The Small Things Blog

Don’t be like me.

Don’t let it get this bad guys. The thing is, leaving hair in your brush isn’t the worst beauty offense in the world but it certainly doesn’t add anything to your haircare routine. Leftover hair in a brush can snag healthy hair, and inadvertantly apply leftover product onto clean hair as well. Just rake it out, okay?

I’m talking about the steps to clean makeup brushes and hair tools on today’s post. There are a lot of really easy ways to clean makeup brushes (whether you use a spray or a deep shampooing cleaner) but there really is only one way to clean your hair tools. You may be thinking to yourself, “I’ve never considered cleaning my flat iron or curling iron. . .is that weird?” No, it isn’t. And the goal is that this isn’t a task that needs to be repeated often.

Let’s start with cleaning a flat iron and we’ll finish with cleaning makeup brushes.

Gunk getting stuck on a flat iron or any other hot tool is typically the result of burnt product, burnt hair, or both. If you have an ongoing issue of buildup occurring on the plates or barrel of your hot tool, you may need to reassess what products you are using or if your tool is just too hot.

First, make sure your tools are unplugged. Examine your tools and locate any areas where buildup may be sitting on the side of the tool. You can see on the top and bottom plates there is quite a bit of residue from years of use in the salon. It’s that coppery colored stuff.

Using a wet washcloth with shampoo (made to breakdown product!) , rest your tool on the wet washcloth with shampoo for enough time to soften the residue. Then, put some elbow grease into it and rub that residue off. Do your very best to keep the plates or barrel dry, focusing only on cleaning specific areas of the tools. Do not submerge in water, ever.

If that doesn’t do the trick for you, you may need to use acohol on a cotton swab to clean off any sticky residue. You may also need to use a coin or credit card to scrape off stuck on junk as well.

The benefit of cleaning your tools is that the hair won’t get stuck in the residue or be snagged against it when you pull the tool through the hair.

You can see below that I was able to get off a lot of the coppery colored residue and now those sections won’t snag against my hair!

When cleaning your makeup brushes, I always try to keep it quick and simple. Ideally your makeup brushes should be cleaned after every use, but we all know that may be a touch unrealistic for busy daily lives. I shoot for once a week cleaning, and would encourage you to start there if you aren’t in a good routine yet. Your makeup brushes carry so much bacteria and leftover product that you really are doing yourself a disservice by not keeping them clean. It can be a 10 minute task that you perform once a week, for example, that will go a long way in caring for your skin and how your makeup looks!

I love the Sonia Kashuk brush cleaner because it comes with a silicone pad used to scrub the brushes really clean. Other options would be to use a simple solution of shampoo and warm water in a bowl! This brush cleaner comes HIGHLY reviewed!

Start by wetting the brushes, swirl around in cleaning solution, rinse out, and set to dry on the side of the sink after you’ve reshaped the brush head.

Cleaning hair tools should be an “every once in awhile” task, but cleaning your makeup brushes or tools should be repeated much more regularly. Neither task is difficult (unless you find yourself scraping tons of junk off the side of your iron like me!!) and it can be made much more enjoyable by having the right products to make the process most effective!

I’ve found that my brushes usually need a full 24 hours to dry so I like to wash them during the daytime so they are ready to do for the next day when I need them!

p.s. You can find a post where I break down lots of different brushes and their uses here.