So many people around the world wear and love makeup, but one of the most tedious things about cosmetics is the need to clean your makeup brushes. Some people don’t know how to do it, and others just don’t want to. Over the past few years I’ve learned a lot of things about makeup, including quick and easy ways to clean your makeup brushes without ruining them. The most important thing, however, is to clean your makeup brushes after you have used them and gotten ready, because they will need to have time to dry afterward. Cleaning your makeup brushes is so important for hygiene, and could be a possible cause for acne and infections.

The first way to clean your makeup brushes is to use a daily spray. I use the Sephora Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner, and it comes in a tiny bottle that makes it easy to spray your brushes. To use this, take your brush and spray about 2-3 times, making sure to evenly spray all of the hairs. Then, take a lint-free cloth and wipe your brush gently back and forth several times on the cloth until you can’t see any more product coming off of the brush. If you haven’t cleaned your brush in a while, this may take some time. This method is a great daily method for brush cleaning, but every once in a while you should do a thorough brush cleansing.

To clean your brushes thoroughly, you can either use a brush cleaner from a store, or you can simply use some hand soap. Make sure to use gentle hand soap, however, or it can ruin the brush hairs. Start running the sink water, and mix your brush in with the soap in the sink bowl. Swirl your brush around a few times, and once you no longer see makeup getting washed away, you can gently dip your brush under the water and leave it out to dry. Make sure when you’re washing your brush under the water not to let the water go any further than the end of the metal band around your brush, because this could deactivate the glue holding the brush hairs.

Your Beauty Blender is probably the most important makeup tool to clean, because it is a sponge and can hold tons more bacteria than a brush can. To clean your Beauty Blender, it is recommended to use the Blender Cleanser, which is specifically designed to clean that type of makeup sponge. It comes in a liquid and solid form, but most reviews state that they work equally well. Although the Blender Cleanser is the best option, some people don’t want to buy a soap that is more expensive than their shampoo or conditioner, which is understandable. You can use a gentle hand soap for your Beauty Blender as well, but you have to make sure to use less than you would for a brush and make sure there is more water than soap when you are washing the Beauty Blender. Run your sponge under the faucet and carefully add soap while you squeeze the sponge gently over and over. Again, after a while, you won’t see any more makeup being rinsed out of your Beauty Blender and you can let it dry (or apply your makeup right after, because Beauty Blenders are meant to be used while damp!)

Once you start using these tips to clean your makeup tools, you might stop experiencing acne break outs as often. Makeup brushes and sponges store a lot of bacteria, so it is important to keep them clean so as not to continuously wipe your face with bacteria every day. If you have an open cut on your face while applying makeup (which isn’t a good idea to start with) you can end up getting an infection if your makeup brushes aren’t clean. Everyone knows hygiene is important, but not everyone realizes how much of an effect dirty makeup tools can have on your hygiene and health.