The Bane of My Existence

If you wear makeup you generally associate washing makeup brushes with being annoying, time consuming, and all over the worst part about wearing makeup. I feel like there's just a general consensus that it's the least favorite task to do. Thankfully, many companies have used this to their advantage and created tools and products to help us clean our brushes quicker and better. Until recently, I had yet to buy anything of this nature because I figured washing brushes was always going to suck and just accepted it as a part of my routine. That is until now.

I believe Sigma Beauty was if not the first, one of the first, to come out with brush cleaning mats and gloves with bumps and ridges to aid in the cleaning process and help break down makeup quicker while still being gentle on your brushes. I wanted one for a long time, but again always put it on that list of products I didn't reeeeally need, especially with the $25-$40 price tags. Fast forward a few years and product launches by many companies, Real Techniques came out with a Brush Cleansing Palette that had a handle on the back for you to slip onto your hand and essentially clean your brushes in your palm. Oh and did I mention it was only$14.99 (plus I feel like Real Techniques is always Buy One Get One Half OFF at Ulta. It is right now so hurry and snag some products if you want to try this after you're done reading!) Now if there's a company that can create great tools for a good price, it's definitely Real Techniques. You've heard me say before that I stand behind their brushes and sponges 100% so I was hoping this brush palette would be no different. 

It came with a few free samples of their brush cleansing gel, but if you read my post here (CLICK ME) you know that my holy grail brush cleanser is a $5 solid bar of Dr. Bronner's Soap. If you haven't read that post, read it and get yourself some Dr. Bronner's NOW! (I wrote this whole post then went back to that one and apparently washing brushes was the bane of my existence in November 2015 too haha) So I got out my soap and started washing away. As you can see below, the palette has three different sized and textured bumps; little dots, medium x's and large bumps. I loved the different sizes because they helped clean the different brushes depending on size and density of bristles.

Another thing I really like about these types of cleansing mats and gloves is that they are usually made of silicone which allows for the tool to bend easily and stay clean. I feel like I will get thousands of uses out of this product which is again very typical of Real Techniques. Just because it's affordable doesn't mean they skimp on quality.

So what's my overall opinion of the Brush Cleansing Palette? If you wear makeup often  or simply have a lot of brushes, you'd probably really enjoy having this tool. While I feel like it's difficult for a product to drastically cut down my wash time because let's face it, I have A LOT of brushes, I do feel like they came out really clean and quicker than I expected. Even the brushes that are really hard to wash cleaned quicker. You can buy Real Techniques products online or in stores at Ulta, Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Meijer and many other places! 

Have a beautiful day friends! 

-Andrea