15 Best Makeup Brush Cleaners to Upgrade Your At-Home Beauty Routine
Say goodbye to brushes filled with gunk and built-up makeup!
Raise your hand if you currently have several dirty makeup brushes sitting on your vanity right now. Most of us would agree that cleaning your makeup brushes is an essential part of your beauty routine. If you're struggling to keep your brushes clean, whether that's because you don't know where to start or you just don't have the time, then we've got the solution with our list of the best makeup brush cleaners for every kind of brush and budget.
Our top picks:
To find the best brush cleaners, we consulted Erica Whelan, a background makeup artist who has worked on Succession, And Just Like That and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, considered recommendations from GH editors and product reviewers and asked Sabina Wizemann, a senior chemist in the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty, Health & Sustainability Lab for her insights. "Ideally, the brushes should be cleaned every time you use them," Wizemann says. Even sponges — including your beloved BeautyBlender! — "should be washed after every use; they can harbor bacteria much easier than brushes," she notes.
Our top picks work on foundation brushes as well as your favorite makeup sponges (which we know can be stubborn with stains). We have included high-end cleaners, drugstore options and tons of selections that work well for natural and synthetic bristles. Plus, you can count on solid cleansers and liquid soaps to make cleaning your makeup sponges a breeze. Even those of us who may have a lazy day can count on cleaners that dry quickly or do most of the work for you (see: electric makeup brush cleaner and cleaner and dryer machine).