Cinema Secrets Makeup Brush Cleaner, $24 for 8oz
This was a legacy post that I gave a facelift because I seriously cannot tell enough people about this product. If you’re an artist? Lifesaver. If you aren’t, it means you can avoid buying thirty seven thousand brushes, because you can use the same one over and over in a look.
I’d seen this brush cleaner in blog posts and on YouTube. I was curious but…really, how good can it be? It’s a brush cleaner. I had come close to buying it a few times for myself but always talked myself out of it. My current system is good; why invest in another product – especially with that price tag? Fortunately, a wise friend sent this wee little spray-bottle of it to me.
I tested it that night, but was not prepared to record or demonstrate my findings. Spoiler alert: I was blown away and wondered how the ever loving hell I haven’t had this product in my life before.
Let me just show you.
Before
Behold, a well-used bdellium 776 (which wants to be a MAC 217 when it grows up…and the little spray bottle of Cinema Secrets Brush Cleaner). This gets used for a lot of crease definition and blending shenanigans – you can see the mid-tone brown besmirching the tips of the bristles, but the brush is in fact off-white throughout.
Give the offending bristles a spritz or two (if you have a spray bottle – otherwise, pour a tiny amount into a vessel and dip the brush). Take any towel or paper towel (dry), and rub the brush on it briskly.
After
Basically, it’s like Magic Missile for your makeup brushes. It is outstanding.
Fragrance
Cinema Secrets Brush Cleaner does have one quality that irks me, and that’s the scent. It is trying very hard to be vanilla-something, but the note of what seems like isopropyl alcohol is strong with this one, and it just comes off very weird. I’ve seen people describe it as pleasant-smelling, but I don’t think so. Is it foul? No, certainly not; just weird. Would it stop me from buying it? I laughed as I typed that.
Cinema Secrets Brush Cleaner will not be replacing my usual brush cleaning methods, but it is beyond amazing when you’re 1) lazy 2) in a pinch or 3) just want to use the same brush more than once in a single application and don’t want to risk muddy application. It will also let you go further in-between deep-cleans. If you’re an artist, this shouldn’t even be a question for you.
The Bottom Line
If you use brushes, ever, and have room in the budget…get it. Even if you only get the little wee spray bottle to use occasionally, get it. I will buy the huge bottles in the future to refill my little spray bottle, but I haven’t made a considerable dent in my little spray bottle yet. I haven’t been this excited over a product (especially considering it isn’t even a product you wear) in a while. 32oz is $36 at Sephora, and will last you a really long time as long as you use it properly.