The Brush Bar & Board review, photos | Brush washing for dummies

March 9, 2018

The products: The Brush Bar The Brush Bar and The Brush Board

I have had these brush-cleaning tools for… Oh, god. At least six months; likely far longer. But I wash my brushes embarrassingly infrequently, and as always, I prize a thoroughly-tested review over a fast one.

The Brush Bar is a company run by an Asian-American father-daughter team, which immediately puts it in my good books. I love supporting family-run businesses, and those run by POC deserve, if you ask me, special consideration. Dr. and “Almost-If-She-Hadn’t-Quit-“Dr. Wu founded The Brush Bar together in 2014, and are still running it together out of San Jose, CA to this day.

The Brush Bar ($38 USD)

The Brush Bar is a simple concept, executed very well. The Wu’s describe it as a “gamechanging makeup brush drying tool,” and honestly?

It is.

Each bar holds 10 brushes and dries them securely in an upside-down position, keeping water out of your brushes’ ferrules. (As any good makeup addict knows, getting water in the ferrule of your brush can loosen the glue holding your bristles in place, shortening their lifespans.) The bar is very compact, resting on the edge of any flat surface to turn it into a brush-drying area.

The crab-like clamps in The Brush Bar are tipped in a soft silicone, and flip back into the bar for easy storage and travel.

The Brush Board cylinders (gentle), pyramids (deepest clean), and cones (deep with a quick dry)

The Brush Board ($28 USD)

I liked and do use The Brush Bar, but what I really love is The Brush Board. It comes in a lovely mint green plastic, and has six different surfaces for washing your brushes.

The sections are deep enough to pool a bit of water and soap into them, so you’re not re-soaping each consecutive brush. Each section has a different intensity/texture, and they’re all honestly very effective: I can wash even the most stubborn eye primers and lipsticks out of my brushes using this board.

It works on the same principles as a silicone brush mitt, but I like how the slim profiles of the matching Brush Bar and Brush Board lend themselves to easy travel and storage. The board keeps my hands dry and non-clammy throughout every brush-washing session, and lets me wash my brushes with colder water than my hands would be able to tolerate (thus prolonging their life even further.)

The Brush Board triangular prism (medium scrub), ridges (scrubber and scraper), and waves (scrubber and scraper)

The Brush Bar & Board verdict?

The Brush Bar and The Brush Board are a little more expensive than I wish they were, but I really enjoy using them. They make brush maintenance easier and more comfortable, and I do find that I wash my brushes more frequently now that I have them around.

If you’re looking at brush cleaning tools merely from a cost-based standpoint, these would not be my top recommendation. However, if you’re looking for tools that are sleek, stylish, and easy to store, then they absolutely take the cake. The Brush Bar and Board travel more compactly than other brush cleaning tools, and are far less cumbersome than a giant silicone cleaning mitt – so they’re perfect for a small or just generally well-organized living space.