The literal dictionary definition of the word “chore” is “an unpleasant but necessary task.” By that logic, the process of washing your makeup brushes certainly fits the bill. It’s tedious, it’s annoying, it’s difficult to find joy in, and it must be done. But hey, shortcuts are always fair game.
That brings us to the StylPro Makeup Brush Cleaner and Dryer, which purports to be the be-all, end-all brush-cleaning hack. It’s an electronic gizmo that uses a series of differently sized tubes to spin your brushes rapidly in a solution of soap and water. It’s also a bit difficult to describe accurately, so you can watch it in action in this video from BuzzFeed DIY:
This tool is brilliant, in theory, and seeing the brushes go from covered in makeup to spotless in seconds is peak clean-freak satisfaction. It just looks so easy. Fast, too! But the idea of putting the pricier brushes in our collection through the ringer like that kind of gives us heart palpitations, so we asked celebrity makeup artist Edward Cruz for his two cents on the StylPro.
“I can see this working well, but would caution anyone that touches it,” Cruz says. His ground rules: Don’t let the brush touch the outer globe (or anything, for that matter) as it’s spinning, because it could tangle and mat the bristles, and definitely don’t keep it going for too long. “The glue that holds brushes [together] is meant to secure the bristles in a tapered form,” he explains. “The glue is strong, but pulling on it will loosen the brush bristles, and you'll eventually see the annoying shedding on your face when you apply your makeup.”
While the StylPro isn’t necessarily a recipe for disaster, it’s not the perfect solution to keeping makeup brushes clean and well-maintained, either. If you find one, let us know.