My Haul From The Makeup Show-Crown Brushes

The mass of people surrounding the Crown Brush display at The Makeup Show was so thick and so intense I feared that someone was going to get hurt, either from an elbows being inadvertently thrown or from one of the impatient shoppers experiencing trade show rage! Luckily, everyone seems to have made it out unscathed and I managed to snag a few brushes in the process.

Crown Brush has a vast selection and incredibly prices. You can order brushes from their open stock or have them create private line for you, complete with brand imprint. The brushes that I tried all felt incredibly soft and with so many different shapes to choose from, it's easy to find you have to have. For a mere $23, I was able to purchase 5 brushes--a thin liner brush (C170), domed blush brush (S205), flat top bronzer brush (C108), pointed crease brush (C139) and a short-handled powder brush (IB102).


I had been looking for a blush brush with domed bristled and had both Trish McEvoy and Bobbi Brown on my wishlist. This one is similar and was all of $6.

Here is the problem: I didn't notice at the time, but the brushes smell. Strongly and badly. I have washed them very well with all different shampoos and cleansers three times and spritzed them with Sephora brush cleanser and they still have an odor. The worst offenders are the blush and bronzer brushes. The powder brush, which is from the Italian Badger series, does not smell at all and all of the washing seems to have helped with the crease and liner brush. The blush and bronzer brushes are in the process of drying from their fourth bath, this time with dish soap, and I actually let them hang out in the soap for 10 minutes. Unfortunately if this doesn't work I don't think I can use them, but the total loss is under $12 and frankly my brush cup does runneth over:

Had the booth not been so crowded and had I been able to really see all of the line with care I likely would have detected the issue and not bought them. I would buy from the Italian Badger line again since I've had no problems at all with that brush and am impressed with it's feel and that there has been no shedding. Has anyone ever experienced anything similar from this or any other line? Any other ideas on how to fix this?