DIY Makeup Brush Spot Cleanser
In the past few years since I’ve really gotten into makeup, I’ve found several solutions for cheap, DIY makeup brush cleanser. However, I never had a good cheap solution for spot cleansing. After doing a bit of research for different “recipes” I concocted this spot cleanser based on mixture of the ingredients I saw show up most often.
The cleanser I made consists of just 3 ingredients. There were some recipes out there even simpler than this, and plenty with way more ingredients. Personally, I wanted something effective that didn’t require me to buy several different items especially for this project.
The only things you will need for my version is baby shampoo, tea tree oil and rubbing alcohol. They say the higher percentage of alcohol you get the faster it will dry, but I went for the cheapest option and it dries plenty fast for me!
I filled a small spray bottle I found in the travel section of Target. I don’t have exact measurements, but this picture gives you a rough guide of how much of each ingredient I used.
Baby shampoo filled the bottle about 1/5 to 1/4 of the way. The majority of the bottle is rubbing alcohol. I topped it off with tea tree oil. My bottle didn’t come with a dropper, and the first time I made this I poured way too much in. It doesn’t make it not work, it just reeks.
You could definitely get away with just adding several drops of the tea tree oil, as even the small amount seen here still has a pretty strong smell.
You’ll need to give the bottle a good shake each time you use it, as the oil layer will separate out over time.
Of course, the real test is how well it works at getting my makeup brushes clean. Here are a couple of my most used brushes – foundation and blush.
To use, give each brush a couple of spritzes of your spot cleanser, then rub in a circular motion on a towel. I normally use a cloth towel for this, but used a paper towel for the demo so you can see the makeup being removed.
You can see how much came out in about 10-20 seconds of cleaning. And these were brushes that had been sitting dirty in my brush holder for a while. The nice thing about spot cleaning is you can almost immediately reuse the brush for another color or person because the alcohol makes them dry really quickly.
The only downside to having this quick solution is I don’t feel as bad for going so long between deep cleanings now, which I know I should do more often!
Linking up with: Sugar Bee Crafts, Ginger Snap Crafts, Design Dining and Diapers, Liz Marie Blog, The 36th Avenue, Lil’ Luna
July 21, 2014 @ 9:04 pm
I so needed this! My eyeshadow brushes are in shambles…so icky! Thanks!
July 24, 2014 @ 8:55 pm
It’s funny how much better your shadows look when there aren’t old colors mixing in!
July 22, 2014 @ 11:27 am
What an awesome tip! I am always trying to figure out how to clean those brushes! I love this! I am always looking for guest bloggers on my website Blissful and Domestic. My blog is about creating a beautiful life on less and this post fits right in with that 🙂 Check out my blog and see if it would be a good fit for you. I’d love to have you!
Danielle@ Blissful and Domestic
http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com
blissful_and_domestic@yahoo.com
July 25, 2014 @ 7:12 pm
so cool! pinning!
July 25, 2014 @ 7:35 pm
What if you don’t use the tea tree oil? Does it smell bad or not work as well? Can you use another type of oil? Thanks for the post!
July 25, 2014 @ 7:50 pm
The tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic so it’s just an extra measure for killing bacteria on your brushes. Some recipes use just the alcohol which is probably sufficient. Some people use witch hazel instead of tea tree oil. I have never used it but I know it has a smell too. If you used only the baby shampoo and alcohol it will just have an alcohol smell, which wears off pretty quickly (I’ve used straight alcohol to disinfect in a pinch when sharing brushes with other people).
I don’t find tea tree oil to smell horrible personally, but it is strong. Kind of hard to describe.
July 25, 2014 @ 8:20 pm
Thanks Andrea!
July 27, 2014 @ 7:12 pm
I should clean my brushes way more often than I do. They get really gross before I go “oh hey, my crazy breakouts are probably because of my dirty makeup brushes” not good. But I love this spot cleaning solution! Perfect.
~Meaghan from DIYfaerie