I’m not sure if this is already a well known phenomenon, but I just experimented and was pleasantly surprised! I just washed my MAC 187 with dish washing soap. I literally put it on, and washed it off the next second and voila! the top bristles came out white! I cleaned the brush with regular hand soap before and it took me 5 applications of soap and around 10 mins for it to be completely clean. The reason I think dish washing soap worked so well is that is removes oil faster than regular soap. I’m going to try it on my other brushes, but thought i’d share the discovery with you girls first! 
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I always wash them with dishwashing fairy :o are you not supposed to?
I clean them with baby or olive oil on a tissue paper and then rinse them in water with a bit of fairy in it. Works great.
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I have tried it, but I mixed it a little with olive oil as michelle phan showed in her video. I use elf brush cleanser now. I think the dishwasher works really well as it is also anti-bacterial. BUT I think it dries out the hair on the brush alot. Dont know if its a good thing. Anyone else notice that?
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^I saw that video too but the oil scared me. I think traces of the oil and bound to adhere onto the brush which will be no good for my foundation. I don't know if dish washing soap will dry out the brushes, they might! will let you know will they dry
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I always wash them with dishwashing fairy :o are you not supposed to?
I clean them with baby or olive oil on a tissue paper and then rinse them in water with a bit of fairy in it. Works great.
What's fairy?
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^ I thought the same, But I washed my foundation and blush brush thoroughly afterwards to make sure the oil is out.
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Baby shampoo.
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When I bought my MAC 190 foundation brush, the sales lady actually advised me to wash it in normal hair shampoo - the bristles itself are made from natural hair (which animal I'm not sure...) but shampoo works fine! All you do is take a little lukewarm water, mix in a blob of shampoo and swirl the brush around in the water until the brush comes out clean. Then leave it flat on a table to dry overnight, and it comes out looking new (and smells shampoo-ey...mmm!)
Another tip she gave me to make sure the brush lasts longer, is to ensure when washing that you only wash the brush part (I know it sounds obvious) - but make sure no water enters into the space where the handle joins the metal bit of the brush if you know what I mean, cus if water seeps into that it loosens the glue used to keep the bristles together and the hairs start falling out.
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I wouldn't use washing up liquid because it's so harsh. I'm sure it will effect the longevity of the brushes.
I posted it here a number of times but I use Lush I love Juicy Shampoo. I use the method of swirling the brush in shampoo in the palm of my hand and it gets all the makeup out really quickly and leaves my brushes their natural colour. The shampoo is for greasy hair which is probably why (as with the washing up liquid) it gets them so clean.
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^Ou! Great tip, Stoppit. I think I'm going to look into that.
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Oilve oil comes out just fine and leaves the brushes super soft...HOWEVER don't try any other oil...I tried almond oil once -_______-
Re: Unexpected Make Up Brush Cleaner!
When I bought my MAC 190 foundation brush, the sales lady actually advised me to wash it in normal hair shampoo - the bristles itself are made from natural hair (which animal I'm not sure...) but shampoo works fine! All you do is take a little lukewarm water, mix in a blob of shampoo and swirl the brush around in the water until the brush comes out clean. Then leave it flat on a table to dry overnight, and it comes out looking new (and smells shampoo-ey...mmm!)
Another tip she gave me to make sure the brush lasts longer, is to ensure when washing that you only wash the brush part (I know it sounds obvious) - but make sure no water enters into the space where the handle joins the metal bit of the brush if you know what I mean, cus if water seeps into that it loosens the glue used to keep the bristles together and the hairs start falling out.
Good tips, I think i'll try shampoo next time. I don't want to have to buy shampoo's just for my brushes...I think i'll end up using one for normal hair (or greasy hair like stoppit suggested) and see how it goes :)
I wish dish soap didn't dry out the brushes, it works magnificently!
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You just reminded me of something silly I did a few months ago 
I got some fairy liquid and put it on one of my cheeks and used normal face wash on the other. My mum wasn’t too pleased when she saw what I was up to 
I usually wash my brushes with the pink brush cleanser from MAC. Once it finishes i’ll try baby shampoo.
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^What's fairy!?
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^
dish washing liquid :p
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I have to say I tried a bunch of shampoos, including baby shampoo and none of them worked any where near as well as the Lush one.
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I won’t lie, but I was tempted to do the same…just wanted to try it out. I read a few places that people with oily skin have used it and it helped with acne. Ofcourse if you use it over time, you’re skin would become super dry and lifeless, but i’m curious what about what it’ll do if I were to try it. What did it do to your skin, if anything?
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Honestly, I use johnson's baby shampoo and I don't think it works too well, I have to use ALOT of shampoo to get rid of the makeup
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You can just use your facewash too
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Honestly, I use johnson's baby shampoo and I don't think it works too well, I have to use ALOT of shampoo to get rid of the makeup
Try dish washing soap once, once won't dry them out! it works really well. You can mix in a little olive oil like some suggested.