If you've got old toys laying around in a box in your basement, you could give them away — or you could find a way to repurpose them. Redditor happyidiot3791 went with the latter option in a truly genius way by using Legos to wash makeup brushes, Allure reports.
In a Reddit post with over 700 upvotes, they shared a photo of a brush and a big green Lego square both right by the drain in a sink. "Using a Lego base plate to wash brushes is an affordable alternative to other methods!" the Reddit and Imgur posts read. They commented on Reddit that they've been using this same piece for three years. Another Redditor by the name of Ffreudiannipss said they'd been doing it too.
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The picture alone is a little confusing at first: What makes the toy's surface good for makeup brush cleaning? Makeup and Legos sound like an unlikely combination, but based on the Reddit post's comments, it's actually an effective hack. "Swirling her makeup brushes on the legos' bumps and grooves (with your preferred soap) allows the brushes to be better cleaned (compared to in the palm your hand)," Redditor ohemgeeme explained.
Another option if you don't have Legos laying around: Allybearound uses these silicone pot holders that you can get from Walmart. JaneHound does this too and says it "works like a charm," probably because it has lots of nooks and crannies like the Lego.
Whatever you use, it's important to wash your makeup brushes once a week or more. When you apply makeup with a brush, "you spread dirt and bacteria and even viral particles from your face to your makeup, then back to your face, and [you] accumulate dead skin cells, dirt, oil, and bacteria on your brush," dermatologist Dr. Fran E. Cook-Bolden, MD, told Refinery29.
So anything to make this process less dirty should be embraced, even if it involves old toys.