Show Your Brushes Some Love.....

Love your brushes...hate cleaning them? We know the feeling!

That's why we wanted to create a blog post specifically on cleaning your beloved Spectrum Collections makeup brushes, so you can keep them fresher and newer for longer.

How often should I wash my brushes?

So the recommendation we like to give for cleaning your most used face brushes would ideally be once a week, make it part of your Sunday routine so you don't forget, otherwise you'll have a build up of grease, oils and bacterias on your brushes, and these transfer onto your face....nasty! 

The time frame for cleaning eye brushes is really dependent on how often you use them, for your most loved ones, perhaps 2 weeks, or if you're swapping colours a lot adjust this accordingly. Some experts say up to a month for cleaning your eye brushes, but really, when they're as pretty as ours do you want them sitting there covered in makeup for too long?

Is cleaning synthetic brushes different to cleaning natural hair ones?

Yes, generally speaking, cleaning synthetic hair makeup brushes is a little easier and less time consuming than cleaning natural hair ones, the bristles are harder wearing than delicate natural ones...not to mention kinder to our animal friends...use our Vegan brush soap for a cruelty free feeling <3.

Using a solid cleaner for brushes means you can really get the product into the bristles, by swirling the brushes around our brush soap, you can create a lather that will clean your brushes effectively, much like a shampoo works on your hair. Get your water to a tepid temperature, just warm enough to feel comfortable on your skin, no need to go to boiling point, this isn't good for you or your tools. Lather up and rinse until the product is washed off the brush, and the water runs clear. 

TOP TIP: Avoid wetting the ferrule (metal part of the brush that connects the head to the handle) for maximum longevity, it is repeated washing, wetting, and heating of this area that causes brush heads to fall off. Do not let your brushes soak in a bath for a long period of time, they may look like they're enjoying themselves, but really they are just soaking up lots of excess water which is not good for their lifespan, and can cause the wooden handles to expand and crack the paint...who wants water bloat?!

For best results when cleaning synthetic hair, you should use a tool that has some sort of texture, so this is where our Brush Heart or Brush Clam are your best friend. The ridges and nodules work with the soap to deep clean your brushes, these are especially great for face brushes, or most used eye brushes. Just build up your lather onto the brush, then work the bristles into the brush heart or clam, rinse and repeat until the water runs clear.

TOP TIP: using an extra tool such as this cuts cleaning time down by up to half...more time for netflix and chill.

How do I dry my makeup brushes?

There really is only one way to dry makeup bushes properly, and that is to lay them flat...or upside down if you have a brush tree, and wait. Exposing them to a radiator, hair drier, or another direct heat source will eventually cause damage to the glue inside the ferrule, and the brush heads will fall off and they will die :( OK bit dramatic but it is traumatising when a brush head falls off, we don't want this.

Just give your brushes a little buff into a clean towel to remove excess water, re-shape with your hand and leave them to dry, overnight if possible.

It's always worth having duplicates of your favourites so you don't have to rush the drying process and can let your brushes dry without stressing you have nothing to do your makeup with. 

TOP TIP: try laying your brushes with the heads off the edge of the flat surface, so they get 360-degree drying, and you won't have any flat edges where they've been left on one side for several hours.

Here are what some of our instababes have to say about their beautiful brushes & vegan brush soap & brush heart combo 

Here's a beaut video we made to illustrate all of the above...enjoy...and while you're at it subscribe to our channel <3 https://www.youtube.com/user/spectrumcollections