Sunday Tips: Keeping your Brushes Clean

Today's Sunday Tip is courtesy of You Tub Guru Michelle Phan, and I'm passing it on because it really works (for me, anyway).

In the past I've had trouble cleaning my brushes so that the inside bristles get as good a clean as the outside ones, this has been especially so with foundation brushes. I've also struggled to get the bristles feeling lovely and soft.

The answer? Olive Oil.

I know, it sounds bonkers, but Olive Oil is a great ingredient in so many natural beauty products because of it's moisturising properties. So, you know that not only is the Oil not going to be irritating your skin with additives and yucky stuff, it will also keep your brushes soft whilst really digging out the dirt and grease.
It's best to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil, as this oil has been extracted from the first press of the Olives, which makes it the highest quality Olive Oil that you can buy.

Soooo, what do you do with the oil? I've found that there are a couple of effective ways of washing your brushes with Olive Oil:


1. Splatter a dollop of oil onto a plate, and swish your dirty brush around in it. Once your brush is sufficiently coated, swirl it around in the palm of your hand and rub the bristles in your fingers. This ensures that you get into the middle of the bristles. Rinse the brushes in tepid water (make sure the water isn't hot, as this will just soften the glue that holds the bristles in.

2. Fill a small bowl with water, and add a dash of oilive oil. Swirl your brushes around in the water, and you'll quickly see the oil has coated the bristles. Rub your fingers in the bristles to get the inner ones, and rinse the brushes in tepid water.

If you want you can add Anti-Bacterial Handwash or Washing Up Liquid to disinfect and make the brushes smell nicer.

Once your brushes are clean, place them upside down in a pot (using Brush Guards if you own them, or if you don't own any you can easily improvise with rolled up cardboard). This stops the water from running down the brushes which would soften the glue and thus encourage the hairs to shed, which of course we really don't want.

Good luck with your brushes, and please share your stories with effective ways that you use to clean your make up, and art, brushes.