quick tip: dirt cheap Brush Guard dupes!

a few months back the lovely Sarah @ Saloule shared this tip which i immediately followed and now want to pass forward to you. there are actually many dupes for The Brush Guard on ebay, for dirt cheap (about 1-3$ a pack) and mostly with free shipping. just enter something like "cosmetic brush cover" and various sellers will pop up. they all are shipped from Hong Kong or China, so please calculate some weeks of waiting.
the original Brush Guard is basically a flexible tube of plastic mesh which sleeves your brushes and can be used to protect them generally and/or especially after washing to help them maintain their shape, minimise splayed hairs etc.
in my brush-care-guide i already mentioned that i'm not a fan of covering the just washed, damp brush hair because the circulation just is not as good as letting them hang free. this may cause mould or loosen up the glue in the ferrule due to the stagnant moisture and damage the brush. with the 10€ drugstore brush maybe i'd try to see the long-term results, but with a 200€ Suqqu one i'd rather not risk it. smoothing the damp brush into shape is totally fine.
i recommend to use such brush covers on the dry brushes, though. especially if you store your brushes standing up in an open glass, circulating dust and powder will fall on the surface and inbetween the bristles of your unused brushes (i keep my used/dirty ones separate). this not only contaminates your clean brushes, but it also can cause harm to your brushes in a long-term perspective.
in this case i think it's fabulous to just cover them up with these "brush guards" to have less surface for any environmental influences to attack. i admit though that they will look less attractive in your brush holder on the dressing table.
another good use is as a packaging-layer if you sometimes sell or swap your brushes. for travelling purposes only, if you pack the brushes really tight, because if the brush guard moves around, it would cause horrible splaying to your brushes and in the end the opposite of what we wanted.
so all in all i think such brush guards have a reason to exist, but the price for the original version is just way too high. i mean 5€ for averagely 6 tubes of crappy plastic net? are you kidding me?
with the ebay-version, which i believe to be nothing different from those scam-guards, you pay 1.50€ and get 15 tubes. or, as a DIY-version, 1m length of product.

here the set-version. ignore the asian-english and you'll get a pouch which contains 15 tubes of brush covers in 3 different sizes, large for bigger powder brushes, medium for blush brushes and small for eyeshadow brushes. my test objects were a Hakuhodo B509BkSL Powder Brush M round (not reviewed yet) - a classic round, big and fluffy powder brush, Hakuhodo B110BkSL Blush Brush round and flat (not reviewed yet) - your typical rather big fluffy blush brush and the MAC 217 as the eyeshadow brush everybody wants to get into the right shape.
the medium size had the best fit and tension and the eyeshadow-size is ok to keep some shape, but quite loose (in fact even looser than the medium size). the powder brush size is a bit loose, too, and could also be used on bigger brushes like face kabukis.

the other version available is a 1m band of plastic mesh. pro: you can cut it the length you want it (i found the other tubes a bit too long and wasteful). contra: there's only one size, no slimmer tubes for eyeshadow brushes.
but: i actually prefer this version! it's a medium size you could fit both your powder and your blush brushes in and the material is much more substantial compared to the version above. there's a good tightness when i insert my brushes and the tubes get back into shape better if i don't use them.
with a 1m length i can get about 11-12 brush covers.

hope that helped! will you buy some for yourselves? have you bought the original Brush Guard before? share your experiences!

MAC Pro Performance Sponge: first impression and comparison to the BeautyBlender.

you know i'm an avid fan of the BeautyBlender Sponge. out of my fear of loss i have even ordered 2 back ups some months ago, although my first one still goes strong after about 8 months of (almost) daily usage.
now MAC has released their own version of "odd-shaped-sponge", called the Pro Performance Sponge, it looks like a little spinner to me with a round top.
in fact i wanted to wait until douglas.de would get them in stock but then i wanted to order something else from MAC anyway so i purchased from the maccosmetics.de online store, where the sponge is already available for some time.
it costs 16.50€.
i just have it for few days and have only used and washed it once now, but since i guess it will be the same with my BeautyBlender, only long term usage will show how big your love can get.
i want to give you some initial impressions and of course a comparison to the infamous BeautyBlender for those who are curious and consider to buy one of the two.

similarities are the same price level (the BeautyBlender is sold at about 15€ in germany and available on kultkosmetik.de, for example), both are latex-free sponges, both are hot pink, both have that round top and pointy end and both promise a flawless and easy foundation application. if MAC was trying to dupe here is questionable, but it's the same marketing trick.

now to the differences:

• MAC's Pro Performance Sponge (which i will only call PP from now on, while the BeautyBlender from now is BB) won't change its size or texture when you wet it with water and stays quite compact and rubbery-feeling unlike the BB which gets much bigger when dampened and becomes soft and bouncy and actually spongey.
• the PP washes nicely without bleeding but the BB did bleed a lot of pink dye in the first washings (you'll see a big colour difference in my old&new BB in my photos below). 
• of course the shape: it's similar in the principles but the PP has a grip-like pointy end and an edge below its rounded top which helps getting into nooks and crevices of your face, like you can roll the edge along your under-eye area. in fact i find it harder to hold on that smaller part and still have not figured out the benefit of the special shape.
• application with the BB is still a lot easier for me than with the PP. i guess it's because i'm not used to it yet, but i find it quite tiring to tap my foundation on with the PP, because it's a lot more firm than the BB it doesn't bounce on your skin so i tend to want to push it into my skin a bit harder which is in the end rather tiring. also like i said, holding that little pointy part is weird, you don't want to destroy it with your nails, but it's so small that you have to hold it tighter which is a bit uncomfortable.
• the finish is a lot more sheer and natural with the PP than with the BB. maybe because it absorbs more foundation, but i guess mostly it's because it's more firm. the BB absorbs the foundation but applies a higher amount. both create an even, streak free satiny finish with ease.
• i find it's harder to build up the coverage with the PP.
• foundation amount that i need is almost similar but a bit more with the PP while it provides less coverage. 
• applying/blending concealer is also something that i will have to figure out, my first attempt ended in blending away instead of blending in. now i find the pointy end even too small for my under eye area, usually i dab the pointy end of the BB along the concealer edges which always worked fine.

i've tried it used damp with the Vichy Aera Teint Pure Foundation. usually i get a decent coverage with it, but with the PP it's more on the natural side.
all in all i still prefer the BB at the moment, but i will definitely try to work with the PP and maybe i'll get used to it and will appreciate it just like i love the BB.

new BeautyBlender - new MAC Pro Performance Sponge

dry BB - dry PP

damp BB - damp PP

so, did i forget anything? if yes, don't hesitate to ask in the comments, i will edit the post then ;)
what about you? will you purchase this one or the BB? do you already have one of those egg-type sponges? how do you like them?