I admit it!  I am a bit OCD when it comes to my brushes.  I never used to be, then I think I read something about how much bacteria is on your make up brushes and that soon sorted me out!

Brushes and sponges will accumulate dead skin cells and bacteria – which without washing your brushes, can transfer back onto your skin causing all kinds of problems from blemishes to infections!

Some advice I have read suggests weekly cleaning, some 2-weekly cleaning, some monthly…personally it depends what the brush has been used for.  Anything applying foundation I would clean more regularly than something applying a powder that sits on the top of the rest of the make up.  The first brush that touches the skin after make up should be as clean as possible.

With all of that said, I used to spend absolutely ages washing and drying my brushes.  It would take so long that my stockpile of brushes is huge so that I can have a pot for dirty brushes and still continue with another brush until I had time to wash the others!

I’ve explained before that I traumatise over most makeup purchases and this next purchase I really did!  I count things in terms of dance lessons……if I buy that, its half of a dance lesson, that’s a full dance lesson etc.

During the summer – (with no dance lessons going on) I decided after a lot of homework on the subject, to treat myself to the StylPro Brush Cleaner and Dryer which was created by the Apprentice winner Inventor Tom Pellereau.

I was absolutely amazed by it!  You can clean most sizes of brush with it by choosing the most appropriate size sleeve for the brush and attaching it to the device.

Whilst there is a brush cleaner liquid that can be bought separately which they recommend to use with it, they do say in their FAQ that you can use your own anti-bacterial liquid soap.  That’s what I do and always have used even when cleaning my brushes by hand.  I also use a drop of baby shampoo to help care for the bristles too 😛  Brushes will last longer if looked after!  Now that I have used this for a while, I may try their brush cleaner as their bench mark foundation for testing was Estee Lauder Double Wear…one of my favourite foundations, but can be a nightmare to get rid of from brushes!

The device spins the brushes in the water quite fast to clean them then when lifted out of the water, spins them to dry.  The whole process per brush is around 30 seconds and they are clean and dry, ready to use again instantly.

Is it a necessity? No.  Is it a time-saver? Yes, making it a necessity to me!

 

I used to wash my brushes stood by the sink, scrubbing them on my hand in a soap mix, rinsing them and leaving them laid out on a towel to dry…usually overnight.  Now, I wash, dry and put them back in the draw in half the time! Or I could re-use straight away.

If only I could clean sponges and beauty blenders like this!

Beauty Blenders, sponges, powder puffs are all cleaned the same way, under hot running water, with anti-bacterial hand soap and left to air dry.  After one use of a sponge, I will not re-use unless it has at least been rinsed.  I think sponges are a breeding ground for bacteria so I rinse mine after each use and thoroughly wash after every few uses.

If there’s anything you’d like to know feel free to leave a comment on here or on my Facebook page 🙂