I bought my partner a set of nice makeup brushes for her birthday. Three months later they were crusty, shedding bristles, and she was breaking out. She had been washing them but doing it wrong, and the water was seeping into the ferrule the metal part that holds the bristles which loosens the glue. By the time I figured out what was happening, half the set was wrecked.

Turns out there is exactly one right way to wash makeup brushes, and most people do the opposite.

The angle is everything

Never hold a brush bristles-up under running water. Water runs down into the ferrule, dissolves the glue, and the bristles start falling out within weeks. Always hold the brush bristles-down so gravity pulls water away from the handle, not toward it.

I now keep a small silicone brush cleaning mat in the bathroom. It has different textured surfaces for different brush sizes and suctions to the bottom of the sink. Swirl the wet brush on the mat with a drop of baby shampoo or gentle soap and the makeup lifts out almost instantly. Rinse bristles-down until the water runs clear.

Drying is where most people fail

Laying brushes flat to dry is the second-biggest mistake. Residual water still seeps into the ferrule. Brushes need to dry bristles-down at an angle so any remaining moisture drips out, not in. A brush drying rack costs about eight dollars online or you can roll a towel into a ramp and rest the brush handles on the high end with bristles pointing downhill.

Squeeze excess water out gently with a microfiber cloth before drying and reshape the bristles with your fingers. A brush left to dry squashed against a towel will dry squashed. Synthetic brushes dry in a few hours. Natural hair brushes need overnight.

How often is enough

Foundation and concealer brushes: every week. They touch liquid product and your face daily. Bacteria breeds fast. Powder brushes: every two weeks. Eyeshadow brushes: weekly if you use different colors, or at least between drastically different shades unless you enjoy muddy gray eye looks.

I set a phone reminder for Sunday evenings. Takes fifteen minutes to wash the whole collection and it has noticeably reduced breakouts. The brushes also perform better clean bristles pick up and distribute product evenly instead of clumping it onto your face in streaks.