How I Clean my Brushes

Cleaning my brushes are a constant love and hate relationship for me. Love because who doesn't love using fresh and clean brushes? Hate because it can be such a hassle. But it must be done once a week.

I never really talked about brush cleaning before. But my routine has been set in stone for the past year, so I figured it is time to write about a "real" routine for this.

Things I use:

• Etude house Brush Shower Cleaner (P428)
• Face Cleansing Tool (P89)
• Dry Hand Towel

I just basically use a Brush cleanser, which some of you might basically scoff at since for some it is a total waste of money. And a plastic face cleansing accessory I got from Watsons, I found that the rough rubber protrusions work like the brush egg but way more affordable. But this duo works for all my brushes and even my makeup sponge.

The Etude  House Brush Cleaner is really for some heavy duty cleansing. It literally disintegrates makeup. And for all those Etude House junkies out there, the scent is very familiar since it is the same scent in their makeup cleansing wipes, which also makes me wonder if they use the diluted formula on the wipes and the pure form in the brush cleanser. It's a clear, heavily scented, slightly sticky liquid that is meant for the brush to be swirled in. But I pop some on the cleansing tool and swirl the dampened brush there to ensure optimum cleansing since its really working all the pigment out with the protrusions. I find that it suds up better when the brush is dampened beforehand. Then soak it off to take out the cleanser itself since the scent is overwhelming, then leave to dry on a hand towel.

And that is it. The speed of this process depends on the number of brushes you need to clean or how dirty they are, but it's what I've grown accustomed to and I haven't found a better alternative at the moment. A bottle of the cleanser lasts for a good six months, so keep that in mind, I find that way more cost-effective than other brush cleansers, and I've tried soaps, baby shampoo and olive oil, but I have found them either too drying for the brush or frankly damaging to the overall performance. But that's just what I experienced.

If anyone has better and more affordable ideas other than the olive oil and shampoo thing, please comment below! I'd love to hear more methods!