DIY: Deep cleaning Makeup Brushes

Hope you're all doing well!

*UPDATE: Here's my YouTube tutorial video on how I deep-clean my brushes :)

My makeup brushes are pretty much constantly dirty everytime I do a cosplay makeup test (costest) where I use almost all my brushes with different type products from liquid to powder. Here I will show you my method on how I deep-cleanse my makeup brushes so they are super clean and soft as if they're new; and also conditioned so the brushes last longer.

In some cases, I spot-clean my brushes where I used powdered products like eyeshadow, so I just use makeup remover wipes and just wipe my brushes clean so that no more residue is left behind. HOWEVER for brushes where I used liquid products such as liquid foundation or cream concealer- I always give the brush a deep-cleanse as liquid or moist products tends to attract bacteria and dirt; as spot cleaning does not remove all the products- which can actually harm your skin.

So here are some dirty brushes I used for the "Litchi Hikari Club" makeup inspired look, and they have not been spot-cleaned (don't worry, I haven't touched these brushes again as I wanted to make a post about deep cleaning my brush) :D 

Oh, just a side note- my makeup brushes I use are just cheap brushes in which they are somewhat great quality as the bristles and hairs do not fall out, and my skin doesn't seem to have any allergic reaction to them ;)

Here are the products I used to mix together to make the cleaning agent owo)/
I actually learnt this method from MichellePhan but just tweaked it a little.

Here's a little information on what the products do: 
→ Hair conditioner : this will condition the hair/bristles of your brushes since the dishwashing liquid is quite harsh (even if it says gentle). And makes your brushes feel super soft as well ;D
→ Antibacterial Hand wash : kills the germs and bacteria present on the brushes
→ Dishwashing liquid : Removes the products and cleans the brushes. Try to find a dishwashing liquid that states that it's gentle and/or anti-bacterial. The reason why dishwashing liquid rather than just soap is that it has more cleaning properties that enables it to remove more product that just regular soap such as oils and grease (from foundation/concealers/skin)
→ Extra Virgin Olive Oil : Removes products (especially wax based) on the brushes where oil-based cleansers must be used to remove them. Also aids in conditioning the brushes :)

So there you have it- now the ratio may differ depending on what you like and prefer.
For me- I usually go with :
→ 1 TEAspoon of Conditioner
→ 1 TEAspoon of Antibacterial Soap
→ 1 TABLEspoon of Dishwashing detergent
→ 1 TABLEspoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Following that, this is what I got! ^_^ which kinda looks like egg mixture for egg wash or scrambled eggs .___.;

After you mixed your cleaning agent, it's time to clean the brushes.
What I usually do is either dip the brush in the cleaning agent or scoop the cleaning agent with the teaspoon and pour it onto my palm and just swirl the brush back and forth so that the brush is clean and the left-over makeup product is removed, and just set it aside. 
To check if there is any left-over makeup residue on the brush, squeeze the bristles out with the cleaning agent and see if there are any residues left. If not, it's good to move on.
Repeat this step for each brush, preferably from smallest to largest.

Rinse each brush under semi-warm running water until there is no soapiness when squeezing the bristles.
Thoroughly wipe the brushes with paper towel and then place it vertically so that the water can drop down out of the bristles due to gravity without enabling the water to travel up the handle to loosen the glue. Like so :D

Allow the brushes to dry vertically in open air. Be sure NOT to dry them in DIRECT SUNLIGHT as this damages your brushes and leaves your brushes damn in the centre.

Depending on the weather and temperature and the brush size, the drying vary. I think about 1.5 hours on average for my brushes but sometimes longer for bigger brushes. I also used the leftover cleaning agent to clean the brush guard for my foundation powder brush :)

Once it's dried, your brushes should feel really nice and soft and also somewhat smelling nicer than it did hahaha!

Store them like you usually do, and your brushes are ready to use.

But yeah, this is just how I clean my brushes which is technically the same method as MichellePhan as shown in her video :

Anyway that's it for this post. Hopefully it is somewhat helpful.
Until then, stay well & take care