The Hack To Try Next Time You're Cleaning Your Beauty Brushes

Makeup brushes are the unsung heroes of the cosmetic experience. They take a beating day in and day out to create whatever look you desire, yet they are often utterly neglected. The fact is that they are typically not cleaned as often as they should be, but fortunately, that situation is easily rectified thanks to a common pantry staple. 

Now for the scary truth — makeup brushes should be cleaned every seven to 10 days, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association. The need for these frequent cleans is about far more than just how well they work. Although dirty, gunky brushes are unlikely to give you the results you crave, makeup brushes can accumulate a whole lot of nasty gunk, like oil, dirt, and, of course, makeup. But in addition to those substances, bacteria can start to breed, which AAD says can result in infections, rashes, and acne breakouts. Yikes!

Now that you're utterly grossed out, try not to fret too much because it's shockingly easy to quickly clean makeup brushes with a mere two ingredients that you have lying around the kitchen: olive oil and antibacterial soap.

Olive oil has a lot going for it, both nutritionally and functionally. Not only is it packed with healthy monounsaturated fats, making it a heart-health superstar, but it also has amazing antibacterial properties, explains Healthline. Olive oil is gentle on the skin, so some people use it to take off makeup, moisturize, exfoliate the skin, and so on, says the North American Olive Oil Association. Because of this, it makes perfect sense that olive oil is well-equipped to breathe new life into old, dirty makeup brushes.

To clean makeup brushes using this helpful hack, first gather the necessary ingredients and tools: olive oil, antibacterial soap, and a plate, per Good Housekeeping. On the plate, add two parts of antibacterial dish soap to one part of olive oil. The amount you use will depend on how many brushes are being cleaned. Plus, you can always add more. Once it's on the plate, swirl the brushes around in the mixture. Old, crusty makeup should start coming off immediately. Do this until they look pretty clean, then thoroughly rinse them using warm (not hot) water. Air dry and set a reminder to repeat the process every seven to 10 days. Once dry, apply makeup using the sparklingly clean brushes and marvel at how much better they do their job when not covered in layers of gunk.

Makeup blenders and sponges have really made their mark in the mainstream cosmetics industry, but anyone who's used one can tell you that they start to get stained and stinky pretty quickly. Tiktoker @sashinspires posted a video in which their blenders were utterly rejuvenated with only the help of — you guessed it — olive oil, soap, and water. 

In the video, multiple makeup blenders are poured into a large bowl. The bowl is then filled with water until all the sponges are covered, then they are liberally drizzled with antibacterial liquid soap and olive oil. The mixture is then swirled around, and the sponges are left to soak for one to two hours. Once time is up, she squeezes and rinses them out to reveal blenders that look almost completely brand new. Since makeup sponges keep getting more and more expensive, like pretty much everything else these days, this is a huge money-saving hack that will not only help keep them clean with some basic ingredients but will also prevent unwanted breakouts. Olive oil, for the win!