Cleaning your makeup brushes is an essential part of your makeup routine. These things touch your face regularly, so the last thing you want is to allow bacteria to grow on your brushes. And with how expensive some makeup brushes can be lately, you want to make sure you’re keeping them in tip-top shape! Read on below to see a review of a drugstore brand brush cleaner.
Essence of Beauty Brush Cleaner
3.8 fl oz.
~$5 at CVS
PROS
Convenient Packaging
The spray bottle is very convenient because when washing your brushes because you can get the product onto your bristles quickly without needing to put anything down or grow another pair of hands.
Suds Well
It doesn’t take much product to cover your brush in suds so long as it’s not a giant face powder brush. For brushes with white bristles it does a decent job at making them look clean again
Contains Alcohol
This means that the cleaner is killing bacteria. Good sign.
CONS
Strong Smell
The smell is very distinct and would probably not be described as “pleasant.” It’s not quite a chemical smell but it definitely smells like something used for cleaning.
Flimsy Packaging
While the packaging may be convenient, the plastic spray bottle is actually really flimsy. Whenever you spray or squeeze, the bottle caves in easily.
Lacks Conditioning
Alcohol is good for sanitizing, however brushes are made out of hair. Imagine if you poured alcohol on yours! Brush cleaners with alcohol in it need to be balanced out with some sort of conditioning aspect to keep bristles soft. This product makes brushes a wee bit dry.
Sink Needed
While brushes need to be deep cleaned on a weekly basis, usually spray-bottle brush cleaners are for quick, daily spot-cleaning and don’t require a rinse. This cleaner requires you to head to the sink and rise out all those suds.
VERDICT
Beauty Fail.
The product does what it’s supposed to, but not very well.
Using antibacterial hand soap would probably be better for your brushes than this.
Essence of Beauty had the right idea in mind, especially when packaging it in a easy spray-bottle. However, the strong smell and drying formula were a no-go.