Early in 2018, I decided to splurge on the Beautylish Lucky Bag. My blogging friend, Renu from Cosmetopiadigest.com has been singing the praises of this once a year luxury bag of goodies for ages. For $75, I decided to take the plunge. Here’s my review of the bag. I was happy with it, and I think I’ll do it again this coming year.
One of the things in my Beautylish bag was a tub of Clean Apothecary Brush Shampoo.
Though it wasn’t one of the items I was most excited about, I knew it would be something I would use eventually. I finally used up my jar of Beauty Blender Blendercleanser Solid, and though I had bought another one at the beginning of Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty, I broke out the brush shampoo from Clean Apothecary. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks, so I’m ready to share my thoughts on it.
Cleaning my brushes with Clean Apothecary Brush Shampoo is a snap. Unlike Blendercleanser, the solid brush shampoo doesn’t come out of the jar, and it’s easier to swirl my wet brush on top of the shampoo. Wetting the brush creates a rich lather that gently lifts away makeup in a few seconds even from white bristled brushes. Rinse and done. It also does a good job cleaning blending sponges, though that takes more than a few seconds.
The scent is Grapefruit, but truth be told, it isn’t very grapefruity. If I stick my nose in the jar, it has a faint almost herbal scent. I don’t smell it at all when I’m cleaning my brushes and there’s no residual scent on the brush. It comes in at least 5 other scents beside grapefruit such as lavender, rose, mint, and more. Clean Apothecary Brush Shampoo is made from natural ingredients.
I don’t know how much product is in the jar of Clean Apothecary Brush Cleaner because the label doesn’t say. But as you can see, the jar is much bigger than the jar of Blendercleanser. The price is $15.
How does it stack up against Blendercleanser? I’d say it lathers better, and as a result, it cleans faster than Blendercleanser. It’s a better value because you get more for essentially the same price. It doesn’t contain a plastic brush cleaner like Blendercleanser does, but I have kept a couple from empty Blendercleanser jars. I seldom use the brush cleaner pad anyway, and with Clean Apothecary I definitely don’t need it.
I also think that Clean Apothecary cleans better and faster than baby shampoo, Dr. Bronner’s soap, and random bar soaps. It leaves the bristles nice and soft.
Clean Apothecary is a woman-owned company started for the makeup artist community. The owner, Jessicca Augenstein, is based in Michigan. It appears that her brush shampoo and body products are handmade. She sometimes offers a professional discount. She sells her brush shampoo on Beautylish.com and at local farmer’s markets. It sort of seems like she runs the business in her spare time. Her website, cleanapothecary.com, has been down for some time while she revamps it. On her Facebook page, she mentioned that now that her kids are back in school, she’ll get the website up and running again.
Although it is easier to pick up Blendercleanser at Sephora and Ulta, I think Clean Apothecary is a great alternative. Free shipping kicks in at $35 on Beautylish and I’ll have to see what it is from Clean Apothecary once the website is up again. Though right now I’m set with brush cleanser for about a year.
Have you tried Clean Apothecary Brush Shampoo? Is it something you would consider?
Good morning Allison,
I am going on a market to market tour on Friday afternoon. One is the market that is in a building downtown Grand Rapids. It is open daily so perhaps she may have some of her products in one of the shops. The other is a huge open air farm market. Will check her FB page out. I love to buy from small vendors and especially one from Michigan.
Boy, does that sound like fun, Sandy! Wish I could join you coz I feel the same way about local vendors. Clean Apothecary usually sells at the Downtown Gaylord Farmer’s Market – don’t know if that’s anywhere near you, but maybe she has her products at other places as well. I think this one is definitely worth buying not only because she’s a local businessperson but because it works so well. Oops, I just checked her FB page, and not that long ago, she posted that they wouldn’t be at the Downtown Gaylord Farmer’s Market this year because her husband got a new job. There’s a phone number on her FB page. She said she does local deliveries. I’ll bet if you message her or call, she’ll tell you where her products are sold. I wish she’d get her act together and put her website back up!!
I love solid cleansers! I use one from Swirl and Sparkle thats pretty awesome!
I don’t know Swirl and Sparkle, but I’ll keep my eyes open for it!
I’ve been a baby shampoo user when it comes to cleaning my brushes, but I’m sure part of that is because of always having it around with the kids being young and sensitive to products. I definitely should give this a try!
I used baby shampoo and other shampoos to clean my brushes and blending sponges too, but I found that the sulfate-free formulas made it hard to remove foundation reside. This stuff is almost like magic
I have been in LUUUUURVE with this brush cleanser after running out of sulphated-shampoo! I had thought it was meh when I got the bag, but it is so convenient and hassle-free to clean brushes with this. Mine is fragrance-less, for some reason, and has a very different brown label! The next Lucky Bag is only three months away, and I CAN’T WAIT! I hope they send some Natasha Denona. P.S. Thanks for the shoutout <3
I felt the same way when I saw Clean Apothecary in my Beautylish Lucky Bag, but I am so pleasantly surprised by it!
Good to know this is better than Beautyblender. I use Dr Bronner’s castile soap so maybe I’ll try this for a change
I use Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap from time to time too, but I find it dries out the bristles. A brush shampoo provides some conditioning at the same time.
I usually just use whatever shampoo I grab, first when it’s time to do brush laundry but this cleansing bar does sound really nice and I may have to pick one up and give it a go, some time.
The sulfate-free shampoos just weren’t cutting through the foundation on my brushes and beauty blender, so that’s why I switched a while ago.
Since I’m not a fan of the Beauty Blender one then this would be a great alternative for me. Even though I’m in Michigan I’m far from Gaylord so I doubt she comes down to my area. But I’ll keep it on my list for Beautylish.
I wish the owner of Clean Apothecary would get her website back up so I could find out a little more about where she does sell her products. Plus she sells refills. But you’re right, CA Brush Shampoo would be a good thing to remember when ordering from Beautylish if I need to reach the free shipping threshold.
Sounds interesting, I bet it smells good!
OK – you had me at cleans faster & better value. I need to check this out!
That sounds like a great brush shampoo!!! I’m particular about how I take care of my brushes…used the Beauty Blender solid on a whim for awhile but wasn’t married to it. It just didn’t clean the way I wanted it to. This sounds like a much better option.
I still like Blendercleanser Solid, but Clean Apothecary lathers so much better and easier and seems to clean faster. I like it! You might too
You sold me, I want to try this!
When I got the Clean Apothecary Brush Shampoo in my Beautylish Lucky Bag, I wasn’t so excited. But now that I’ve tried it, why did I wait so long? I love it. I think it’s a better value and easier to use than blendercleanser, and I’ve bought a lot of blendercleanser solids over the years. And it cleans foundation off my brushes much better than shampoo.
I never really paid attention to brush shampoos but it makes sense with what your purpose of cleaning is!
Sounds interesting! I love solid brush shampoos!
I definitely love a great brush shampoo and have not heard of this particular brand. I love that you compared it to the solid from Beauty Blender and Dr. Bonners because I use those as well as one from Swirl and Sparkle. I think I’ll check this out, I may like it.
Claudia mentioned Swirl and Sparkle, and that brand is new to me. I still like blendercleanser, but it’s stiffer and harder to lather up compared to Clean Apothecary. And Clean Apothecary is a better value.
Thank you for sharing! nowadays I just wash my brushes with mild soap or baby shampoo.
I really, really need to clean my brushes and this looks so easy to use!! Thanks for the heads up!
That lucky bag looks great. I’m always scared to grab them. This looks like a great brush cleanser. I need some actually.
Never tried, but definitely something I’d like! I just grabbed the new Morphe x Jaclyn Hill brushes and will for sure want to keep them clean.
First I had to go reacquaint myself with what you got in your Lucky bag…mainly so I could look at and wish I had kept the money aside to get one myself but I think I’m going to save up for it this year. Secondly, this sound AMAZING! I’m going over to Beautylish now to add it to my cart so the next time I order something it will be in there! Thanks for the amazing review, as always.
Thank you, Cassie! I really am sold on Clean Apothecary, and I had been such a blendercleanser loyalist! I think you would like it. It makes quick work out of cleaning my brushes!