Clean Those Brushes!

Cleaning Make-up Brushes the DIY Way

What you'll need:

Dawn Dish washing Liquid
Organic Coconut Oil
A small bowl or plate
Dirty Brushes

*Note* Used a bit too much of the coconut oil in this pic. About half that amount would be sufficient.

What you'll do:

Coconut oil tends to be a semi-solid at room temperature so you will need to stir the two ingredients together for a couple seconds to mix them. 

Next, take your make-up brushes, one at a time, and swirl them around in the bowl. You'll see almost immediately how the color of the oil and dish washing liquid turns a yucky color as the make-up and dirty come out of your brush.

Continue to swirl the brush around the bowl, while now and then wiping it against the  rim. You'll be amazed at how much gunk comes out.

Next, swirl the bristles in your palm filled with warm water or hold the brush under running warm water. While doing this entire process, avoid getting water and soap in the ferrule (see pic below). This will weaken the glue that holds the bristles in place and your brush life will be significantly shorter.

Continue this process with all your brushes, laying the brushes out flat on a paper towel after gently squeezing the brush between the paper towel. 

Notes:
 
Let them dry flat on a paper towel; don't dry them upright, as this will allow the remaining bit of water to seep into the ferrule. Usually overnight will do it.

If your mixture begins to look like the picture below, put fresh ingredients in the bowl. No point in putting more dirt and make-up on your brushes as you are cleaning them.

The coconut oil is used for this method because it is a great conditioner and will keep your brushes looking and feeling soft.

You may be surprised at how dirty make-up brushes can get very quickly. It is important to clean your brushes at least every 2 weeks, more if you use them a lot. 

Make-up brushes very quickly build up bacteria in the bristles and you don't want to transfer this bacteria to your face.

If you use your brushes on another person, clean your brushes thoroughly before using them again on your own face.

I found a wiki How post on a great quick cleaner you could use once a week and then save this deeper treatment for about once a month. Just be careful spraying, again, so you don't soak your brush ferrule.