Experts say THIS is how often you should wash your makeup brushes to prevent acne – and it’s annoyingly often

From clogged pores to pink eye and staph infections, the risks of leaving your makeup brushes sitting in their own grime for too long are numerous, experts warn.

This is because the fluffy hairs create the perfect environment for bacteria to breed; hot and full of oil.

But how long is too long?

Now a top dermatologist has revealed the answer to DailyMail.com – and it’s surprisingly short.

According to Dr. Shari Lipner, a dermatologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, you should wash your makeup brushes at least once a week.

‘When people use these brushes, they tend to accumulate a lot of dirt and oil. And this is the perfect place for bacteria to reproduce,” said Dr. Lipner.

‘More dirt, bacteria and products on the skin can lead to more breakouts.’

Dr. Lipner said she and her fellow providers have seen people in their office struggling with this.

“We’ve seen patients report that they don’t clean their makeup brushes, and we see their acne getting much worse.”

The advice of Dr. Lipner roughly corresponds to that of the American Academy of Dermatologywhich advises between seven and ten days.

However, most Americans who use makeup fall short of this goal.

This is evident from a 2015 survey by a skin care company Anisa International – the latest data available – 39 percent of women wait more than a month before cleaning their makeup brushes.

People online say similar things.

Dr. Sonali Nanda, a dermatology resident at the University of Oklahoma, admitted into a TikTok in April 2023 that even though she knows the ADA guidelines, she didn’t wash her brushes a whole year ago.

“I mean, I know it’s really disgusting, they were literally covered in makeup,” she said before showing off her protocol for exfoliating the brushes.

‘To be honest, sometimes I didn’t wash them for six months (emoji). I’m lazy LOL,” Reddit user Jasderp commented in a thread discussing how often users washed their brushes.

There’s a lot of product buildup on makeup brushes, and it’s just “nasty,” said Charlotte North Carolina makeup artist Caitlyn Michelle in an January TikTok.

This “annoying” buildup is a common cause of acne and rashes, according to the AAD.

Although rare, it’s also possible for you to develop a serious infection from the bacteria, Dr. Debbie Palmer, a dermatologist at Dermatology Associates of New York, told Good Housekeeping. This includes harmful insects such as staphylococci, streptococci and e.coli.

These germs can cause pink eye and bacterial skin infections, such as staph infections. When you get a staph infection in the skin, red bumps form on the skin that fill with pus and can eventually turn into deep wounds. according to the Mayo Clinic.

‘Sometimes the bacteria remain limited to the skin. But they can also burrow deep into the body and cause potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs,” the Mayo Clinic doctors wrote.

In 2016, an Australian model named Anthea Page nearly went blind when she contracted a staph infection from a makeup brush she borrowed from a friend.

Model Anthea Page said she contracted a staph infection from borrowing someone’s makeup brush

You don’t have to spend money on these types of products to get your brushes clean, Dr. Lipner said

So once you’ve gotten yourself excited enough to tackle cleaning your brushes, how do you go about it?

According to Dr. The best way to do this with Lipner is to first rinse the tips of your brushes with lukewarm water.

Then fill a bowl of water with a tablespoon of gentle shampoo or cleanser and rotate the brush. Make sure to avoid the metal part where the glue holds the brush together.

Then rinse the brush under the sink to remove excess soap and product and lay it flat to dry on a clean towel.

You don’t have to invest in a bunch of new tools and products, like the silicone brush mats advertised on TikTok, to get your brushes clean, Dr. Lipner said.

“I don’t think this is something that needs to be expensive or complicated,” it’s something that can be done with items you already have around the house, she said.

Since washing your brushes should be part of your weekly routine, it’s best to keep it simple, she said.