Review: Garnier Skin Renew The Brusher Gel Cleanser & Resurfacing 3-Way Cleanser

Garnier welcomed two new products into the Nutritioniste line recently, The Brusher Gel-Cleanser and Resurfacing 3-Way Cleanser are the first two cleansers in the Skin Renew collection.  It’s been ages since I’ve used a Garnier skincare product, so long in fact that I can’t even remember what it was!  So welcome back Garnier, let’s see how you did!

First up,  The Brusher Gel-Cleanser is in a very interesting looking little bottle.  You’ll identify it right away by it’s funky top, nine rows of rubber bristles that somewhat feel like a koosh ball.  Remember those?

I was initially concerned that the bristles would be too stiff and scratch my skin, but they’re actually quite soft and flexible.  If it’s a concern of yours, you’ll see what I mean when you feel it!  I’ve been asked to compare it to the L’Oreal Go 360° Clean facial cleanser scrub-let, but I can’t because I haven’t tried it yet.  These are definitely more like long massaging “fingers” if you will, not so much a scrub-let in my opinion.  To use The Brusher, I simply twisted the collar of the bottle counterclockwise, moistened the brush, lightly squeezed the bottle to allow some of the cleansing gel to come through the slit, closed the collar, and then applied it by lightly massaging the brush on my face in small circular motions.  The initial squeeze of cleanser was plenty, this doesn’t require you to keep squeezing the bottle while you’re using it (that would be a mess and a half!).  I wouldn’t rely on this to remove all of your makeup if you are the type of gal that runs straight for her cleanser without using some sort of makeup remover first, it’s not going to provide a super-deep clean all on it’s own if you’ve got primer, foundation, and the whole nine yards on, and we should all probably be using a makeup removing wipe of some sort anyway!  But what it did do for me was massage and stimulate my skin (making it look brighter), cleanse effectively, and provide extremely light resurfacing benefits.  This will not take the place of your exfoliation treatment products, in my eyes–it’s really more like an extension of and an added benefit of using the cleanser…an upgraded version of good old-school manual cleansing.

I do like the formula of this gel, it lightly foams from the brush movements and didn’t make my skin feel tight or dry after cleansing.  I have combination skin–oily t-zone, normal-to-dry everywhere else, so it was a good fit.  It also smells pretty darn good–kinda fruity, very clean.  After a week of use, I found it to be pretty gentle, yet stimulating thanks to the brush.  If your skin just seems a little “blah” and you prefer gel-based cleansers, I would say give this one a shot.  You may either love the whole brusher idea, or not like it at all and I think that might be the deciding factor for you.  The reason I like the brush is because I feel like it’s waking up my facial skin’s circulation and telling it to get perky!  To be completely honest, I would be interested in the cleanser all on it’s own minus the brush, even if it wasn’t marketed as The Brusher Gel-Cleanser.

Not to be forgotten–the Resurfacing 3-Way Cleanser, this one is completely different in concept!  It’s packaged in a tube, and the formula can function as a cleanser, a pore-purifying mask, or an exfoliating scrub.

Right away, you can spot the blue-green micro-beads and see that this is a creamier texture.  This formula is kaolin-clay based so it’s really helpful in pore-purification due to kaolin’s oil-absorbing benefits.  The micro-beads feel pretty small and aren’t overly abrasive, and I’m pretty sure that they’re polyethylene (a standard ingredient in many physical exfoliating products with “beads”) since I see it in the ingredient listing.  For my particular skin’s liking, I wouldn’t be able to use this in both my morning and evening cleansing rituals because I found it to be just a little drying outside of my t-zone area after a few uses.  This may actually be excellent news however for someone who is constantly struggling with oily skin.  On the other hand, I would be able to use it on alternating days as a mild exfoliation treatment or as an oil-absorbing mask in my t-zone area once a week–so it definitely is a 3-way multi-purpose product.

One of the things I really enjoyed when using it as a quick purifying mask was a little bit of a cooling sensation.  You’ll find menthol and peppermint leaf extract in the ingredients, which I love in skincare treatments for that very reason.  In my experience with trying out the Resurfacing 3-Way Cleanser, it wasn’t the best choice for a facial cleanser from the Skin Renew collection for me–my skin actually preferred The Brusher Gel-Cleanser, and your skin may be completely the opposite.  Comparing the two formulas in my opinion would be like comparing apples to oranges and you might not have a need for both.  My hopes are that by sharing my experiences, you’ll be better able to make a decision if either one of the new Garnier Skin Renew cleansers are right for you!

Have you had a chance to try these out yet?  If not, which one do you think would benefit your skin the most?

An editorial sample was provided by the company and evaluated to determine my opinion of the product in this post.  Please see the Disclosures page for further information regarding my policies for using editorial samples.