Something I do to hold off washing them for as long as I can, is spot cleaning. I learned this from Goss, from GossMakeupArtist on YouTube (he is pure genius!) awhile ago and I've been doing it since! It's so simple and barely takes any time at all! The best part is, you could even do this minutes before you use your brushes because it dries them within seconds. Here's how!
You will need:
- Isopropyl Alcohol (mine is the walgreen's brand, any brand will do)
- A small jar or container.
- Tissues or a small wash cloth (that you don't care if you get stains on).
- And of course, your brushes.
Step 1: Pour some of your alcohol into your container. You only want to pour a small amount. The alcohol should not go past the top of the bristles on your brush.
Step 2: Hold your brush in the alcohol for a couple seconds, so that the brush can get saturated.
Step 3: Using back and forth swiping motions as well as swirling motions to break up the product that's within the brush. (As you can see here, there was white eyeshadow on this brush and is turning the alcohol white).
Step 4: Using back and forth swiping motions along your tissue or wash cloth to get the excess alcohol off the brush.
Your brush should now be dry within seconds or a couple minutes, depending on the size and density of the brush.
*While this does clean your brushes fast and effectively, I don't recommend to stop washing your brushes all together and only spot clean them. The alcohol does not condition your brushes like washing them would.
*You will need to pour out the alcohol and add more once the liquid starts to get dirty, otherwise you're just washing your brush in dirty liquid!
*Also, doing this does not get rid of any staining on white haired bristles. All the product will be off the brush, but the bristles may remain stained until you wash them again. These brushes were left with a brown-ish tint, even though they are completely clean:
I also want to share with you how I clean my eyeliner brushes. I LOVE gel eyeliner and I use it every single day. I like my eyeliner to be thinner and more precise due to my small, hooded eyes so I have to spot clean my eyeliner brush everyday because as you keep using the brush, the product will build on it and cause you to make thicker lines. Using this method to clean my eyeliner brush would be too time consuming, so I've come up with a different solution that takes no time at all.
Right before I do my eyeliner, I take a wash cloth that I use for makeup purposes (it WILL get stained), pour a small amount of baby oil on it, swipe my eyeliner brush in the baby oil until all the product is removed, and lastly, wipe the excess oil out on a clean section of the wash cloth.
MAC Brush Cleaner is a great product to spot clean your brushes with, but that will run you $13 a bottle! Using this method spot cleaning will cost you under 3 dollars for the bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol, if you don't already have some in your home!
I hope you enjoyed this and let me know if you do this or if you try it out. I'm so glad I discovered it! It's been a life savor when I'm too lazy to wash my brushes :)
