January 28, 2010

Garnier Skin Renew The Brusher Gel Cleanser Review

‘ello dears!

I think I’ve established I’m in the realms of not loving L’Oreal 360 Cleansers. REALLY I wanted to adore these but they dry my skin out bad so it’s a no go sadly.

After that drama I decided to explore the new Garnier Skin Renew The Brusher Gel Cleanser (say that three times fast). Obviously, this season is going to bring with it a flow of interesting “brush” style cleansers. The Muse says bring it, I’m all for interesting beauty tools to clean my face.

Now my main beef with L’Oreal was the drying so of course I was naturally wary of trying out Garnier’s new cleanser but for the price I couldn’t really afford not to. On this note, maybe I’m not versed in the way of drugstore cleansers, but have you noticed how cheap new cleansers are? This was $7.99 and the L’Oreal ones, $6.99. That’s not too bad for a drugstore cleanser right? As last time I looked some products were ranging at borderline $10 bucks or more! Don’t quote me of course as when it comes to drugstore finds I’m just now getting my feet wet.

Anyway…

Onwards with the review!

Good job Garnier you’ve successfully created a non-drying formula. This is a gel formula which contains Vitamins B5 and E and NO salicylic acid. I’m still mad at L’Oreal for slipping it into the 360’s without my knowledge, ‘ello dry, tight skin, no likey!

Now I love this but I gotta say it’s cumbersome as hell. The brush is attached to the bottle and isn’t meant to be removed. Squeeze the bottle and a small amount of gel will burst out in the center of the brush. You can twist to close and open the brush so no water will get into the bottle. So ya…sitting there with a heavy bottle while I swirl the brush around my face is somewhat a pain. Compared to the 360 the brush isn’t as soft and the bristles are a tad harder but still it manages to work up a nice foam and it’s not uncomfortable, it’s just not as nice as the 360 in my opinion.

As per the promise on the bottle it does smooth skin after 1 use. Skin feels nice and smooth after use, not tight and itchy, and also allows moisturizer to absorb easier. It’s the next generation Clarisonic Brush, cheap girl’s version 2.0.

I was thinking to myself that maybe it would be better to lug this guy into the shower for me because as I sit there with the big ole’ bottle in my hand, scrubbing happily away, I’m also making a big mess. Water splashing everywhere, foam all over the place…not exactly the neatest way to clean my face so I may reserve it for shower use. Secondly, I was curious if as I near the end of the bottle if I might have a hard time squeezing the last of the gel out…hmmm…but I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

Overall, I do have a few rants in here as you can see however I did like the product. I probably won’t buy it again because I’m not keen on drugstore cleansers and have plenty of oil cleansers that I like way more but if you’re in the neighborhood for an inexpensive cleanser that gets your face clean sans dryness, I’d rec checking out the Garnier Skin Renew The Brusher Gel Cleanser, not bad at all.

Anyone try yet?

Loves it?

Leaves it?

Wanting to try it out?

Do share!

Disclosure: The following item was purchased by me for review purposes (and because I like flinging my money at makeup products of any kind) on Musings of a Muse. For further information please see my FTC Guidelines or my Disclosure/Disclaimer posts.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • sonia

    This seems a great drugstore product….so cool….Maybe I’ll buy it to my hus!!

  • Lilan

    i JUST tried this this morning with mixed thoughts as well! The brush was awkward, I didn’t know how much product I was supposed to squeeze out because it seemed to sit in there FOREVER. I’m going to try it a couple more times before I do a formal review but my initial thoughts were that it’s too gimicky : /

    • the Muse

      mmm yes cookie very awkward! It’s just really difficult to take it for a good test drive without it makng a mess. I liked it over all but they def need to see about making the brush removable 🙁

  • mly

    been a frequent visitor but less so with comments. :p thanks for all your reviews!
    though hmm..dunno if i would really want to “brush” at my face…sounds kinda harsh.

    • the Muse

      hi mly thanks so much for coming out today to say hey 😀

      It depends really as if you’re sensitive it probably would be harsh but dry skin would prob not mind in the least 😀

  • dina

    thank you for the review, i have been so curious about this thing! so many new things @ drugstore, it’s great 🙂 O/T but have you seen that l’oreal true match roller foundation thing yet? also a strange one . . .

    • the Muse

      oh yes dina u must have missed my review. I reviewed the roller foundation few weeks ago :-D! Def ALOT of new stuff. I normally avoid drugstores like the plague but lately I actually head over to take a peep see what’s new! 😀

  • OrchidStatic

    I recently reviewed the Garnier Nutritionist Caffeine Eye roller thing and was NOT impressed. I have to say I don’t really like anything from this line. I was so disappointed with the face scrub that I didn’t even review it I hated it so much!

    The bottle was hard to manage, the srubber hurt my face, and as a girl with oily skin it looked like I had a major slick going all day. At one point it looked like I was sweating! No bueno.

    I get a better result with my cheaper off-brand daily facial scrubber things (those little towelettes that you moisten to release the soap ya know?) than I could out of Garnier’s nearly entire facial line. Bargain Fail.

    • the Muse

      oh wow orchid sounds not good 😀 I didn’t like the eye roller either. I have a review around here somewhere. It did nothing for me. Are you in the US or Asia? As Asia has one too that I’ve always been curious to try!

      Ooooo WHOA bad! I didn’t have that problem thankfully as my skin is dry and not sensitive in the least. I agree the bottle is awkward to carry about.

      Def no likey for you orchid, duly noted lol!

      I liked this much better than the new l’oreal 360’s but the bottle thing I am def with you. Aside from that it performed nicely for me but my skin is considerably diff than yours!

      Thanks for sharing!!!!!!

      • OrchidStatic

        I’m in the UK for 2 more years – but I have used both the European and US versions of this product (I go back to America to visit family once a year and stay a couple months usually) and the formulation for both the eye roller and the facial cleanser has identicle formulation (as far as I can tell anyway. I don’t have both versions on hand to compare ingredients.)

        At any rate – the eye roller is massively popular here in the UK (I think the stand at Boots said 12 are sold every minute?) and I just don’t understand why!

        I really wished the facial clenser had a nice fragrance. Garnier’s hair products are so fragrant and smell so nice! But their facial line is just so bland. It made me frown inside.

        • the Muse

          hey orchid good to know this. When it originally came out, the eye roller that is, Asia had already had it for months. I was quite elated as I have puffy eyes and dark circles. Honestly I never believe claims that dark circles will be banished but I was all for the puffy treatment. But like you it was a fail. It didn’t do anything. It’s interesting to hear the UK vs the US was about the same because I do find that sometimes ingreds and such are a tad different and products seem to work better that are released in Europe/Asia compared to US where it feels like we get a watered down version.

          lol you are too cute, frown inside 😀 lol!

          honestly when it comes to skin care it’s sometimes best to take the high street road ya know?

  • RaeRae

    Why don’t you drip some of this cleanser on to your 360 scrublet? Best of both worlds!

  • Zelle

    Hi Muse! The L’Oreal 360 cleanser is so drying to me so I might give this a try. I kept the scrublet and used it with Cetaphil. <3 the scrublet! What's your favorite cleanser?

    • the Muse

      god zelle thank you SO much someone else who finds it drying. Everyone and their mum keeps raving it but I can’t believe they are using it and not experiencing some tightness. Didn’t it stink or am I nuts!?

      w00t good on u as the scrublet really rocks it right?! Fav cleanser is def oil cleansers nothing works better. This is very nice but a bit awkward to use 🙁

  • StillWaiting

    I saw this one in the store and got curious. I don’t know..I’ve been using this for a month now everytime I shower (prefer to use it in the shower). It was a lil weird the first day I used it but I did enjoy the soft kind of massaging from the rubbery brush. One thing that Im noticing about this product that I can’t contribute to anything else…my face has not had a pimple (even during my cycle) at all. I don’t know….Im kinda shocked.

  • jayyyyjayyyy

    Hey Muse!
    God, love this product:) My favorite,, of all. And I also find the 360 cleanser VERY drying!
    Thx for the review!

  • Dani

    Two Questions:
    1. What would you think of using this cleanser with the loreal scrubber brush?

    2. What do you think of this cleanser for teenage acne-prone skin?
    Any other reccomendations for cleansers for me?

    Thanks 😀 Your reviews are awesome!

    • the Muse

      sure dani def can do that!

      Clean and Clear make some great options for teen skin, also cetaphil.

      Hope this helps 😀

  • Radha S. Maddalwar

    I have completedmy B.Tech (cosmetology) at 2009. now i am looking for job in your organisation.

  • cecily

    Just got it today and I LOVE it!!! I love Garnier in general and also use Skin Renew Anti-Sun Damage.

    The two together are fantastic.

  • Gie

    I have been looking for a perfect facial cleanser here,I use to have oily skin but since I came here in the U.S. my face get so dry and peel-off particularly my nose….I have used proactive,loreal,aveeno,ponds….now I’m using cetaphil moisturizer it lessens the dry feeling but clogs my pores…by reading the reviews here…makes me want to try garnier brusher gel since it has no salicylic acid ingredient…I’ll give you my review once I tried it…thank for sharing

  • Jojo

    I was really excited about using this but after my first try I am so done! It is beyond awkward to hold and the stuff comes out super slowly. The Body Shop used to have these little face scrubbers that were so perfect to use with cleansers if they had that it might be okay. I feel like I wasted my money, I’ve tried it a few more times but I don’t want to feel frustrated after washing my face! I am using Aveeno positively radiant now and I love it!