If blending is your cardio, then cleaning makeup brushes should be your power yoga! Just how yoga helps release toxins, cleaning your brushes regularly will clear out all the dirt and bacteria that’s been resting on the bristles for days on end. Both activities will ultimately lead you to—yes, you guessed right—better skin!

Now, the truth is that there are two types of people: the first who are super obsessed with their skin and will do everything to keep it free of grime and bacteria, and the second who there are the lazy ones, who will wear makeup every single day, but when it comes to cleaning their makeup tools, will conveniently hit the snooze button! If you fall in the second category, then here’s a warning—using dirty makeup brushes can lead to clogged pores, premature ageing and make your makeup application anything but smooth. If you don’t want to deal with these skin woes, then here’s how often should you be cleaning your trusty makeup brushes.

cleaning makeup brushes

2 weeks—You should be cleaning your makeup brushes every two weeks!

If you’ve been paying extra attention to your skin problems and treating them accordingly with the TLC they need, but not washing your makeup brushes regularly, your skincare efforts are going to waste! Why, you ask? Because makeup brushes are a home for bacteria and dead skin cells. *Eww* Yes, going too long without cleaning your makeup brushes means you’re not working to prevent bacteria from building up on your tools—and this often leads to acne and blemishes forming on your otherwise clear skin. 

Now you’ve probably heard that you should clean your brushes once a week, but this could wear down the bristles. Hence, the ideal duration between cleaning sessions is two weeks.