The Good, The Bad & The Okay

In the last year or so, the cleanliness of my brushes has become one of the most important parts of my make up routine. For one, I must practice what I preach to my customers, but also I need to look after my own face and tools to ensure I'm getting the most out of them.

I've noticed more brush cleansers popping up over the years, and I find it just as frustrating and confusing to try and find one as anyone else might. So I've decided to create a post about what I believe to be the best option, the worst, and one that's pretty okay.

The Good

Now I know a few of my American friends will probably recoil in horror at how old this packaging is, but fear not! I actually purchased a new bottle in November last year but when I got home I realised that the spritzer was bust, so I poured into the old empty container I'd had kept hold of to remind me that I needed more of this stuff in my life.

So quite obviously from the image, this is the Sephora Daily Makeup Brush Cleaner. This product retails at $15 (£10.24) for 200ml of product and contains no parabens, sulphates or phthalates. It also contains a nourishing combination of sandalwood and and amur cork tree extract to help keep the fibres of your brushes (synthetic or not) looking bangarang for years to come.

This brush cleaner has been a saviour for my lazy ass when it comes to cleaning my brushes. It can make my brushes look fresh as a daisy and soft as a cloud in mere moments. For those not familiar with how these products are used, simply spray onto a towel or kitchen roll and swirl your brush until it's clean. This baby removes pure pigment, black eyeshadow, foundation, concealer, and even exorcises evil demons.

I love this product so much that I have it saved to my Sephora basket for when I have actual disposable income so I can get some more. It's literally that good, I'm not kidding.

The Bad

So as my beautiful Sephora brush cleaner had run out, I needed something to replace it fast as it doesn't take long for my brushes to get pretty damn dirty. Lucky for me (but not really) I stumbled across the semi-new B. Range from Superdrug and noticed that they'd brought out their own brush cleaner. So low and behold this the Superdrug B. Makeup Brush Cleanser that retails at £4.99.

What suckered me into this purchase was the description that it not only conditions all types of brushes, it also disinfects them. From what I can see from the ingredients, the moisturising ingredient is going to be the panthenol and the disinfecting properties will come from the salicylic acid (which is almost the last ingredient, so one of the weakest).

The instructions for this product are slightly different to my beloved Sephora cleanser, this time you must spray the cleanser directly onto the brush before removing the product on a dry tissue. So out sprayed this weird foam (I felt like I was in a dodgy cillet band advert) and I began swirling my brush. Literally nothing was coming off, and this brush had been in some pretty dark shadows. I tried it again with my foundation brush, and still nothing.

I really don't get why this product has had so many great reviews online, unless I've been sold a duff bottle of water. I'm not really sure what I can use this stuff for, so until then it will sit on my desk before inevitably hitting the bin.

Waste. Of. Time.

The Okay

Seeing as I didn't have the funds so order from Sephora (curse you Wacken!) I had to find an alternative and fast. Fortunately I work with beauty counter girls, so I had a inexhaustible supply of opinions, the majority pointing me in the direction of Clinique. I have to say, I've not had the best experience with Clinique products in the past. It's easier to compare their spot treatments as paint stripper that leaves your face looking as though you've just witnessed the opening of the ark of the covenant.

After a little demo from one of the girls I decided to give it a whirl, the Clinique Makeup Brush Cleanser set me back £14 for 236ml, so it's the most expensive so far. Several girls told me that it was similar to the MAC brush cleanser (£12 for 233ml) seeing as Estee Lauder own both MAC and Clinique now. This didn't really budge my opinion too much as I'm not much of a MAC fan, but I've included it for those that love MAC but have a hard time getting to a counter.

So this works in a similar way to the Superdrug B. spray, in that you spray it directly on the brush first and then swirl the brush onto a dry tissue. I won't lie when I say it worked pretty well for my eyeshadow brushes, I'm pretty pleased with how they've come out. However it's doesn't compare to the power of the Sephora cleanser when it comes to the bigger jobs of removing heavier products such as foundation and concealer.

One way that I do prefer this spray is that it dries faster, but that also concerns me as to what it's does long term to the life of my brushes.

That pretty much sums up my journey with brush cleansers so far, and from now on I plan on sticking with what I know works!