In the U.S., beauty is a multi-billion dollar industry, with consumers of all kinds opting in at various price points and driving growth. However, on a daily basis, how individuals take care of their beauty products can vary–specifically when it comes time to clean makeup brushes. Recent data show that 44% of Americans clean their makeup brushes regularly (among those who wear makeup). By contrast, more than half (56%) of respondents do not do so regularly. 

Perhaps not surprisingly, Gen Z–a leader in skincare trend adoption–leads in washing their makeup brushes the most frequently. However there is more to makeup brush cleaners than may meet the eye. 

Here’s what sets those who clean their makeup brushes frequently apart from those who do not:  

Pay Over Time: Those who clean their makeup brushes regularly are the most likely to have used Buy Now, Pay Later programs, outpacing those who do not clean their makeup brushes regularly who have used these services by 22 percentage points. 

Beauty Store Preferences: The data show that frequent brush cleaners lean slightly more towards Sephora than Ulta (21% vs 19%).

Chore Preferences: When having to choose between cooking or cleaning, 68% of those who frequently clean their makeup brushes prefer cooking. Meanwhile just 52% of those who were not aware of the need to clean their makeup brushes say the same. 

Social Tendencies: Nearly half of regular makeup brush cleaners consider themselves enthusiastic and outgoing, while just over one-in-three of those who do not clean their makeup brushes regularly say the same (48% vs 39%). 

Buy Online, Pickup In Store: While 32% of those who clean their makeup brushes regularly say they enjoy purchasing an item online and picking it up in the store, just 26% of those who do not regularly clean their makeup brushes say the same. 

Home Deep Cleaning: Those who regularly clean their makeup brushes are three times as likely to do a monthly home deep-clean as those who do not regularly clean their makeup brushes (24% vs 8%). 

For those who clean their makeup brushes most frequently, the choice isn’t just about hygiene, it’s one that fits into a much larger holistic picture of these consumers’ preferences, from where and how they shop, to how they participate in household labor and the way they socialize. 

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This article’s data comes solely from CivicScience’s database, which contains nearly 700,000 poll questions and 5 billion consumer insights.