Review: The Brush Guard - Variety Pack

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I have often said that makeup tools are extremely personal. They are more so than makeup itself as each person has his/her own method of applying makeup. However, this review is not about any makeup brushes or mascara curler. It is about how an inexpensive invention can save the life of your favourite brushes!


This is call The Brush Guard. You can find this product on The Brush Guard. The site ships internationally so don't you worry! (If you check out that site, you can also see Enkore raved about these little tubes in his video clip. I am adding that clips here so you can all see it too.)

The Brush Guard
by Enkore





And here are what I have. Two packs of The Burch Guard Variety Packs. :)



Variety Pack: $5.50
1 Shadow/Liner (ex. small)
2 Blush (small)
2 Foundation (medium)
1 Powder/Kabuki (large)

Close-up of The Brush Guard

Hmmm. I know what's on your mind. When I saw these fishnet like straw tubes, I had doubts about them. They looked way too skinny and flimsy to protect my brushes! So I just read the instruction for the sake of reading since the products were already in my possession. Here is the instruction for your interests:

The Brush Guard claims its products can be used on brushes of various sizes!

So I pressed The Brush Guard to see what were they like. They felt very flexible. The edges of the openings were rough due to the cuts. The rough edges were all facing outwards so I was sure they wouldn't damage my lovely brushes. Then I pressed them open and the netted tubes popped up easily.


And the netted tube has its purpose. It prevents bristles building up smell. The net also helps brushes speeding up the drying process even though the brushes won't dry as fast as when placing the brushes directly on a dry towel like Enkore did in one of his video clips.

Then it's time to put these tubes to test! Here was what I did.


The instruction says that you can only slide the guard from the handle to the bristles.






This was what happened when I didn't follow the instruction!
(My heart still skips each time I see this picture.)

I did that only for a second and stopped! What happened was that when I tried to pull the guard off from the opposite direction (bristles to the handle), the bristles were caught in the fishnet! Gosh, these were my brand new Shu Uemura Brushes from Mika Holiday Collection! I immediately stopped and took this picture. Grrr... The things I did for reviews!!!


Therefore, please do not tempt to repeat my mistake! The instruction says so and you better just follow it!!!


Now, do the narrow tubes work for different brushes? Yes, they are very expandable and roomy! Have a look at this picture please.

Cool, isn't it? Now it's high time to try all of them out! There were 6 in a pack so I added my mini Make Up For Ever Brow Brushes (from the Brow Corrector Kit) to the test too.

Close-up of my Shu Powder Brush with The Brush Guard - closed








And opened up

The brushes had traveled with me on a plane to Sabah, (cramped in a tiny makeup bag, then jam-packed again in a laptop backpack filled with tons of things). They are still in great shape, as good as new, thanks to The Brush Guard.


I have washed all the brushes yesterday. I dried them with The Brush Guard on. Now all the brushes have dried up and they remain in their original shapes perfectly.





UPDAE 21/January 2009: This picture is show you how big the Brush Guard can expend and how I use them to dry the brushes after they are washed.

It's ingenious!








Pictures of the brushes in their original form:


Make Up For Ever Powder Brush 30S








Sephora Professionnel Retractable Travel Powder Brush #51

You can read more about its many other uses here: how to use

You can also find other types of brush guard here: products & prices


All packs are $5.50 USD each.

Extra charges applied to Canada ($2.00) and elsewhere ($3.00).



My Verdict:

These are cheap investment for protecting expensive brushes. If you love your brushes, you have to give The Brush Guard a try. Just brilliant!


With Christmas just around the corner, these will make excellent presents for your makeup crazed friends or family. I know I will be thrilled if I receive more of these! (wink! wink!)



My Colouring:

MUFE Full Cover Extreme Camouflage Cream #4, Duo Mat Powder Foundation #202, Liquid Lift Foundation #2, light skinned Asian (Chinese), dark brown eyes, long black hair (mostly straight with some wavy bits), slightly dry facial skin that hardly breaks out, medium pigmented lips that are chapped easily.