," says a Miami-based board-certified dermatologist. "When that makeup gets old it may start to harbor bacteria, and the bacteria can overgrow on the surface of the makeup brushes which don't have any antibacterial or antifungal protection. In fact, we know that makeup brushes do grow bacteria and fungus but we don't know how common this is in our own home if we're washing them regularly."
If that doesn't convince you to wash your brushes often, perhaps a step-by-step guide from makeup artists and dermatologists on how to clean makeup brushes will do the trick.