You’re doing everything right: You’re double cleansing, exfoliating weekly, and treating your skin to heavenly moisture, yet breakouts still plague your pores. What gives? It’s possible that you’re falling prey to dirty brushes.

Straight talk: If you don’t wash your makeup brushes regularly, you spread dirt and bacteria from your face, to your makeup, then back to your face. (Gross.) It’s important to clean your makeup brushes regularly. We do it weekly, while applying a Brand New Day masque (a great way to exfoliate the skin).

Cleaning your makeup brushes is a quick task that can lead to incredibly positive changes in your skin. Just follow these three simple steps.

Rinse the bristles of your brush under water, facing down. Try to avoid getting too much water above the handle of the brush, as this will loosen the glue that attaches the bristles to the handle.

Pump a mild soap – we like our Easy Does It Foaming Cleanser – into the palm of your hand and rub the head of the brush in the soap, just as you do to apply makeup. Swirl the bristles around and back and forth. Rinse thoroughly, and repeat if necessary.

Gently squeeze excess water out of the bristles with a clean washcloth. Spread the washcloth on a flat surface, and rest your brushes on a clean, dry part of the cloth. Make sure the room is well ventilated, and let the brushes dry overnight.