Every few weeks, I get a text from a friend asking me how to clean makeup brushes. “Do I just use soap"” or, “I read somewhere that [insert random food item] can be used to clean them"” or, “Do I even have to clean them"” (Ugh, YES.) And then I launch into a long conversation about how exactly you wash your makeup brushes and Beauty Blenders, and around and around we go.
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Clearly, there’s a bunch of confusing information out there, and even more clearly, makeup brushes are not getting cleaned the way they should be (or at all, which is too horrible to think about…all of that harbored bacteria…). So instead of leaving you to your own devices with a possibly crappy DIY recipe, we broke down the five best ways to wash your makeup brushes, from the very basic soap and water, to an insanely expensive automated machine. Scroll down to find your favorite method, and then get those brushes clean. 1. Soap. Water. Hands. Done.
This is my personally preferred method for brushes and Beauty Blenders, because #easy, but you can?t just squeeze any ol? soap on your precious brushes?you need to either use Dawn (the gentlest of antibacterial soaps) or none. Or, I guess you do have a third option, which is to use any generic soap and watch the bristles of your brushes gradually dry out and fall apart. Yay!

 
2. With a fancy, ribbed silicone mitt or mat.
If using you...