Review: Lilumia New York

Hey Guys,

Today I am going to share with you a gift that I recieved for Christmas from one of my good friends. I came across this product on Instagram in the fall and was showing her the video. She remembered me talking about it and thought it would be the perfect gift for me. This product that I am talking about is called the Lilumia and it is a washing machine for your makeup brushes! It looks like they just launched an updated model the Lilumia 2. Keep reading to hear more about this product!

Lilumia New York $149.00

Here is what is said about this product on the Lilumia site:
"The secret to flawless skin starts with keeping your makeup brushes clean. The revolutionary Lilumia 2 is the world’s best-selling makeup brush cleaning device. This high-tech beauty appliance professionally cleans up to 12 makeup brushes at one time, while leaving your brush hairs soft and silky after each use.

 Its futuristic and transparent design adds counter top appeal and allows you to spend more time doing what you love, like watching Netflix. A match made in heaven for professionals, makeup enthusiasts and persons with physical injuries that don’t want to spend hours tirelessly scrubbing over the sink." http://www.lilumia.com/product/lilumia-2-new-york/

The Lilumia has for different models New York (black), Paris (pink), Tokyo (silver), and Dubai (gold). 

Here is a chart that explains each part of the Lilumia and what comes in the box:

The measuring cup that comes with the Lilumia makes it easy to put the correct amount of water and product into the basin.

Lilumia Makeup Brush Cleanser $19.95

The cleanser does not come with the Lilumia. You have to buy it separately. Its a pretty big bottle and should last a while depending how many brushes and how often you clean them. It is not recommended to use any other cleanser besides the one created for this product.

Here are the benefits of the Lilumia:

Here is a step by step pictorial of how to use the Lilumia:

Just incase the above image is hard to read here are more detailed steps:

Step 1: Pour liquid

• Pour warm water into the Clean Water Area and fill right below the MAX Fill Line. 
• Pour 2 ounces of Lilumia Cleanser directly onto the cleaning disk.

Step 2: Prep your brushes 

• The key to removing stubborn makeup formulated with wax such as lipsticks, gels and eyeliners is to prep your brushes before loading them into your device. We recommend prepping your brushes each time you use the Lilumia device. 
• Remove excess powder/liquid from the top, bottom and sides of brush hairs with a towel or cloth. 
• We DO NOT recommend using paper towels.

Step 3: Load Makeup Brushes

• Makeup brushes should be pushed down onto the cleansing surface area with brush hairs separated.
• Insert up to 12 makeup brushes into the brush holder from the bottom up. 
• Push your brushes onto the cleaning disk in a twisting motion to ensure your brush hairs are separated.
• Brushes should be engaged with the cleaning disk with brush hairs separated.

Step 4: Press power

• The standard wash cycle is finished when the device start blinking PINK. Now it’s time dry your brushes, or for and even deeper clean use the optimal rinse cycle.

Step 5: How to dry your brushes

• Once the cycle is over, remove the lid, grip the brush holder, pull up, turn 180 degrees, and brushed should be lifted for air drying. Slightly press the brush holder to lock into place. 
•  Remove excess water from brush hairs with towel or cloth. 
•  HOLD the illuminated button down for 5 seconds to run the drain. 
• Swipe the cleaning surface area with a cloth after removing the excess water to prevent makeup residue from adhering to the surface.

http://www.lilumia.com/get-started/

As mentioned above, you have the option of running your brushes through a second rinse cycle which I highly suggest.

Here are the brushes set in place and ready to go!

You don't want to mash the brushes too much against the cleansing pad as you will damage the brushes.

Here are videos of the Lilumia in action:

Clean and drying on the holder!

All done!

On to my thoughts:
This is a such a cool and useful device. I have thought about inventing something like this for years but apparently it has already been done! It definitely is an investment given the price. There are definitely some positive and negatives to this product which I will discuss. 

The positives: 

This is a great product that allows you to do other things while the brushes are cleaning. Each cycle is 15 minutes so you are able to start it and go do other things. I cleaned my house while these brushes were cleaning. I have a TON of brushes so it is along process but it allows me to do other things which I love. I do have to stop in between cycles to empty the basin and add clean water etc but that only takes a minute or so. 

I hate standing by the sink for a half hour 45 minutes washing brushes. Its very time consuming and my hands get so wrinkly from having them in water for so long. Its also very a very dirty process. The Lilumia isn't anywhere near as dirty. I also don't have to get my hands covered in water, soap, and makeup gook.

It is also very easy to use. The steps are pretty simple and self explanatory. I didn't have any issues figuring out how to use the Lilumia and run the cycles.

The negatives:

The cleaning isn't perfect. Some of my brushes did not get cleaned completely.  Most of my eye brushes were cleaned very well. Only one out of maybe 15 needed a quick spot cleaning. My larger foundation brushes did not get cleaned as well. I have to run it through two whole cycles (including 2 rinse cycles each time). Some of the brushes I just decided to hand wash with my Beauty Blender solid cleanser instead. That being said, it DOES suggest you wash your brushes weekly while I wait a month or longer to clean them. This could play a BIG part in this. I still think that the Lilumia is worth using. 

The holes in the holder which you put the brushes in are different sides. Its a little hard to get some of the brushes in place. Some of my thicker handled brushes would not fit into any of the holes such as my Real Techniques powder brush.

It seems that they have created a new and improved version of the Lilumia which many help with some of the issues that I had.

The new version has:

• Improved wash cycle
• Additional rinse cycle
• Improved base design
• Additional bonus accessory-removable cleaning disk for brushes that need a deeper clean.

I have noticed that there is an option to add a discount code to your shopping cart when checking out. I highly suggest looking for discount codes if interested in purchasing. I found some but they were expired.

Have you heard of this product before? What are your thoughts? Post your comments below!