Makeup Brush Holder

Did you know that you're supposed to dry your makeup brushes upside down so that they last longer and keep their shape? Apparently if you dry them with the bristles up(like in a cup), water seeps into the inside of the brush, weakens the glue, and makes the hairs fall out. This is especially bad with cheap brushes(which is what I usually buy). Also, brushes might not dry in their correct shape which is critical to their function(like fan brushes or contouring brushes). If you lay them flat on a towel, you have to flip them, and it still doesn't totally protect the shape or the glue.

How can we solve this when you're supposed to wash your makeup brushes every week?

The solution is to dry them upside down without the bristles touching anything. All the water drips out, and the shape of the brush isn't ruined because it's touching something while it dries.

Materials:

• 0.25" 24x12 birchwood plywood
• Hair Elastics
• Wood Glue
• Sandpaper
• Paint(Optional)

Tools

• Laser cutter

I designed the file in CorelDraw, and I used my university's laser cutter to cut this file. My cutting settings are hairline and RBG Black(#000000). Everything in the file is cut through, in case your settings are different. It includes 3 rings, 3 stands, and 3 triangles to support those stands. I saved an version in adobe illustrator because I know that's a lot more common. Feel free to modify it however you want. Scale it, change the shape, whatever you need.

Set up your laser cutter as usual for cutting through quarter inch plywood. It does have to be quarter inch thick or else the pieces won't fit together. This should be what you get after.

I'm going to paint over it later, but sand it all the same to get rid of burn marks and create a smooth surface. I'm using plywood, so if I don't I'm practically guaranteed a splinter.

Now this part was a little tricky. I think for future iterations, I'd want to etch markers to the stands so I know where to place the rings. I have two different lengths of makeup brushes. Some are long, some short. So I wanted to put the first and second rings further apart and the second and third ring closer together.

First slide the triangles into the stand bases. Then insert the stands into the little grooves in the rings.

Best practice you'd have a paint brush to apply the wood glue. I forgot mine, so I used my fingers and decided not to be bothered by the mess. Clamp for AT LEAST 30 minutes, and do not apply any tension to the joints for 24 hours.

I built it from the bottom up, taking breaks to let the glue set a bit.

If you want to cut off the part of the stand that goes past the ring, do so now and sand it. I decided that I wanted to keep mine in case I wanted to add more rings later. I just subscribed to one of those makeup subscription boxes, and they send me makeup brushes sometime.

I decided to paint the edges of the rings pink and the flat surfaces black. For the stands I painted the flat surfaces pink and the edges black.

I painted the pink parts first(very sloppy work, but that's okay!), then the black to hide the pink in the wrong places, and then touched up with pink to hide the black in the wrong places. I painted two coats of each. It took the entire night.

Stick a hair elastic in one of the holes, and pull one end through the other to create a loop. Insert a makeup brush upside down into the loop. They'll probably stay with one elastic, but I like to do the same thing to the bottom to ensure that it will hold.

Once you've washed your brushes, you can hang them to dry like this. Now they will keep their shape and won't fall apart. It's a win-win!