Maybelline The Falsies; as good as they say?

So I finally jumped on the beauty bandwagon and purchased the Maybelline the Falsies mascara on the premises that everyone says it's so good. And while I agree that the formulation of the product itself is pretty amazing, I can't quite help but think the packaging lets it down a bit.

There's nothing wrong with the outside packaging, it's pretty standard and the same as most Maybelline mascaras, however I think that the brush really lets this product down. Now this is probably just a personal preference, I have always preferred the bigger brushes compared to the thin ones, but I can't help feel that the brush isn't great quality.

If you look really closely at my brush, small bits of it seem to keep flaking off and I can't seem to figure out what it is. At first I thought loads of my eyelashes were falling out! After a close inspection (and worrying for about 10 minutes!) I discovered that small pieces of the brush kept coming away, and they were going in my eyes as I was trying to apply the mascara, making them obviously really irritated. Now I don't know if I just have a faulty brush or something but that can't be right, right?! I thought it was such a shame because the mascara itself it actually really nice! It really separates my lashes and the colour pay off is so good, so I can't fault it there, I just think it needs a different brush!

Have you tried the Falsies? Is your brush the same?

Lauren x