Silk Naturals

I am in looooove with all the brushes I've bought from SN so far, and I want to take excellent care of them, and what I'd been using on my previous brushes was a concoction I found on line that was both easy and cheap to make from common household ingredients I already had on hand. Also, the recipe makes logical sense to me, and seems like a reasonable formula for an effective, yet gentle, make-up brush cleanser.

Still, I was hoping that someone could confirm that I'm not damaging my new beloved brushes by cleaning them with this!!!

DIY make-up brush cleanser recipe
1 Cup - Distilled or purified water
1/4 Cup - Isopropyl alcohol (disinfectant)
1/2 Tablespoon - Palmolive (detergent that is gentle on hands and has conditioners in it)
1/2 Tablespoon - Shampoo (detergent gentle, made for hair)
1 Tablespoon - Spray-on, leave-in conditioner (must be liquid)

Here's a link to a video of the cleanser being made; it's how I first learned about the recipe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FwklwLsSSg

If I can continue using this formula without detrimental effects to my brushes, I'd love to do that, but if it's better for me to shell out $15, or whatever they're charging nowadays for a tiny bottle of cleaner, I'd probably do that to protect my investment in these brushes.

Thanks in advance!!!

It looks good except for a few things. I am assuming your brushes are synthetic, and this recipe seems to be ideal for natural hair brushes. The silicones in the shampoo and hair conditioner would be absorbed by natural hair bristles keeping them more pliable and soft. I would just be concerned about buildup as sythetic brushes don't need to be treated like hair. When I wash my synthetic brushes, I usually stick to something that is very simple. The silicones and conditioners may build up over time making your synthetic brushes tacky since they don't sink into the bristles.

I use either my face wash or Dr. Bronner's Lavender Liquid soap and make sure you have them as close as you can to a bristles down position for drying. You can also use the alcohol to disinfect, but I would be careful to only get the bristles (put some on a towel and just swipe the brush over it). The alcohol in the wash recipe might eventually start working on the glue that holds the brush together.

I like to use something mild such as Johnson's Baby Body Wash.

I keep a fibre optic cloth near by when applying my MMU. I wipe the brushes on the cloth to remove excess MMU. This helps with not having to wash as often; especially eye shadow brushes.

I also suggest getting duplicates of those must have brushes; such as kabukis, concealer brushes, etc.

Thanks Jen & Autumn! I'll be using your suggested cleaning methods soon!!!