Marilyn Brush

Ugh I lost another brush at the gym.  It's like at least the 4th brush I've lost in the past year or so at the gym.  I don't know why but I guess I just forget to grab my brush when I'm done drying my hair!  It's very annoying because I don't normally notice it until the next time I'm at the gym that my brush is not in my gym bag.  That's usually when I need it the most.  I really need to just have a back up brush at all times.  I'm going to work on that.

Well anyway, since I lost my last brush, I had to get another one.  I've been using Marilyn brushes exclusively for a few years now.  I guess they are supposed to be some of the best on the market.  They are all made of boar bristles and they have different types that are supposed to be best at doing different things.  You can pretty much find them in all beauty stores, and they used to run about $40 each.  But nowadays since the economy is so bad, you can usually find them for around $25 or so, depending on the size.

Since I lose my brush so often, each time when I go to replace it, I try a new Marilyn brush.  My latest is the Jeli Ceramica brush.

 

This ceramic in this brush is designed to withstand high heat for long period of time, and the bristles are a little shorter, so that the hair drys faster.  I used it this morning for the first time and it worked pretty well.  I really like how the bristles are softer than my previous Marilyn brushes.  And the handle is made of foam so it's very light.  Therefore does not tire my wrist out.  I always get the 2 1/2 inch size, and this one was no exception.  I find this size perfect for my hair.  I have lots of hair, but pretty easily manageable since it's very straight.  I basically use the brush to dry and smooth it out, while at the same time adding a little bit of volume.  But I by no means spend tons of time on my hair.  So my needs are pretty basic.  No crazy hair styles for me!  This brush pretty much satisfies my needs perfectly.

Some of the Marilyn brushes I've used previously are:

Tuxedo Pro:

 

I think this is the most popular model they have.  Very classic Marilyn style.  It was also my first Marilyn brush ever.  This brush was very good at making my hair ultra smooth.  I remember petting my hair like it was a puppy!  But it's a lot heavier than other Marilyn brush models, so I feel like extended use of this one would give you carpal tunnel.  How sad to get carpal tunnel from drying your hair everyday!  No thanks.  Also, the boar bristles are not heat reinforced like some other Marilyn models.  Within the first few times I used this brush, some of the bristles started frying from the heat of my blow dryer!  It smelled awful and the burnt bristles were never the same since.  They pulled on my hair and hurt like hell since the heat hardened them.  So I wasn't all that upset when I lost it at the gym.  And I was definitely on the market for a different model.

I gave Marilyn another try and got the Flatten Me Too brush:

  

This one was definitely very different from the Tuxedo Pro.  First of all, it's hard to tell from the picture, but the brush head is not round.  It's oval.  That way, it's much easier to get the brush closer to the root.  Obviously from the name of the brush one would infer that this brush is specially designed to straighten hair.  So I guess the closer you can get from the root to start pulling and straightening, the better!  Even though my hair is very straight naturally, I found this brush pretty nice still.  It's got boar bristles mixed with plastic bristles.  And the plastic bristles were a little longer, and thinner, so I was able to get them deeper into my hair and grab onto more each stroke.  Then the boar bristles held onto the streaks of hair and smoothed and shined.  

The bristles are not heat reinforced, however, so some of the boar bristles did burn a little.  Not nearly as bad as the Tuxedo Pro though.  But still, I wish they would heat reinforce them!

The brush is very light as it's made of ceramic.  A big big change from the Tuxedo Pro that I welcomed with open arms.  

It was a pretty awesome brush overall though.  I was sad to lose it.  I seriously considered getting the exact same one again.  But then I talked myself out of it since it's always good to try new things!  

So next I got the Thermal Red:

  

This picture shows a smaller size, but I got it in my regular 2.5 inch size.  I got it because it advertised shorter hair drying time.  We all know that time in the morning is precious.  So the less time spent drying my hair the better.  This brush has heat reinforced bristles which actually work!  I had this brush for about a year (amazing that I didn't lose it for that long!  Definitely a record for me) and never once did any of the bristles burn under intense heat.  The bristles are supposed to be anti-bacterial too.  Whatever that means.  I did notice a slightly less drying time due to the shorter bristles.  But nothing significant.  I guess I was expecting magic, like cut the drying time in half or something.  It definitely was not THAT magical. 

This brush is pretty light too.  Maybe not quite as light as the Flatten Me Too though.  But definitely a weight that I can handle comfortably.  

I liked this brush a lot too.  But I'm looking forward to trying out the Jeli Ceramica more and seeing what the differences are.  So far it seems rather similar to the Thermal Red.  Maybe a wee bit lighter.  And softer bristles as I stated already.  But not a significant difference.  

There are still other Marilyn brushes that I have not tried.  Some I will never try, such as the ones made for coarse hair, or the ones made for lots of different styling.  There is another one I might try, the Overall Pro.  It seems like a do-it-all type of brush.  The only thing I'm concerned about is the non-heat reinforced bristles.  Now that I know most Marilyn brushes burn when they aren't heat reinforced.  So maybe not.  What I really want is to not forget my brush at the gym again!