Real Techniques Brush Cleanser Vs Dr Bronners Magic Soap Review

Real Techniques Brush Cleanser Vs Dr Bronners Magic Soap

When the Real Techniques Deep Cleansing Gel came out in August, I think we all asked the question as to how it had taken so long for the Pixiwoo ladies to release one. Proper brush cleaning gels aren’t that easy to find on the UK high street, which normally means that we have to result to things like baby shampoo to clean our brushes so having something which is now widely available is great.

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I’ve been using Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap for a good 3 years now having received a mini of it through a Glossybox – not knowing what to do with it, I googled it and discovered it was meant to be good as a brush cleaner. I’ve since repurchased full sized bottles 2 or 3 times to clean my makeup brushes properly. It’s not that easy to find here and I have to hunt the shelves of local TK maxx’s when I’m getting low as you tend to be able to pick it up relatively cheaply there. I’ve had Peppermint, Citrus and currently using Rose. But the range is quite wide including Lavender, Almond, Tea Tree and an unscented version too.  The scent makes a tedious task a little more pleasant, and whilst I’ve liked the Peppermint and Citrus ones I’ve had in the past, the rose is m favourite yet.

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I decided to try two identical Becca 38 Eye brushes with each of the Dr Bronner’s and Real Techniques brush cleansers. Both had the same Urban Decay eyeshadow on, had been worked into my hand for the same amount of time, and had product reapplied on top to really pack out the pigment in the brush to see how it cleaned. On a shadow brush the results were very similar, dampening the brushes first and then applying to product to the back of my hand meant that both almost instantly got rid of the shadow with little effort. Neither seemed to dry faster on a side note either so there’s no additional benefits in that department either.

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With fluffier brushes I found Dr Bronner’s slightly easier to work with as it foams up much more readily which makes working into more dense, thick bristles easier and quicker to clean. I cleaned my whole brush collection testing between the two throughout, both left my brushes as clean as each other. Dr Bronner’s was just slightly less work compared to RT – but mainly when we’re talking about blush and other bigger brushes.

The consistency of Dr Bronner’s is much like a hand soap or shower gel, it’s quite runny, where as the Real Techniques is more gel like. I do think further down the line the Real Techniques bottle will become a little battered as it’s quite sturdy, and you have to squeeze the product out quite hard to get the product out.

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I’ve picked up Dr Bronners in TK maxx priced anywhere between £3.99 and £5.49 (for 237ml) in the past, because it’s a bit pot luck as to finding them there they’re harder to get hold of in shops (but is available from ASOS online for £8.50), the magic soap is also not just limited to a brush cleaner, you can use this on your body too being both natural, organic and fair trade.

Real Techniques is just a brush cleanser so no multi-use benefits should you like that aspect. It’s easier to get hold – being widely available in Boots and Superdrug’s but is a little more pricey at £7.50 for 150ml.

I’m happy to use both of these, but I think If I was choosing I would choose Dr Bronner’s because it’s cheaper and you get more product for the money too, plus the added benefit. That being said I think it’s great to finally see a brush cleaner on the high street which is easily accessible to everybody. I’ll happily be finishing my Real Techinques up too, and I would repurchase it if I couldn’t get my hands on my trusty Magic Soap.


How do you clean your make up brushes?

rachael

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13 Comments

  1. September 4, 2015 / 11:07 am

    Great post. I’ve never heard of Dr Bronner’s but I will keep my eye out in TK Maxx next time I’m there. I want to switch from Baby Shampoo and I prefer something like this to the sprays, saying that I recently tried the Primark Brush Cleanser and it works really well I just don’t want to use it on my Bare Minerals brushes as they are organic and need more care. xx

    • September 4, 2015 / 11:18 am

      I also have the revolution spray cleaner, and it’s good for on the spot cleaning but do think it’s important to give brushes a better clean and properly wash them all the way through! I did go into TK maxx last night and they must have had 20 bottles in different scents and sizes πŸ™‚ xx

      • September 4, 2015 / 12:13 pm

        Yeah sprays are best for spot cleaning but I need to get better at not putting off cleaning brushes so a spot cleaner makes me do it more. I’ll take a look in my local TK Maxx then πŸ™‚
        This is the day of Dr Bronner I read this and then watched a Lilly Pebbles youtube video where she uses the rose one as her brush cleaner too. xx

        • September 4, 2015 / 12:20 pm

          I’ve just ran out of the revolution and I’m not rushing repurchase now so I do clean them properly! Haha she’s such a copy cat πŸ˜‰ x

          • September 4, 2015 / 2:58 pm

            She totally is :p I’m totally with you there it makes sure they are clean but we all love short cuts and being lazy. Brushes need to self clean πŸ™‚ xx

  2. September 4, 2015 / 4:01 pm

    I use Dr Bronner’s, too!

  3. September 5, 2015 / 7:40 pm

    Dr Bronner’s never worked for me. It leaves my natural hair bristles stripped and dried out, but leaves my synthetic bristle brushes with a gummy film. Weird. I prefer good ol’ Johnson’s baby shampoo – it does the job for me!

    • September 5, 2015 / 8:38 pm

      Weird! I’ve never had that in the slightest, maybe there’s something that means the formulations have to be different to each other across the pond!

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