I have long used the BlenderCleanser to clean my makeup brushes. However, it is a bit pricey and although it doesn't say so specifically, I thought it would also help kill bacteria as it cleanses. Recently, I've seen a few beauty bloggers talk about using the Dr. Bronner soaps to clean their makeup brushes. They are significantly cheaper than the BlenderCleanser, and because they are known to be this "magical" soap for anything and everything, even the face, I thought it would be more effective in killing bacteria. For all those who aren't diligent about cleaning your brushes, oh please do! Just think about how much bacteria is infesting the inside bristles, and how you would be transferring them from face to product, back and forth back and forth! Yucky! So, I'm all about getting them clean for both 1) clean skin, and 2) better makeup application and finish!
I bought the purple/Lavender Dr. Bronner soap, in their largest size. It was only $18, which is also the price of the regular BlenderCleanser size. That cleanser did last me about a year and a bit more, so I won't complain. But hey, look at this size! It'll last forever :)
I did my first cleanup today using the Dr. Bronner soap. It is indeed very effective in taking the crusted makeup off (ew...) and you do need a small amount.
What I like to do for foundation brushes, since those are the brushes I use the most and would probably have the most product in them, I take an empty plastic cup and fill it 1/4 with a few drops of the cleanser and water, mixed together. Then, I soak in the brushes for a minute or two. While those are soaked in, I go in to clean the easier ones-- smaller brushes.
For the smaller and easier brushes I use either a small plastic plate or a plastic cup again. I do the same. Mix cleanser and water together. Then, I swirl several all at once in the cup/plate. You can see it all foam up and the color coming out. Depending on how much product is in the brush, sometimes you'll need to do just one time or two. After I do the "cleansing" process, I go on to rinsing them.
Again, under lukewarm water, I rinse off each brush quickly but efficiently. Rinsing is so important, for obvious reasons so I make sure that even when I swirl the brushes in a cup full of just water, there is no foam or extra color coming off! If it still foams in just water, you know you haven't rinsed fully enough!
Then I go back to the harder brushes and do the routine maybe two times, until I peek inside the deep ends of the brushes and see they are all CLEAN. They need to look new and fully without product. This cleanser it good at it, but make sure you do them thoroughly.
I once used a brush cleanser from Sephora and goodness! No matter how many times I swirled and swirled and swirled, the products in the deep inside bristles would NOT come off! So, I know to get effective makeup brush cleansers now. BlenderCleanser really was good, but the more affordable option seemed to be this Dr. Bronner one! Besides, the BlenderCleanser was mainly made for their sponges, although they do say you can use it for both sponges and brushes!
To dry: I lay them so that it doesn't become flat on only one side. Then, (though not shown in pictures) I lay a long sheet of toilet paper on top of the clean brushes so that dust won't settle on the wet brushes and also so that the cheaper brushes that have its bristles sticking out can lay flat but without making the whole thing brush bend downward!
