Friday, April 1, 2016

Review: Real Techniques Deep Cleansing Gel

Not sponsored or paid, no PR samples featured


Around Christmas time, I spotted this in my local chemist. At nearly €10 it wasn't the cheapest of impulse buys, but I bought it regardless just so I could see if it could live up to my beloved Holy Grail brush cleaner [Daiso].

The ingredients are mostly water, fragrance, foaming agents, preservatives, and parabens. It essentially has the same ingredients as cheap shampoo. It doesn't contain alcohol. It claims to "Improve Brush Performance" - well that's the least you'd expect from a clean brush, of course a clean brush will perform better than a dirty one?!

I found the texture really weird - like a thick jelly rather than a gel, it was actually quite hard to get out of the bottle - it sucked itself back in unelss I squeezed it really hard. It also has a strange sweet smell. I tried it on a Jessup kabuki brush and it didn't shift any of the foundation off it. I tried it again with a Blank Canvas brush - same thing. So I tried it with a Real Techniques brush.

Surprisingly, it worked on the RT brush.


This isn't what it says it is. There's a video explaining how to use it [here] and the girls say that it's for a deep clean, not a spot clean - I'd argue the opposite. I think it works as a spot clean on brushes that have only been used once or twice. This won't shift cream or liquid foundation, nor liquid eyeliner. Really disappointing, not a patch on Daiso, and not worth the money. It doesn't do what it claims to do - Avoid.


  1. Nice helpful review on this. Too bad it didn't work as well as you expected for a deep cleansing brush product.

  2. You can't go wrong with a bit of soap. I've tried so many cleansing products like this and I always feel let down.

  3. Great, honest review Sharon :)

  4. Great review! Nothing beats micellar water for a quick fix in my opinion!

  5. How conveeeeeeeenient that it worked only on the RT brushes! Also, total 12 year old smirking at the line " it sucked itself back in unelss I squeezed it really hard" Thank you for that ;P I shall give this a miss bridie!

  6. So helpful! I would have bought this had I seen it, too, as an impulse-buy. I will avoid!

  7. Thanks for sharing, this is really useful to know.

  8. Ah no way that's really disappointing. I think I'll by pass trying this out as it just sounds like too much trouble for getting the brushes clean x


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