You've spent a great deal of time and money collecting the perfect brush set to apply your makeup. Each brush is beautiful and perfectly designed for a unique task, one for foundation, powder, blush, one for sweeping, smudging, blending... but how are you taking care of your set? Do you pack your dirty brushes away, hoping all the makeup will magically disappear from within their bristles by tomorrow? Do you blow hard on them or wipe them with a tissue, only to find yesterday's color making an appearance in today's makeup?

The inconvenience of dirty brushes:

- foundation brushes get hard and clumpy

- powder brushes get build-up which you transfer onto your face (ewe)

- eyeshadow brushes hold dark colors (reusing a brush with a lighter shade may result in more of a "night on the town" kind of look rather than an office look)

- they catch little hairs and dust

- they are gross.

It is commonsense to use some type of soap and water to clean your brushes, after all, this combination works well on most things (yourself, your dog, your dishes). It may be less intuitive that you should use shampoo to properly clean your makeup brushes. I'm not suggesting that your brushes require top-of-the-line anti-fizz, anti-split-end shampoo. Something cheap will do the trick. So, using warm water I clean one brush at a time by wetting it, applying a small amount of shampoo (obviously more for bigger brushes), and then I just work the shampoo through with my fingers to get the build-up out. If you rinse and suspect there is more makeup trapped deep inside the brush, go ahead and repeat the process. As you are cleaning, be careful not to compromise the shape or function of the brush, just don't smash your brushes in ways you wouldn't normally as a good rule. Lay the brushes on a towel to air dry and they are usually dry in a couple of hours. You certainly don't have to repeat this cleaning process after each use, just use your best judgment and clean your brushes when you can no longer handle the grime.

Reasons you should clean your brushes often:

- they can't clean themselves

- you don't want dirt or old makeup on your face

- they were expensive

- it is fun

- you are beautiful