Does Dry Shampoo for Makeup Brushes Really Work? We Tested It

Confession: I have a dirty little secret. I rarely wash my makeup brushes. I know it's gross. And I know it's one of the biggest beauty mistakes you can make—a faux pas high up there alongside not washing your face at night and forgetting to wear sunscreen. Forgetting to do so can result in transferring bacteria and pore-clogging makeup particles all over your face, leading to breakouts and blackheads. But it's just something that's so easy to brush off, amirite?

Thankfully, the beauty gods at Sephora know we're lazy busy, and have introduced a new solution to help make cleaning your brushes as easy as putting on dry shampoo—really. The brand is launching Dry Clean—a $14 spray-on brush cleaner that acts like dry shampoo for your makeup brush bristles. It cleanses, conditions, and removes product buildup from both liquid makeup and powders.

At this point you might be thinking, Haven't brush cleaners been around forever? Yes, it's true they're nothing new. But unlike many others on the market, this one promises to leave your bristles dry within seconds, meaning you don't need any downtime between using the cleaner and swirling your brush on your skin. Intrigued for obvious reasons, I had to hear more. So I reached out to Beth Hayes, VP of merchandising for Sephora Collection products.

First off, let this be clear: This product isn't a replacement for a deep clean. Experts still say you should wash brushes once a week, but this is a good maintenance method if that's just not happening in any way, shape, or form—or, say, if you're traveling and only want to bring one or two brushes instead of your whole kit. "Dry Clean effectively cleans buildup and pigments from your brushes in between deep cleans," Hayes says. "It refreshes and replumps the brush without drying or aging brushes since it's alcohol-free. However, alcohol-free doesn't kill all bacteria." Also, because there's no water involved, you don't have to worry about laying your brushes flat off a counter or upside-down (a must when you wash with water because it can damage the glue in the base and cause your bristles to fall out!).

Armed with this knowledge, I set off to put the claims to the test. In short: This works. Here's exactly what I did.