In between clients I clean with fast drying brush cleaner and sanitize with an alcohol spray but at the end of each day, I still need to thoroughly clean my brushes. I do this with a special mitt and this inexpensive but wonderful product…
Running warm water from the tap, I take the brush and gently wet it before swishing it around in the soap. I am careful to make sure that no water gets up into the handle of the brush as it will dissolve the glue over time (or sometimes very quickly!). Then I run the bristles of the brush through the bristles on the silicon mitt before rinsing under the tap again, turning it to make sure I got all the product out. Then I lay them flat on a tier of those stackable racks that you can get from Daiso. Just make sure the racks are not in direct sunlight because that can melt the glue in your brushes too.After I have finished washing all my brushes I press the bristles gently between a folded microfibre towel to get the excess water out which considerably shortens the drying time by well over two-thirds. I also use this towel to clean and polish the handles of the brushes. Once the bristles I have dried, I give them a quick spray all over with an 70% alcohol spray to make sure all the bacteria is kaput.
I tend to find that Inglot’s Duraline is an annoyingly effective product in making sure my eyeliner gel is not budging anywhere – thankfully not off my clients and not so thankfully my eyeliner brushes and palettes. To break it down, I keep a bottle of eucalyptus oil by the sink as well. I tip a little into a small metal container and swoosh the eyeliner brushes around in it before rinsing. I pour eucalyptus oil directly onto the palette and let it sit for 30 seconds or so before wiping off with specially reserved cloths and scouring pads. For beauty blenders and powder puffs, this product from Daiso is really good. The beauty blenders go on the top rack above the brushes and I’ll let the puffs airdry for a bit before throwing them in the dryer if they still haven’t dried by morning.
For my personal brushes, I wash them once a week and my foundation brush about twice a week. The beauty blender I wash after every use like I do for the kit.