# Make up wearing dopers, how often do you wash your brushes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 17, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980 "2010-11-17T15:12:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/21 "2010-11-18T02:53:55Z")
I have a [Sephora spray cleanser](http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P208010&om_mmc=GoogleBase&_requestid=42976&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=1069947) that I use a few times a week. They say to use it every day, but I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/22 "2010-11-18T04:22:19Z")
Um, never? I buy new ones. Or I would, if I needed them. When I’m getting real serious about it I used sponges for foundation, which I wash out immediately. The brush is just for blusher. I guess I would get a new one if I ever needed new blusher, but…I never have. The mascara brush is never washed, but new mascara every six weeks, whether I need it or not. Since that’s the one thing I put on every day, it doesn’t usually even take six weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/23 "2010-11-18T04:33:14Z")
I apply with my fingers, but I do also have a set of brushes for powder products like…well, powder. And blush which I hardly ever wear. I wear a tinted moisturizer instead of a real foundation so a brush just seems like it would get sticky. I only apply a concealer if I have been up all night with a kid or have a blemish. I use a big brush for powder that I rinse out every so often but I never share so in the realm of things it probably only gets washed a few times a year. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/24 "2010-11-18T04:41:47Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > The mascara brush is never washed, but new mascara every six weeks, whether I need it or not. Since that’s the one thing I put on every day, it doesn’t usually even take six weeks. The weird thing is for me, with mascara, even back when I was using it every day, I never used it up. I could go months and months and there’d still be tons left. I never understood how people used it up at all… ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/25 "2010-11-18T05:38:55Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > The weird thing is for me, with mascara, even back when I was using it every day, I never used it up. I could go months and months and there’d still be tons left. I never understood how people used it up at all… Oh, there is stuff left. It’s just kind of dried out and clumpy. At that point I declared it used up, and I toss it. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/26 "2010-11-18T05:58:10Z")
Count me as a “never.” These brushes touch me what? a tenth of a second a day? ---
**Author:** ![beo.thuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@beo.thuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beo.thuck)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/27 "2010-11-18T06:14:19Z")
Reasons I’m glad I’m not a girl 🙂 I just wake up and don’t even shower most mornings. I’m good to go in about 10 minutes. My morning routine is to hit the head, wet my hair and run a brush through. Let the dogs out while I throw on some clothes and I’m out. I love how women fuss though 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/28 "2010-11-18T15:35:53Z")
Actually, like Velma I use a tinted moisturizer myself. Pretty much stopped using foundation after the year my face practically melted off in a heavy wet snowfall. (I was a teen then, the foundation may have been a little thick but I find foundation to always feel thick even when people have used a brush on me so it’s not just my fingers). ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/29 "2010-11-18T15:41:30Z")
> [@beo.thuck](#): > > Reasons I’m glad I’m not a girl 🙂 I just wake up and don’t even shower most mornings. I’m good to go in about 10 minutes. My morning routine is to hit the head, wet my hair and run a brush through. Let the dogs out while I throw on some clothes and I’m out. I love how women fuss though 🙂 It’s not actually necessary to respond to every thread. If the topic is inapplicable to you it is permissible - nay, even preferable - to just not post in it. I don’t wash my brushes either, but I also only use brushes for eye makeup, and I only wear makeup for special occasions, so they don’t see a lot of use. When I use foundation, I put it on with sponges. I use it infrequently enough that the wasteage doesn’t bother me, because it’s rare that I go through an entire bottle/tube of foundation before it goes funky, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/30 "2010-11-18T16:13:24Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > It also wastes a horrible amount of foundation, because it gets sucked up in the sponge, never to return. I haven’t noticed that that much gets absorbed. Maybe it’s the sponges I use, or maybe it’s just that I use makeup so infrequently that I don’t see how much is being used. > [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Oh, there is [mascara] left. It’s just kind of dried out and clumpy. How do you get mascara on the brush? Do you pump it in the tube? If so, don’t do that–it forces in air and dries the mascara out. Instead, turn the wand inside the tube counter-clockwise (i.e., as though you were unscrewing it, but then just keep going). It gets a good coating on the brush without pushing air into the tube. I just realized that I have no idea where the word “mascara” comes from, so I [looked it up](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mascara). “The word mascara derives from the Italian _maschera_, which means “mask” from Middle Latin masca or from Old Occitan _masco_.” ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/31 "2010-11-18T16:43:58Z")
I use brushes for eye shadow only, just about every day, and it’s never occurred to me to wash them. I apply foundation with my fingers, and wash those once a day whether they need it or not 🙂 I keep my mascara and liquid eyeliner until they are gone. I just yesterday bought new stuff, and I estimate that my old stuff was almost two years old. I have never had an issue with eye infections, dry skin, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/32 "2010-11-18T17:02:13Z")
I wash my eyeliner brush a couple of times a week, probably, and the same goes for my lip brush. My blush brush I wash when it seems like it needs it, which is probably once every month or so. I can’t even remember the last time I washed one of my eye shadow brushes, since they just don’t seem to get that dirty and I don’t use them all that much. I don’t wear foundation, just pore minimizer and sunblock, both of which I apply with my fingers. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/33 "2010-11-18T20:57:16Z")
I, ahhh, don’t use brushes. Fingers away! ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/34 "2010-11-19T11:47:28Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Lots of brushes are made from goat hair by hand. Literally, there is no difference between a $200 Shu Uemura brush and its $15 painting counter part at the craft store. Well, the craft store brushes have longer handles and aren’t all shiny and black handled. Yeah, but are they made from RARE goats? Were they picked by Uemura himself? :dubious: My MAC brushes work just fine; I just wish I were rich enough to blow a few hundred on goat hair. It’d make me feel like I’d finally made it in life. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/35 "2010-11-19T16:45:38Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > Were they picked by Uemura himself? :dubious: That’s a pretty good face to be making, seeing as he’s been dead for almost three years. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/36 "2010-11-19T17:05:53Z")
My brushes are Sonia Kashuk brand from Target. Affordable but I really like them quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/37 "2010-11-19T17:41:51Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > That’s a pretty good face to be making, seeing as he’s been dead for almost three years. That’s why they are so expensive, duh. > [@MsWhatsit](#): > > My brushes are Sonia Kashuk brand from Target. Affordable but I really like them quite a bit. Those are good brushes. Though, if you want to be even cheaper, go to Michael’s and just get some art brushes-- half the price of the Target brushes and probably better. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/38 "2010-11-19T17:51:01Z")
Maybe it’s like diamonds and they actually have giant warehouses full of Uemura-plucked goat hairs, but they’re only letting out a handful at a time. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980/39 "2010-11-19T18:26:52Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Maybe it’s like diamonds and they actually have giant warehouses full of Uemura-plucked goat hairs, but they’re only letting out a handful at a time. So long as no little children are losing their arms for thieving a kabuki brush, I suppose I’m alright with that. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/make-up-wearing-dopers-how-often-do-you-wash-your-brushes/560980.md?page=1)