We’ve all been there — you’re putting on your makeup when all of a sudden, a drop of foundation lands on your favorite white T-shirt. Or maybe you’re swiping on mascara during your morning commute and you accidentally drop the wand on a pair of light-colored pants (of course, on the one day you dare to wear them). Getting makeup stains on your clothes is never fun, especially if you’re out in public and can’t immediately tackle the stain or throw the item in the wash. To find out what to do in the event of any type of beauty-related stain, from spilled nail polish to smeared lipstick, we consulted with Zachary Pozniak, the vice president of operations at Jeeves New York, a luxury dry cleaning service in New York City. Keep reading for Pozniak’s best tips for removing makeup stains on clothing.First, Why Is Makeup So Hard to Remove?Have you ever wondered why makeup comes off easily when you wash your face with a micellar water but seems to cling to every piece of clothing it lands on (seemingly even more so if you really, really like that piece of clothing)? The same features that make your makeup perform well on your face — high pigmentation and long lasting power — are what make makeup stains harder to get out of clothes. “By design, especially like mascara, foundations [and] blushes, they're really not meant to come off super easily,” says Pozniak.You also can’t remove makeup stains with water alone because, as Pozniak points out, most makeup products are oil-based. When removing any type of stain, Pozniak says it’s key to look for a solvent, aka something that causes the stain to dissolve. Oil doesn’t dissolve in water, which is why if you’ve ever run to the sink to blot your makeup-stained sweater with water, it probably didn’t do much. What You’ll Need to Get Rid of Makeup StainsStain removers are key to getting out any kind of stain, including makeup stains, because they have powerful enzymes that help break apart the molecules of the stain. Pozniak’s favorites are Shout, Puracy and Oxiclean Max Force.A good-quality detergent is also essential to lifting stains. Pozniak recommends the Tide Hygienic Clean Laundry Detergent and the Tide Ultra Oxi Liquid Laundry Detergent.  How to Get Nail Polish Out of ClothesFair warning: Nail polish is one of the most difficult beauty products to get out of clothes at home, so the best course of action is to take the nail polish-stained item to the dry cleaners. But if you’re determined to try to remove the stain yourself, you can try using the following method with acetone nail polish remover.Test the MaterialYour first course of action should be to grab a cotton swab, dip it in acetone and test it on a hidden part of the garment, such as the inside of a pocket or an inner seam. By swabbing the acetone-dipped cotton swab on the inside, you’ll be able to check if the acetone warps or discolors the fabric before you apply more of it to the actual stain. Get Two Clean TowelsAfter you’ve checked to make sure the acetone doesn’t warp the fabric of your clothing, place the garment on top of a clean towel. Then, take another clean towel, dip it in acetone and blot the stain. “What you want to do is push that nail polish through and also take some off the top too, so you get both sides of [the stain],” says Pozniak. Use a Stain RemoverAfter blotting, treat the stain with a stain remover. Let the stain remover sit for 15 minutes or more. “The longer it gets on it, the better,” he says. “A lot of [stain removers] have enzymes that take a long time to break down stains, but any type of spray stain remover is going to be really beneficial for makeup stains.” You can even toss the garment in the hamper and let the stain remover sit until you’re ready to do your next full load of laundry.Wash and DryIf you can’t wait longer than 15 minutes for the stain remover to set, simply wash and dry your garment as you normally would. If you can still see the stain at this point, you can either repeat the process or head to your local dry cleaner.
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