Review: Real Techniques Deep Cleansing Gel
The moment has come! A couple months ago, Sam Chapman told me herself that Real Techniques was planning on releasing a new brush cleanser that will help keep your brushes in pristine condition. Well, it’s finally available and I put it to the test to see if it will really get the job done, even on a beauty blogger’s brushes.
The Real Techniques Deep Cleansing Gel comes in a bottle that holds a little over 5 ounces with a squeeze spout dispenser. The formula is a thin gel consistency that is supposed to break through the makeup built up on your brushes and leave them squeaky clean. My first thought when starting to use this was that I definitely needed a bigger bottle. I used about a fourth of the bottle to wash about a fourth of my brush collection (which is probably equal to a full collection of someone who is not a beauty blogger). So considering you should be washing your brushes once a week, the bottle would probably last about a month for the average user.
The gel performs better on some brushes over others. After closer inspection, I noticed that it was getting a deeper clean on the ones I use exclusively for powders rather than creams and liquids. For most of them, a quarter sized amount for face brushes and dime sized for eye brushes got the job done. I had to add a little more to my foundation and cream blush brushes to get them looking truly makeup-free.
I also found that natural brushes tended to absorb a lot of the gel, and it was tougher to get the makeup to rinse out. My synthetic brushes, namely my Real Techniques ones, were easy to clean and looked nearly new once dry. Luckily, most of my brushes are synthetic and the gel works well to grab hold of the makeup and let it rinse out easily.
Another thing that I really liked about the formula is that it keeps your brushes soft, which is something you might sacrifice with other deep cleansers that are harsh. The gel itself has a refreshing clean scent, but it doesn’t linger on your brushes once they’re rinsed and dry.
I feel like the gel would be perfect if you’re washing about 10-12 brushes per week, most being synthetic, which would maximize the performance and amount of the gel.
You can now see the Real Techniques Deep Cleansing Gel pop up where the brushes are sold, like ULTA for around $9.
What do you grab for deep cleaning brushes?
Dish soap is one of my go-to ways when I don’t have a proper brush shampoo nearby, too!
I usually use e.l.f.’s brush shampoo, but this one sounds like another inexpensive one that works well. I’ll have to try it out. Most of my brushes are synthetic.
How is the e.l.f. shampoo? You’re the second one to talk about it and I’m curious!
I really like it. It gets all the stains out, suds up really well, and leaves my brushes feeling soft. I think it conditions the natural hair brushes really nicely.
Thanks for the review! I have been patiently awaiting the arrival of this cleanser and I have a ton of RT brushes so I think this will be worth it for me. Although I have way more than the average person too haha!
LOL I’m curious to see how well it works for you! I really do think it depends on what type of products you use with your brushes/how long it’s been since they’ve been washed as well!
Thanks for the awesome review!
You’re welcome as always! Hope it helps!
It really did. I’m going to pass on this. It just doesn’t seem that good. But I have like 4 bottles of E.L.F’s brush cleaner (I stocked up), so it’s ok haha
Oooh does that give a super deep clean?
I like it. But I’m not fanatical about my brushes being squeaky clean, just free of gunk and bacteria. It seems to do the trick for me, across the board with all my brushes. I also use an aid in cleanng, I use a tangle teez hair brush. Sounds weird I know, but it provides an amazing base for cleaning the brush hairs! 😀
omg… that’s so interesting!!! I’m gonna try my tangle teezer and see how it works 🙂 Thanks for the tip!!!