
The most affordable makeup brush cleaner?
I need to apologise for my absence. Life has just been a bit hectic for me the last few weeks and when you have a family, 3 sick kids and a full-time job, it makes sense that blogging will get the short end of the stick. I have so many posts planned, and the truth is that I miss blogging…BUT I have also really enjoyed not editing posts, editing pictures, emailing companies, researching products and worrying about stats! Perhaps the break has done me some good though. I’ll do a sort of ‘life’ post soon though, so I won’t bore you with my woes in this post.
So what is today’s post about? I’m always on the lookout for brush cleaners that work, that make my life a little easier, because we know washing makeup brushes ain’t exactly the funnest thing in the world to do. In fact it’s the reason I keep buying brushes, so I hopefully never run out of clean ones. I saw overseas that quite a few people rave about a soap bar called ‘Zote’ that they use to clean their brushes. One day I was strolling down the detergent aisle, and this pink bar of Vanish caught my eye. I checked the ingredients and reckoned…why not give it a try?
I had this soap for about 1 month before I managed to open it up and use it. My husband kept asking…’ Why is the laundry soap on your vanity? Let me take it inside.’ I’d yell out…NOOOOOO…It’s for the blog!!! Lol. So one Saturday morning I finally chose my grimiest of makeup sponges and brushes so I could test the soap out.
The way I know a cleanser works, is if it can get through the foundation in my sponges and on my brushes. Foundation can cause real build up issues and as a result some of my sponges are permanently stained as I just haven’t found a cleanser that can break through the build up. Until now perhaps?
All I did was wet the sponge/brush, and swirl it around the soap. I like that the soap has grooves on it, so it can kind of deep clean the brushes as they go through the grooves as well. Obviously the grooves will disappear after a few uses, so don’t get too excited about that feature. I made sure to really rinse them well so there was ZERO soap left in my sponges or on my brushes.
The results?
Well I think the results speak for themselves. The red Morphe sponge is a bit newer, so I didn’t expect any result other than it being squeaky clean! The light pink sponge though, has been seriously stained no matter what I use. I just accepted that it would never be clean again….well apparently not. There was not a spot of foundation left on the sponge. My red beauty blender was also a bit stained, and the same results, all the foundation marks are gone! My brushes were also squeaky clean and I had no issues with them changing texture or anything like that. All in all I am really impressed with this cheaper alternative. It also smells good, so that’s a bonus.
The price? A mere R9,95! That’s insane isn’t it? Let me please say that I have NO idea what the long terms effects are of using something like this on your brushes. I’ve used it for about a month now and I don’t have any issues that I can see. Perhaps there are harsh ingredients in here…I really don’t know. If I see that there is some adverse effects on my brushes and sponges, I will update you gals š
What do you gals think? Would you try this? Are you aware of any dangers with using this soap that I need to educate myself about?


Weaning a kid sucks! {#MomDiaries}
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20 Comments
Nisa
Great find. Also not sure about the long term effects on the brushes but if I need to get rid of stains of definitely do it once in a while. Thanks for the tip
Simone
My one sponge was hard from the foundation build up…and I swear this stripped right through it! Soft and build up free. So I think definitely for a deep clean every once, can’t be too bad.
Rae
I looooooooooooooove this Simone!
Simone
After spending 200 bucks plus on the MAC cleanser that really did nothing for my brushes and sponges….this was really an awesome find. Thanks for reading. xxxx
Nadine
Yaaaaay!!!!!! This is such great news for a cheapskate such as myself.
Thanks for the tip Simone. You rock!!!
Simone
Lol…ya with everything makeup related being so expensive….we need to be cheapskate at times š
Scarlet
Great Post!!! I’ve been using it for about 4 months now and no damage so far, only on my sponges tho, brushes I still use baby shampoo coz it smells delicious lol… I’m sure if it’s for laundry the sponges should be fine!
Simone
So glad to hear you’ve had no issues after 4 months! THanks for the info.
Rajshree
U are God sent ????. Can’t wait to try this and save some bucks!!!!
Simone
You won’t be sorry š Thanks for reading!
Mariska Goussard
Oh my word, how awesome is this?!!!!! Thank you for letting us in on this brilliant life hack! Going to the shops right now to pick up one of these soap bars!
Simone
He he…I hope it works for you as well!!
Emlee
Can’t wait to try this!!!! Thanks girl
Simone
Let me know if it works for you. Pleasure <3
Rivania Pillay
Wow this is amazing! I have really sensitive skin so I am not sure what the effects will be for using a soap on my brushes. I will pop by your page in a month to see for any updates before I try it out.
x Rivania | The Glam Unicorn
Melanie
I am not huge on sponges, I know I should be but I prefer a buffing brush. Maybe now that I know there is an easy and cheaper way to clean them I will put more effort into trying more sponges and find one that blows my mind. Thank you for the tip my friend.
Donna
Well… I always have a bar of this in the laundry cupboard so I’m glad to know that I can now use for me sponges and the few brushes I own lol. Thanks for this helpful and very cheap top my friend ????????
Simone
Lol. Pleasure Donna.
Donna
Well… I always have a bar of this in the laundry cupboard so I’m glad to know that I can now use for me sponges and the few brushes I own lol. Thanks for this helpful and very cheap tip my friend ????????
Yolanda
What sorcery is this? And why have I not read this before! Thanks for this great tip babes! I’m currently using the Pink Cosmetics brush cleaner but will definitely try out this bad boy.