Tips on Brushes and How to Clean Them

Hey, baby. Hey, baby, hey! Boys say, boys say. Hey, baby. Hey, baby, hey! All the boys get the girls in the back! 

I thought you could all use some throwback No Doubt in your life! Ha ha. Well today's post is all about brushes, baby. How to clean them and which ones to use. Let's get started.

The Essential Eye Shadow Brushes

In my Makeup For Dummies posts (in the July Archive down below) I went over the main face brushes  you will need to get a flawless face. Well, today I will be showing you the most important brushes that every girl- boy/girl, girl/boy, whoever you are- needs. 

From left to right:
Urban Decay brush, and the other two are from Mary Kay.

These beauties are your basic eye shadow brushes. They are not too small, or too fluffy. I use these for pretty much everything. You do not need to get more than one. I do because I use many colors whenever I do my eye shadow. The one on the left is a bit stiff to allow a more solid application. It also helps with getting into that inner corner, since it doesn't move all over the place.

MAC 208 brush

You must, I repeat, must have this in your makeup collection. This little guy is called an angled brush and it can be used to fill in brows, line upper and lower lash lines, and be used to flawlessly apply gel liner. Get it? Got it? Good.

A fluffy angled brush is perfect for when you want to get into the crease of the eye, but want it to spread over a larger area. It is also cool to use it on the lower lash line if you are the kind of person who loves a lot of smokiness under the eye. This brush I actually got from CVS and it was super cheap. It came in a set :)

A dome shape brush is also for the crease and can be used on the lower lash line. However, unlike the fluffy angled brush shown above, it is not fluffy giving you a more focused application. This also came in the brush kit from CVS.

I have no idea how to spell the name of this brush. It is pronounced like this, spool-ie. So there you go lol. It isn't exactly a must have, but it is a god send. Your brows will never be the same after you use this. I use it to comb through my brows after filling them in, and it looks so much more natural. This is from a company called, Neewer.

This brush is my friend. He too came from the planet, Neewer and I am so glad. It is super fluffy which makes it perfect for blending. As you know from reading my blog, blending is very importante.

If you want a thinner line than a dome brush, but a bigger line than a small angled brush, then you need a pencil brush. I use this all the time when creating my purple line under the eye. I really recommend getting a brush like this. (Brought to you by CVS).

Brush Cleaning!

A lot of people use fancy brush shampoos. I use this:

It is antibacterial (kills germs), has a moisturizer (conditions brush hairs as you clean them) and smells hella good (bonus!).

Remember this is simply my method of cleaning brushes that I think will work for everyone. I do this every couple weeks and always do it before and after doing makeup on clients. It is super important to clean your brushes, especially if you are oily or acne prone. All you will need are your soiled brushes, my homeboy Dial, and some paper towels. Oh and a sink that works, preferably.

Step One:

Pump soap into hand.

Step Two:

Wet brush under lukewarm water.

Step Three:

Dip brush into the soap in your hand and swirl it around until you create a lather. You will see all the gunk in your brush and be see why your brush needs to be cleaned. Trust me. Even I am amazed at how orange the water is when cleaning my bronzer brush ha ha. Cute!

Step Four:

Rinse under the water, still swirling the brush in your palm to get all the germs and soap off.

Step Five: 

Get water out of the brush by running your fingers down the brush so that the bristles are straight, and going in the direction the brush is when its dry. So you you want this:

Not this:

See its not so bad. Just repeat this process with all of your brushes and lay them on a paper towel to dry. 

So fresh and so clean, clean.

Obviously in between eye shadows I can submerge my brush in water, so to clean in between I have this:

I just used a bright blue eye shadow and now have to use a white one. Whatever will I do? Simply spray the brush and rub it on a paper towel and bingo-bango the brush is rid of crazy blue color. This won't deep clean the brushe, but will get you by when you are in a hurry. You can also do this on face brushes. For example, if you use a brush for both your blush and bronzer, and don't want your blush to be dark brown or orange. Oh and I got this at Sephora of course :) 

Well I hope everyone found this helpful! I have actually been asked a lot on how I clean my brushes and what brushes I use for eye shadow, so here are those questions answered. Enjoy the rest of your day :) 

Do you clean your brushes?

What are your go-to eye shadow brushes?

Talk to ya girl! 'Till next time,

Nicole xo