How to Dry Makeup Brushes

After you have thoroughly washed and rinsed your makeup brushes, it is important to see that they dry thoroughly to preserve the structural integrity of the brush and to prevent stuff like mildew.

Once you have rinsed your brushes, you should gently squeeze the bristles over the sink to remove excess water. At this point, you can lay them down horizontally on a towel in a well-ventilated area and leave them to dry, rotating them every few hours so that the side touching the towel can face up.

Alternatively, you can purchase a brush holder like this one or this one (larger) from Benjabelle. The base of the stand is in the center supports a platform that suspends the brushes upside down in silicone grips. Sigma also has a product for this purpose called a Dry’n Shape, which is a case that opens and folds into a cylinder with holders for brushes that dries and shapes them.

Or, you could be like me and forego the fancy equipment for now. Below, I have a few brushes in brush guards (which are also nice if you need to toss brushes into a bag that doesn’t have slots for them to keep them safe). They are suspended from a towel rack with a simple hair elastic (a regular rubber band is fine, too!) – something most of us have lying around the house.

How to Dry Makeup BrushesHow to Dry Makeup Brushes

To do this, take your elastic and hold it between the towel rack and the wall. Pull the top and bottom forward in front of the rack and slide your brushes in. This will secure your brushes there and we can (to quote Ronco) set it and forget it. I frequently tackle this whole thing at night, and by the time I wake up the next morning, my brushes are dry. If you don’t let them dry while you’re sleeping, though, remove the brush guard about 2-3 hours into drying – this will expedite the remaining time. Once all is done, enjoy your now-pristine brushes that may now feel like you’re rubbing a kitten on your face.

Disclosure: None of this stuff sponsored. That said, some of the links in this post are affiliate links – this means I may get a very small percentage of the sale if you decide to buy something. I’ll only tell you that something is awesome if I have verified it myself!