NYX Small concealer brush review

So I've heard some decently good reviews about NYX Professional makeup brushes, but not enough to convince me without trying them for myself. I figured I'd get a small concealer brush, since I wanted to have one for powder and one for liquid foundation/concealer and I already have one for powder. I got the small concealer brush for around $5.

The packaging is lovely (excuse the chipped nailpolish), and the brush itself is sleek and simple. Me likey. The bristles are soft, firm, and compacted. Great. However, the worst thing happened when I first used them to apply Benefit's Erase Paste (DARN YOU, BENEFIT!)... the bristles separated into little sections! WTF?! I even tried washing them, reshaping them, and letting them dry overnight. The next day, the bristles were still separated. Now, it seemed like there could have been a lot more bristles compacted into the ferrule... a little strange, hrm?

Now, the brush hasn't been rendered completely useless; it's just not that great for applying, well, ANYTHING anymore. I just use it to dab concealer here and there and blend it with my finger instead of the brush. Maybe later I'll try the larger concealer brush which is a little more expensive... I'm hoping I will not get the same results as with this brush. I'll make my final verdict on NYX brushes after I try out a few more. But for this one, I would NOT purchase again because of what happens and I kind of prefer my brushes to be a little fuller than this one.