Experts say THIS is how often you need to be washing your makeup brushes to avoid acne - and it's annoyingly often

From clogged pores, to pink eye to staph infections - the risks of letting your makeup brushes sit in their own filth for too long are numerous, experts have warned.

This is because the fluffy hairs create the perfect environment for bacteria to breed in; warm and full of oil. 

But how long is too long?  

Now, a top dermatologist revealed the answer to DailyMail.com - and it's a surprisingly short amount of time. 

You should be washing your makeup brushes at least once a week, according to Dr Shari Lipner, a dermatologist at Weill Cornell Medicine.

'When people use these brushes, they tend to accumulate a lot of dirt and oil. And this is the perfect place for bacteria to breed,' Dr Lipner said. 

'More dirt, bacteria and products on the skin can lead to more breakouts.' 

Dr Lipner said she and her fellow providers have seen people in their office that struggle with this.

'We have seen patients who report that they don't clean their makeup brushes, and we do observe that their acne gets much worse.'

Dr Lipner's advice is roughly in line with that of the American Academy of Dermatology, which advises between seven to ten days.

However, most Americans who use makeup are falling short of this target.

According to a 2015 poll by skincare firm Anisa International - the most recent data available - 39 percent of women wait more than a month before cleaning their makeup brushes.

People online say similar things. 

Dr Sonali Nanda, a dermatology resident at Oklahoma University, admitted in a TikTok in April of 2023 that though she knows the ADA guidelines, she's gone a whole year before without washing her brushes. 

'I mean, I know it's really disgusting, they were literally caked with makeup,' she said before showing her protocol for giving the brushes a scrub. 

'Honestly, sometimes I don't wash them for 6 months [emoji]. I'm lazy LOL,' Reddit user Jasderp commented in a thread discussing how often users washed their brushes. 

When you don't wash your brushes, bacteria can build up in them, experts say. This bacteria can cause you to develop acne

There's a lot of product build up that happens on makeup brushes, and it's just 'nasty', Charlotte North Carolina makeup artist Caitlyn Michelle said in a January TikTok. 

This 'nasty' build up is a common cause of acne and rashes, according to the AAD. 

Though it's rare, it's also possible for you to get a serious infection from the bacteria, Dr Debbie Palmer, a dermatologist at the Dermatology Associates of New York, told Good Housekeeping.  This includes harmful bugs like staphylococcus, streptococcus and e coli.

These germs can cause pink eye and bacterial skin infections - like staph infections. When your get a staph infection in the skin, it creates red bumps on the skin that fill with pus, and may eventually turn into deep wounds, according to the Mayo Clinic. 

'Sometimes the bacteria remain confined to the skin. But they can also burrow deep into the body, causing potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, surgical wounds, the bloodstream, heart valves and lungs,'  Mayo Clinic doctors wrote. 

In 2016, an Australian model named Anthea Page was nearly blinded when she got a staph infection from a makeup brush she borrowed from a friend. 

Model Anthea Page said she contracted a staph infection from borrowing someone's makeup brush

You don't have to spend money on products like these to get your brushes clean, Dr Lipner said 

So when you've psyched yourself up enough to tackle cleaning your brushes, how do you do it?

According to Dr Lipner the best way to do that is to rinse the tips of your brushes first with lukewarm water. 

Then, you should fill a bowl of water with a tablespoon of gentle shampoo or cleanser, and swirl the brush around, taking care to avoid the metal part, where the glue keeps the brush together. 

 After, rinse the brush under the sink to get off excess soap and product and lay it flat to dry on a clean towel.

You don't need to invest in a bunch of new tools and products, like the silicon brush mats advertised on TikTok, to get your brushes clean, Dr Lipner said. 

 'I don't think this is something that needs to be expensive or complicated,' it's something that can be done with items you already have in your home, she said. 

Since washing your brushes should be a part of your weekly routine, it's best to keep it simple, she said.