Here, add this item to the list of “Things you didn’t know existed or needed till you have it” because that’s how I felt about the Benjabelle Brush Tree. I saw this sprout (sprout! Tree!) online a few years ago and as I always always do, I sniffed, turned my nose up at what I figured was yet another gimmick to make people waste money, and swore up and down that drying my brushes flat was the way to go. I’m often too sceptical for my own good.
Alright, the difficulty to get hold of it played a major role. It cost a lot to ship to Malaysia from the USA and I soon promptly forgot about it. However, a friend and entrepreneur, Romana of MyMakeupOrganizer brought this into the country last year and rekindled my interest, so I picked one up. I told myself it was to assuage my curiosity and I still kept my sceptic hat on.
But sceptical as I am, I cannot deny that the Benjabelle Brush Tree is a very clever little contraption that deserves its accolades.
The concept behind the Brush Tree is very simple yet very clever. We are encouraged and advised that we should dry our makeup brushes flat or pointing down, so the water doesn’t flow into the base and melt the glue, which will result in our owning very expensive animal hair or a handful of synthetic fibre, depending on your preference.
Drying makeup brushes flat isn’t a rocket science. Most of us will do so, laying them on a piece of towel and letting them dry. Some of the more intrepid have designed various DIY methods to hold a brush upside down, so it can dry pointing down. Hats off to everyone who does. I’m not as patient (nor as clever) so I took the easy way out. I bought a brush tree 😀
The Benjabelle Brush Tree comes in a flatpack reminiscent of those you get in Ikea, with 3 pieces of flat plastic that you self-assemble. Don’t worry, it’s a doddle compared to what you get from Ikea and you won’t have any screws or pieces leftover.
What holds the brushes in place are these pliable silicone flaps that you see in the picture. Take note that you should insert your brush handle side first from UNDERNEATH. The silicone, and simple physics holds the brush in place. (I never thought I’d ever mention physics in this blog but there you go – physics at work in everyday life!) When your brushes are dry, just pull them back down and ta-da! You’re good to go. The silicone flaps are soft and won’t scratch the handles of your brushes 🙂
It is very clever and well constructed, and I hear already liberally copied. I’d personally prefer to buy the original – the creators worked hard to come up with their design – but as with everything, these are things you have to work out for yourself.
There are a few different designs available on the Benjabelle website, which hold different numbers of brushes so you can quite easily pick something to suit your needs. Locally, Romana brought in 2 designs – Daisy and Sunflower.
Being a little kiasu (colloquially lit. afraid to lose out) I picked up the Sunflower, which is the largest set available that holds the largest number of brushes – 4 large brushes (e.g. the fat NARS Bronzer brush), 6 Medium (e.g. any face/blush brush) and 16 thin brushes (e.g. eye or lip brushes). Daisy is about half the size and you can see it in action on Tine’s blog.
The Sunflower has a fairly large footprint if you keep it fully assembled all the time or if you have limited space, but you can easily collapse it and only assemble it when you want to wash your brushes. I keep it fully assembled at all times because I have the space (and because it reminds me to wash my brushes everytime I look at it!)
I also like how it’s very well balanced, so even if I only use one side of the Sunflower, the contraption doesn’t unbalance or tip over. It’s sturdy, and that was one of the things I was most impressed with. I have deliberately overloaded one side of the Brush Tree to see what would happen and the answer is nothing. It doesn’t topple, which is great. I don’t always have the time nor inclination to work out where to stick the brushes so the whole thing balances itself.
But I know what you’re wondering. What’s so great about this brush tree and do I need it?
Brushes dry more quickly
The air circulates around the brushes more easily as compared to when they lie flat, and my brushes seem to dry in half the time! I wash and dry my makeup brushes in my bathroom that gets a lot of air circulation so if I wash my brushes in the morning, I find that my small brushes can sometimes be dry by night and the denser brushes dry overnight.
Brushes don’t need a lot of reshaping
I suppose I have to thank gravity for this, because I find that my makeup brushes hold their shape better when they’re dry. I know it’s very popular to use a brush guard and I have that contraption (which I again, bought for a lark a long time ago but never thought a lot of it) but I don’t use it because I don’t need to.
Takes up less space to dry brushes
When I laid my brushes flat to dry, they actually take up quite a lot of space, and I have to be careful so the brushes don’t roll about and disappear. The brush tree has a fairly small footprint by comparison, and in my case, I can dry at least 26 brushes at a go in that same space.
So, it sounds wonderful, but do I need it?
Nope. It’s not a “need”. However, if you have the funds and you want your brushes to dry more quickly and you aren’t the DIY sort (like me!) or if you’re merely curious then it is a nice “want” because it does work very well.
I’ve seen some people double their brush trees up as brush storage. So once it’s dry, they just move it to their dresser and stick the brushes right way up and ta-da! Brush storage! That’s quite clever as well.
Do you own the Benjabelle Brush Tree? Do you know of other brush drying contraptions that I may not know about but should?
As I said, this wasn’t a device I thought I’d actually like, but I do. I’m glad I bought it and I’m happy with it because it works well for me. Naturally though, if DIY if your thing, there are loads of suggestions online too 🙂
Paris B
Benjabelle Brush Tree comes in various sizes Price: Sunflower (RM178.70 / US$39.95) Daisy (RM99.95 / US$19.95), Original (US$34.95), Mini (US$24.95), Tulip (US$24.95) Availability: Benjabelle Website or their Authorised Resellers (list here) In Malaysia, it is available through @MyMakeupOrganizer on Instagram or email [email protected]
I would love to have this product! Thanks for putting this on my radar! I get very annoyed when my brushes come apart after awhile and I suspect it’s due to improper care. I use foundation brushes a lot and the poorer quality ones tend to shed fairly quickly but I think with this marvellous contraption, it could preserve my oft-washed brushes. I have to google this and see if they will ship to Japan!
I read this all the time that water gets into the handle where the glue is to keep the brushes together. Quite common but ths solves that completely, the things they invent for makeup lovers 🙂
Most welcome! I think it’s a great product and because you can dismantle it after use, it is practical too for small spaces 🙂 I did a quick check and the Benjabelle website ships, or you can also try Amazon 🙂
Pretty! BTW, lots of art supply stores have variations on this for probably a lot cheaper
I’m not surprised, Ayu 🙂 I haven’t checked in art supply stores but thanks for sharing.
I mentioned this on Tine’s blog (beautyholicsanonymous.com) that those who prefer a simple DIY approach to drying your brushes upside down..
Try taping them by the handles along the edges of your bookshelf or table! 🙂
That’s clever! 🙂 Just be careful that the tape isn’t too strong or it might ruin the lacquer/paint on the brush handles 🙂
want!!! i need to dry my brush at least overnight when i lay them flat for drying :S but i will have space concern for this kind of tree
It’s not that big! This is the biggest, which is about the size of an ipad. The smaller one would be much smaller, and then you can collapse it once your brushes are dry 🙂
Ooh! Been meaning to pick this up every time I see Romana updating her Instagram 🙂
Lovely item to have, specially if you’re the type who washes like 30 brushes in one go lol.
PS: Where do you get your stash of Dr. Bronners Castille soap? I know we cant get them locally, or can we? 😀
Oh man, that’s so me! The washing 30 brushes as a go part. I’m so lazy at washing, I run through my stock of brushes till there are no more I like using then I do a big wash haha! So much for practicing what you preach eh? 😛 I got the Dr. Bronner’s Castille Soap from iHerb 🙂 Not sure if it’s available locally because I haven’t really looked, but it’s not expensive online 😉
This thing is so damn cool, I can’t describe it any better. Now that I think of it, I should have gotten a bigger one. 😛
Hahaha I’m so kiasu I just went for the biggest unit! 😛 I’m actually glad I did cos I have a bad habit of accumulating dirty brushes so this will hold them all when I do a big wash 🙂
I’ve seen quite a few people use this, but for me personally, I haven’t had any problems drying my brushes. I have enough space in my bathroom to lay all my brushes flat undisturbed. Most of them dry in a few hours and some denser ones dry overnight. The shape of the brushes hold well too 🙂 I can see how this is nice to have though knowing my fickle self, it will just be another accessory to store once the novelty runs out. I wanted to get one when I first saw it a while back but I’m glad I didn’t. LOL!
Good on ya 🙂 I have the space, but I got tired of my brushes rolling about so I’m very happy that they’re now kept in one place 🙂 Definitely not a necessity at all.
It looks like it takes a lot of space? What I have is a few of those S shaped hooks that you can hook one end to a towel rack, and then I tie my brushes to the hook upside down with rubber bands.
Same effect as a ‘brush tree’ with the added bonus of low cost and it doesn’t take up space which I don’t have.
Nope it doesn’t 🙂 This is the largest at about the size of an ipad. The smaller ones would have a much smaller footprint 🙂 You have a clever option too and I’m sure those who’d prefer a DIY option would find your tip useful!
i’ve been eyeing this since i’ve been slowing adding more expensive animal hair brushes into my collection (mostly i still like my synthetics better but i wanted to see what the fuss was. however, blue squirrel ftw!) i was thinking that, in la, my brushes dry fast enough but now that you’re saying it can double as brush storage…
OMG once you go blue squirrel you can’t go back 😛 Haha indeed! I’ve seen some pictures where people stick their brushes downwards from the top, handle first and I thought it was a clever way to hold your regularly used brushes, then just take the whole “tree” to the bathroom when it’s time to wash them 🙂
it all sounded so good.. until i saw that price tag and i balked.
/runs away.
Haha well, think of it as the price of a brush or eyeshadow palette and you won’t feel it to be as bad 😉
I love the brush tree. I first got the sigma dry n shape but that only works for sigma brushes, not fat MAC or other brushes. So i bite the bullet and buy the brush tree. This works with any brush so im glad i got one. Been using it happily for months now
I didn’t know Sigma had one too but it’s not a good idea restricting yourself to just one brush brand right? After all, us beauty addicts will play the field 😉 Glad to you know that you too like using the brush tree. It’s definitely made it so much easier to wash my brushes because they now all stay in one place!
i definitely find this a necessity! Will have to buy the cheaper dupes though 😛
Hope you find one Lana 😀 Otherwise, there are many ideas online for DIY options 😉
I have 1 brush to apply a certain mask, I’d get this just to jam in that 1 brush 😀
I can only imagine how useful this is to not mess up the glue part of your expensive brushes.
ROFLOL!! It’s ok Phil, I’m sure your brush isn’t squirrel hair that costs a pretty penny 😉 You’ll live without this
This is so cool! I so want one but I guess it’ll cost too much to have it shipped to Italy. *sighs*
Hey Gio, the Benjabelle website lists an authorized reseller in Italy! Maybe you could check with them 😀
Oh, great, thank you! I’ll check it out now. 🙂
I put all my brushes in brush guards, roll them up in a facecloth with the brush heads uncovered and stick them in a mesh pencil cup holder. Most are dry within an hour. Been doing it for years and it takes up barely any space on my vanity.
Do you stick them in handle first or brush head first? Just be careful not to go in handle first because the moisture can affect how the brushes hold up over time 🙂
I love this product so much so that I bought 2 designs. It really saves all the extra steps which I did previously when I had to press my brushes against a dry towel and then find ways and means to hang it dry upside down.
Now there’s a fan right there! 🙂 I do agree, it does save time, which sometimes is what we’re paying for right? Now, I wash, stick them in and forget about them till they’re dry
Would luv to have this (ohh-so-pretty) but its kinda pricey. I also dry my brushes upside-down with a lingerie drying rack which has attached 12 plastic clips. I will loop a hair-tie over each brush midway and clip the hair-tie firmly on the lingerie drying rack. It dries super fast under a ceiling fan.
That’s a clever DIY method too, MJ 🙂 Whatever works for us yeah?
Hey Paris! It\’s been a while, yes? Anyway, I was back home in Malaysia in Dec/Jan and I actually saw this on sale in Mid Valley. Yep, my favourite place in town! I picked it up immediately for only RM35.00. Like you I have been checking online and found the price a bit too high for such a simple \’gadget\’, not to mention shipping cost to Sydney. So RM35.00 is a no-brainer for me. It\’s sold at Lash Bar if anyone is interested.
Hi Honey! Yes, it’s been a while – I hope you’ve been well! 😀 Ooh I didn’t know this was actually available at a store and that you actually got to see it before buying. The online price & shipping is very high I admit, which was also why I didn’t buy it when I first heard about it. Glad to know you like it too!
it reminds me of sigma’s brush tree!