Primark's Brush Cleansing Pad vs Real Techniques' Brush Cleansing Palette

Washing makeup brushes is perhaps my least favourite chore. On Sundays, I'll put some washing on, do some cleaning, tidy up the house then finally relax. Come Monday morning I go to get ready for work and realise that I forgot to wash them and have to use a manky buffer brush to put my foundation on. Urgh.

For a long time I washed my brushes by hand, until finally investing in the Reach Techniques palette when I spotted it going cheap in TK Maxx. It was definitely a game changer, even though it didn't motivate me to wash them more often.

I was shopping in Primark recently, and impulsively picked up a PS Makeup Brush Cleaning Pad whilst queuing for the till. It was only £1.50 so I thought, why not?

So, here's my comparison of the two. Is the budget option better?

I'm going to start with a warning here, to save you the heartache. DO NOT USE THESE TO CLEAN MAKEUP SPONGES. I've done it twice now with my Real Techniques sponges and ended up taking huge chunks out of them. Just don't do it, kids.

The Primark cleaning pad is a bit more like the ones that Sigma does, so you pop it down in the sink under the tap. The Real Techniques one is meant to be held in your hand (it has a handy strap on the bottom to slip your fingers into). I don't mind either of these methods, but the Primark pad is handy because you then have both hands free.

The Primark version has lots different grooves on it too, rather than just raised dots. I don't know the science to this so, to be honest, I don't think there's an advantage either way.

I will say, however, that I like to use both of these at once. Primarily because I've discovered that each one works differently depending on what size brush you're using. The Primark one works well with large brushes as there are lots of grooves to help push the product off your brush. The Real Techniques one seems to be better for smaller ones, especially if you use the smallest dots.

Do you need both of these products? No, but it's nice to have one that's hand-held and one that's a pad for the sink. If you're on a budget, definitely go for the Primark one. After all, it's just a piece of silicone with raised dots on it...