cinema secrets brush cleaner review

After discovering the newest beauty store to open up in NYC, I kind of lost my mind and wanted to buy E V E R Y T H I N G. Kenig + Aclone is a professional makeup store so they carry lines that are high quality and effective, in addition to more consumer facing brands that are supremely hard to find (think Sigma Makeup brushes, Lucas Paw Paw Ointment, and Sugarpill Cosmetics). When I saw the Cinema Secrets Professional Brush Cleaner, I instantly thought of Nicole Guerriero’s post so I picked up the 4 fl oz.

I tend to have really stubborn foundation left over on my face brushes and no amount of Dove soap could remove it (I blame my laziness which allows foundation to cake up on my brushes…gross I know). Since I do wash my brushes regularly, I was pretty annoyed that my foundation brushes weren’t fully ever clean.

The first thing that attracted me to Cinema Secrets cleaner is the slight vanilla scent. It wasn’t overwhelming and or overpowering (plus the scent doesn’t cling on to your brush so no worries). To clean the brush, I poured a bit of the solution into a cup, submerged my brush and then swirled it on a clean paper towel. For the next brush, I only dipped the brush and didn’t let it sit. Both ways are effective but I’d recommend simply dipping your brush because the hairs will soak up the product and dipping still gets the job done.

Safe for use with natural and synthetic hairs, the cleaner immediately dissolves all traces of residue from brushes. Not only that but it removes bacteria and condition all hair types to extend brush life. Once you’re done cleaning the brushes, they dry in under 30 minutes (compared to the full 24 hours I’ve been known to wait with the traditional water and soap method.

The only cons are the price and staining. If you have brushes with white hairs or white tipped, the blue from the cleaner will remain on our brush. Not cool. The 4 fl oz will set you back $13 and as someone who owns a lot of makeup brushes, I can see this finishing pretty quickly if I’m not careful. That said, I’ll likely use this on brushes that have a lot of product left over or on days where I’m super duper lazy. If cost isn’t an issue, I’d recommend snapping up the 8 fl oz bottle ($24) since it’s bigger and will last you a while.