The Brush Guard

The Brush Guard

I think as we all know makeup brushes are expensive and I look at them as an investment. Yes, you can find some that are not and get lucky but I have found that hard to do. I have found a few inexpensive ones that I would repurchase, but none to write home about. I might have a foundation brush that I got from Target that was under 10 dollars or a crease brush from a line that they carry at Kohl's, but I have never found a decent brand in the "inexpensive range".  My makeup brush collection (one day I will do a post on because it is quite extensive) is made up of a lot of different brands for many different reasons. The main reason being that I can't find one certain brand that I like that I can find each and every brush that I need from in it. I would have to say that my favorite brush line so far would have to be by Hakuhodo but I only have 3 because they are expensive! Most of my the rest of my collection is mainly MAC, Japonesque and the rest is completely random. I hope one day to build a collection by one brand that I find and love, but that will be a slow process.

So I was at the store one day (WalMart) and I was just skimming the beauty section (as usual) and I saw these Brush Guards and I thought what a clever idea. This was nearly three months ago, and I really cannot believe it has taken me this long to actually try them out. I think the real reason is that by the time I am done cleaning my brushes, I just wanna be done and lay them down to dry. I knew when I first used the Guards that I would want to blog on them, so a lot more would be involved (taking pictures, testing, writing up the blog, etc.) so I put it off. So last night I had accumulate enough brushes where I was running out of clean ones and I thought, let's test them out!


So on to The Brush Guard:

They are like these plastic sleeves that are ventilated that you slip on your brushes (always from the handle up towards the bristles) to help the bristles keep and regain their shape while drying.

How they look unused.

The other Benefits of the Brush Guard are as follows:

• Clean Brushes + Clean Makeup = Beautiful Skin!
• Brushes Last Longer
• Bristles Dry Soft and in Perfect Shape
• Delicate Bristles Stay Safe
• Make-up is Clean and Fresh
• Brushes Pack Safely For Travel and Storage

So I decided to finally put these guards to the test and wash my brushes and see if they came out any different from usual. I washed 2 sets of two exact brushes (one with the guard on and one without) to see if their would be any real difference. The brushes I picked for this comparison were perfect because they were about the same age (around a year) and ones that I use all the time. Since the pack came with 6 guards the comparison test took up 2 of them. The two that I compared were the MAC 239 and the MAC 217. With the remaining four guards I used them on my MAC 129 that I use every day for face contouring, my Real Techniques Buffing Brush that I use to buff my foundation in, my MAC 286 Pro Brush which I use for more precise eye contouring and lastly I picked my Sonia Kashuk Powder Brush that I still use to set my foundation with powder. I picked the last one because I wanted a really old one to see how the well the Guard would work on a brush that was at least 2-3+ years old.

The Brushes I cleaned drying with the guards on
 with the 2 MAC Exact Comparisons!

How the Brush Guard Looks on!

Front View! You can see how it keeps the Bristles
together while drying!

Here are the Results:

The Real Techniques Buffing Brush, MAC 129,
Sonia Kashuk Powder Brush 

I could not believe how much newer they looked. The bristles were all together once I pulled off the guard (this time over the bristles) and it has been hours and they still look the same.

Comparison MAC 239 & MAC 217

I could not believe how much more together the bristles were on the brushes that dried with the guards on. They are the brushes in the picture to the Right of the brush that did not have a guard! My MAC 217 literally looks like the day I bought it. I was the most happy about this one because I can't stand when you are contouring in your crease with a brush thats bristles are going each and every way. You get such a more precise eye makeup look when the bristles are together!

MAC PRO 286

I really picked this one to do because it is quite new (July) and I want to keep it in good condition because it is one of my most favorite MAC brushes that I own.

Final Thoughts:

These Brush Guards are Fabulous. Each and every single time I wash my brushes and than go to gather than up after they dry I think "why can't they keep their shape". I was seriously considering buying new MAC 217's because I could not stand how they were becoming. I am now going to try to preserve them as long as I can by using my brush guards. I might have to buy one more pack because it only came with 6 and I usually let about 10-15 stack up before I wash them. I hope this post helped anyone out there with the same issue. Also, keep in mind they can be used for storage, sanitation, and for travel. I just might keep them on my clean brushes to double the power of them keeping their shape. There are so many benefits to them, I am so happy I finally pulled them out and used them.

Thanks,

Sik Glam