Knowing how to clean your makeup brushes is a must and learning how to do it is simple and totally necessary to help protect your skin from germs and bacteria.

Like most products in life makeup does have a use by date and will eventually go bad, and all those bits of old foundation or blusher get lodged in the brush fibres and start to decay in time.

Makeup brushes not only collect bits from products but from your face as well; the natural oils in your skin accumulate within the hairs every time a brush is used. These oils in your skin have amassed everyday dust and dirt from the air and get transferred back to brushes and the cycle continues - the dirt goes from face to brush, back to the face and the back to brush! You can see why it is so important to clean your makeup brushes regularly.

Do's and dont's when it come to cleaning your makeup brushes:

When using a proprietary makeup brush cleaner make sure you always follow the directions on the bottle or you might harm the bristles or the glue that hold everything together.

On the whole, most makeup brush cleaners work in the same way - pour a small amount of cleaner in to a small dish, whirl the brush around in the solution, making sure it gets well into the hairs.

Rinse the brush under the cold water tap, the water must be cold and clean. The brush head must be held downwards i.e. bristles down, so the dirt and the cleaner can be rinsed away. Help it along by gently spreading the hairs apart.

If the brushes are really dirty you will probably need to repeat the wash and rinse a couple of times. The brush is clean when the water is running clear.

Never totally soak your brush and avoid getting the handle or the metal bit (ferrule) of the brush too wet, as this might harm the glue that holds the bristles together.

Squeeze out any excess water using a towel or kitchen roll and reshape your brush whilst it is still wet so that it dries into its natural shape.

Allow your brushes to dry without getting squashed by placing them at the edge of a window sill or table with the brush head hanging over the edge. You mustn't stand your brushes up as excess water could drip into the handle area where the bristles are glued, making them come loose.

Once your brush is completely dry, fluff the bristles.

There's nothing nicer when doing your makeup than having clean and hygienic makeup brushes that are as good as new!

N.B. You don't have to use a shop bought cleaner - you can use a gentle shampoo like a baby shampoo. Stick away from harsh shampoos or those which have a colour enhancer or are for dandruff. Make sure you rinse away all the suds and allow the brushes to dry naturally, just follow the same steps above.