What Do You Use to Clean Your Makeup Brushes?

Apologies: I used to put prices as a service for those who wanted to know, but I no longer do it. ^__^ As a clean-freak, I shampooed my brushes once a week and clean individual brushes daily after each use with a wet wipe. Several bloggers have been writing about washing makeup brushes regularly. Commonly, it is advised that you shampoo your brushes with a cleanser of your choice, rinse thoroughly with water, squeeze out all the water, then lay the brushes on the side to air dry. Recently, one of my brushes cracked, despite the care I had taken to prevent water from touching the wood handles and laying my brushes on the side to air dry. Fortunately, it's not one of my expensive brushes. But it triggered me to consider whether shampooing and then rinsing with water is really the best thing for my brushes, because somehow, I just can't completely prevent water from accidentally touching the wood handle. Thinking back, when I purchased a small travel set of brushes from Shu Uemura, the MA was appalled when I told her I shampoo and rinse my brushes with water. She said it's a total NO NO when it comes to Shu Uemura brushes, "You must NEVER (her emphasis) let your brushes touch water!" I was told Shu Uemura brushes "last forever" because of the quality and the way the brushes are maintained. "Our brushes at the counter are all cleaned this way, and see, they don't shed nor do they go out of shape. The handles are also still perfect," she told me. Looking at the brushes, I could see she was telling the truth. The brushes seem used (ie. I could tell they were not brand new) but not worn out or chipped. So, what was the secret? This. Shu Uemura Brush Cleaner. Yep, I bought a bottle. But it's so expensive, I use it only for my Shu Uemura brushes. Then it occured to me to look at the ingredient list. Top ingredient? Isopropyl Alcohol (sorry abit hard to photograph.) Which is exactly this. You can buy it for about SG$5 at the pharmacy. So this is what tried recently. I figure the other ingredients in the Shu Uemura Brush Cleaner list are for moisturising and the main ingredient serves the cleaning function. I wet a cotton pad with the Isoproply Alcohol. Dab my brush on it until all the colour is gone. Clean off the alcohol with a wet wipe. Squeeze dry the brush. Then lay it on the side to completely air dry. (Oops I reveal that I don't care for my Mac brushes as much as my Shu Uemura ones ... :0) Despite some misgivings and admonitions I've read about alcohol drying out your brushes, I actually found that my brushes are softer and less frizzy, compared to when I wet shampoo and wash them, regardless of the cleaner I use. I think using this method worked for me because I only use my brushes for powder applications. For people who apply wet/liquid/cream makeup with their brushes, a wet shampoo and water cleaning might still be necessary. Unlike Shu Uemura, Mac MAs say it is ok to wet shampoo your brushes. That's the instruction given for the Mac Brush Cleaner. Mac's Brush Cleanser has no ingredient list printed on the bottle, but it smells strongly of alcohol and there's a "Flammable" caution on the bottle. For daily cleaning in between uses, I picked up a bottle of Stage Keep It Clean Brush Cleaner. I just bought it, after reading Paris B's post. Check out what's the top ingredient, after water. ©Copyright. All rights reserved.