It’s not that I find deep cleaning my makeup brushes to rid them of built-up grime and bacteria unimportant – I cannot stress enough the importance of having clean brushes for a better application finish and prevention of dirty skin – but there’s just so much a busy-until-I-keep-snacking-because-I’m-so-freaking-stressed person can tolerate for standing at the sink scrubbing and rinsing and scrubbing and rinsing makeup brushes when I can be blogging or working on the business.
I don’t own as many brushes as a professional makeup artist, but have enough to make me sigh in resentment as I reluctantly lug my brushes to the sink, along with the Daiso Detergent, oil-based makeup remover, shampoo and conditioner. Troublesome, much?
The Daiso Detergent was what I was using previously to very effectively clean my brushes, so I was unconvinced I needed the Make Up Store Brush Cleaning Soap, especially when it came with a hefty price tag of SGD21.00.
I could buy TEN bottles of the Daiso Detergent and still have a dollar left to buy 3 packets of tissue paper. Lol.
Evonne’s elation to find this Brush Cleaning Soap back in store when we attended Make Up Store’s launch of a new collection sent little trembles to my heart. She and the store manager were chatting away happily, about how this was in such huge demand.
OKIE!!! MUST BUY THEN! So finally, good money was traded in exchange for a bar of soap to appease my overwhelming curiosity.
Well, who said curiosity killed the cat?
I couldn’t be happier with this unassuming round-shaped soap. While it’s always easy to clean brushes used for powder products, brushes with denser bristles like my beloved Sigma F80, and/or those used for cream products require hardier treatment.
The Daiso Detergent did the job, but it took longer with all that swishing and washing with shampoo and conditioner after.
Experiment: Natural Hair Brushes
First up for experimentation - Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki Brush. << My review says it all; this is my ever-favorite foundation brush, really.
SO CLEAN! SO QUICKLY! 😀
This MAC 109 Small Contour Brush has been with me for the past one year and it STILL SHEDS. I like its size but the shedding gets on my nerves sometimes so that I always have to scrutinize for any random black hairs on my face. Maybe I should get a synthetic blush brush from Sigma.
I'm seriously considering the Sigma Mrs Bunny Travel Kit coz it's so CUTE and contains a synthetic F40 - Large Angled Contour Brush. (I'll put a list of links below so you can check out the items mentioned in this post.)
Ugh, cannot stand shedding brushes. X(
Okie, moving on.
This is my MAC 217 brush, my workhorse. I recently got the Sigma E25 as I've read it's a dupe for the MAC 217 and... I LOVE IT!!! I'll do a review/comparison of the MAC 217 and Sigma E25 soon.
My review of MAC 239 here.
As expected, all natural hair bristles were easily cleaned. What I love most is that I can save on subsequent steps of using a mixture of shampoo to get rid of the Daiso Detergent in the bristles. On its own, the Make Up Store soap expunges grime from bristles and all remnants are flushed away with a simple rinse under running water.
Before: Daiso Detergent, then Shampoo + Conditioner
Now: Make Up Store Brush Cleansing Soap
SCORE!!!
Did I tell you that this soap does NOT dry out my brushes? During the wash, the bristles would feel slightly dry and resistant, but once they're dry, there's no hint of dryness at all. Just clean, great-smelling brushes. Yum Yum.
Experiment: Synthetic Brushes
Unfortunately, the Make Up Store Brush Cleaning Soap does not work its magic so well on synthetic brushes used for gels and creams.
Below is the SASA Concealer Brush which I've since stopped using having found the wonderful Sigma F70 Concealer Brush.
Hahaha, as you can tell, I really do like Sigma brushes very much - great quality at affordable prices. It's such an honor for Doll To Doll Cosmetics to have been given official retail rights for Sigma brushes!
Putting Sigma E15 and MAC 263 to the test as well. FAILED.
What always works to effectively extricate hardened gels and creams to restore them to their original firm yet soft bristles is to use an oil-based makeup remover. I use whichever I've stopped using. Here, I used the Fancl Cleansing Oil.
How To Use Make Up Store Brush Cleaning Soap
Or rather, how I use it. I don’t know, maybe other people use it differently.
- Wet bristles
- Swirl bristles in soap
- Swirl bristles in palm
- Rinse under running water
- Squeeze out excess water and let dry
Experiment: Sponges
You know what, I tried the soap with the BeautyBlender too and....... erm... I guess it's okie. Works just as well as the BeautyBlender Cleanser.
Letting brushes rest after a good bath. Those weird looking net things that look like fruit wraps are what I use to keep my brushes in shape while they dry - The Brush Guard.
6M? I have to throw this soap out after 6 months? Are you kidding me?! At the rate at which this brush cleaning soap is being used, I don't think I can finish even after a year. I try to keep my deep cleaning routine to a weekly affair and the soap has barely flattened.
(Read related: When Does Makeup Expire And For How Long Should You Keep Them?)
Put Original Box To Better Use
Here's a trick you might find useful to keep your soap and soap box in better condition should you decide to get it.
Transfer the soap to a transparent plastic container
Benefits:
- Don't have to be concerned about keeping the original box in pristine condition.
- Don't need to rinse the soap. After cleaning brushes, gently wipe the surface and keep the plastic container away. I feel more compelled to wash the soap, thus wasting product, if it's in the original box.
- It's easier and cleaner to swirl the bristles (my box is much taller than the soap).
- You can use the sleek original box for other purposes.
This is how I'm putting the original box to good use.
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HAHAHA! For Doll To Doll's business address stickers!
Where to get the items mentioned in this post:
- Sigma F80 (dolltodoll.com)
- MAC 109 (amazon.com)
- Sigma Mrs Bunny Travel Kit (dolltodoll.com)
- MAC 217 (amazon.com)
- MAC 239 (amazon.com)
- Sigma E15 (dolltodoll.com)
- MAC 263 (amazon.com)
- Sigma F70 (dolltodoll.com)
- BeautyBlender (dolltodoll.com)
- BeautyBlender Cleanser (dolltodoll.com)
- The Brush Guard (dolltodoll.com)
Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere online that sells Make Up Store Brush Cleansing Soap. You can get it in Singapore at all Make Up Stores, provided they're not sold out. Priced at SGD21.00.
Bun Bun rates Make Up Store Brush Cleansing Soap:
What do you use to deep clean your brushes? How often do you clean them? Would you fork out SGD21 for a bar of soap? Well yes, it works wonders, but it still is a bar of soap.
