Review: The Brush Guard Variety Pack

I got brush guards! This is amazing! Wonderful!

You might have no idea what a brush guard is!

Such bland, basic packaging!

No one likes washing brushes, right? It's a chore. It sucks. It's a necessary evil we all have to face to have beautiful makeup. You know all the things they tell you to do for your newly washed brushes; stand them up to dry, wash with warm water (some say cold water), soap, shampoo, condition your bristles, squeeze out the water, etc.

Well, if you have to reshape your brush and if its suggested to stand them up so the water runs out, how do you keep your bristles from becoming bent? You can't if you stand them up! My foundation brush was bent out of shape temporarily when I tried standing it up, as were other brushes.

I had heard about brush guards and thought they were neat about 4 or so years ago. I've looked for means to make them but never could. At the time I had heard of them, they were online only and not cheap (maybe $20?) for a variety pack. Today, I found them at WalMart for about $5 for 6. Score!!

L to R: Extra Small, two Small, two Medium, one Large

The pack has one extra small, two small, two medium and one large to cover a variety of brushes. The medium fits perfectly on my foundation brush and the large fits onto my real Techniques powder brush with a little work, since the top of the handle is wider than the middle and the ferrule of the brush. Sadly, since my foundation brush is double-ended and I often use both ends, I have to wash both sides. Makes putting the brush guard on the foundation end a bit hard without disturbing the bristles of the concealer end. Thinking of taking it off and make another brush handle for it, purely for easier to cleaning!

These have been touted as making your brushes easier to dry, which I didn't see. My foundation brush was still the slightest bit damp feeling the day after I washed it. They're also suggested as being used for when you travel. If you're like me and don't had a brush roll or something else to protect your brushes while you travel, then these can be useful. Especially when I've used my brush and its dirty; getting foundation or eyeshadow on the interior of my makeup bag irritates me! I'll try them out on my blush brush, powder brush and foundation brush when I pack my brushes and update this to see how they fared.

My collection of various brushes

Now, I didn't take test images of all the brushes. I did however find myself reaching for the Medium and Small ones the most for my eye brushes (which I have a lot of, as you can see). The Large and the Medium fit on my real Techniques powder brush and my foundation brush as was suggested.

 

Powder brush with the Large Brush Guard on it.

Eyeliner Brush with the Extra Small on it (recommend though I don't have a super tiny eyelienr brush!)

 

Smudger brush with Small

Eyeshadow brush with Small

Blush brush with Medium

While these won't go easily over double-ended brushes, they do pretty fine to keep your brushes standing up and shaped. They will probably work nicely for traveling to protect your bristles. They'll slide off your brushes easily, though you have to pull it off over the bristles. It won't go back over them so if you remove them, you have to put it on over the handle then slide it onto the bristles.

If you're interested and in the States, you might be able to find them in the cosmetics aisle in WalMart. All the variety packs are online at TheBrushGuard.com for $5.50. I'm not sure if they ship internationally, sorry guys!! They also sell a cleaning kit that includes the variety pack of brush guards, a washing cup, shampoo and a towel that's almost $20 and the shampoo can be purchased separately. (I wouldn't call Michelle Phan an "expert," really.)

UPDATE: I put the Medium brush guard on my foundation brush to prevent foundation from getting on my bag inside. It worked... Pretty okay. The guard got pushed down on my brush, disturbing the bristles. Blegh. Oh well. I've washed my powder and foundation brush at around 6 PM (GMT -5:00) today and put the guards on them. They're now sitting upright in an old (clean!) candle jar and hopefully drying.

Instead of spending nearly $20, might I suggest this nifty DIY from a YouTuber I love, SecretLifeOfaBioNerd? I have yet to make it myself, but I really want to. I'm terrible lazy!!

PS: Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been lazy and haven't had much to say. I've been trying to track down a limited edition palette from the drugstore without luck.

SPOOKEHDOOM