How do I fix my oily make-up brushes?
I just bought my first “nice” brush set about a week ago. I have never really cleaned my brushes before since they were so cheap, and not worth the effort. I decided that my “nice” brushes needed to be cleaned yesterday, so I looked it up on Youtube. The first video that popped up was Michelle Phan’s video. The comments on her technique all seamed very positive, so I decided to give it a try.
Yesterday I washed them exactly how she did in the video, and when I went to go use the brushes today (I expected they would be try after a night of air-drying) they were all oily and gross!
I have tried rinsing it out with water and just soap, and the oily mess still remains! I spent months saving up for these brushes and I HAVE to get them un-oily before school starts (end of August) I have heard that the best way to clean my brushes is with the normal shampoo that I use for my hair, is that true? Has this oily mess happened to anyone else? How did you fix it?
Please help!!!
I think I may have added too much olive oil to the mixture…
I just need to know how to fix this!
I am almost in tears this is upsetting me so much! I worked really hard to get enough money to get these brushes. I just need them to be fixed!


I think you might’ve added too much olive oil to your mixture or the bristles on your brush had some weird reaction to the olive oil. Since it seems not to be solved by re-rinsing the brushes and washing them with soap, make sure you use a mild shampoo.
I shampoo my brushes all the time. I use my husband’s shampoo since his shampoo isn’t as expensive as mine (he uses Suave)
I just put a dab of shampoo (or more as needed) in the palm of my hand, then add a bit of water and swirl the brush, rinse, swirl, rinse until the water runs clear. Then I put them in a jar so they air dry in an upright position (brush part up).
I’ve had some of my good brushes for 10 years and they’re like new.
edit– I didn’t see the video but adding olive oil?? Brushes are basically “hair” so you would clean them as such.
edit 2–I just watched the video– she’s insane! You wouldn’t wash your hair with dishwashing detergent so why would you wash a brush with it? I’ve never seen anything so ridiculous in my life!
You probably wash your face daily before applying makeup. You don’t need to “disinfect” anything. Treat your makeup brushes as you would real hair.
to get rid of the oil but some hair shampoo on them and but them under the tap in warm water but make sure you are very gentlewith them , and you might have to put shammpoo on them a couple of times unlit the oil gets out . To clean my brushes i use hair shampoo it works great, and then i dip them in vinegar and water so i wont get zits .i got them year ago and they still look new.
That’s weird, I’ve used that exact method multiple times (including 4 days ago) and my brushes dry completely fine, no residue of any kind whatsoever. I think you probably didn’t spend enough time rinsing them. I swirl them in my hand under running water until I see NOTHING on my hand, no soap bubbles and no oil. But, everyone makes mistakes, and it’s fixable
Just do what the others said, use a mild shampoo and swirl in your hand, then swirl and rinse while running the brush back and forth in your palm until you see nothing coming out of it. No soap bubbles!
Additionally, I’d recommend NOT drying them with the brush heads facing up. That seems to encourage the water to seep into the brush, and it can eventually loosen the glue which holds the brush head to the stem. I usually angle them down a little bit and let them dry overnight.