Review: MAC 217

Here's a review on MAC 217.

PRICE: Around P1,300.00

Bought From: MAC, New Eastwood Mall

Other Locations: MAC Powerplant Mall; MAC SM Mall of Asia; MAC Trinoma; MAC Glorietta 4; MAC Ayala Center Cebu

THE VERDICT:

Over 4 years into beauty blogging and more than 10 years of being a makeup lover and I still don't have a single pricey brush brand in my collection. Surprised? Well, I've been contented with Suesh and Charm that I didn't feel the need to buy pricey brushes-my trusted local brush brands have good selections and they kept on improving throughout the years so I thought, why bother? Since I live and breathe makeup, I realized, I guess it's time for me to own at least one pricey brush for the sake of trying. One time, I was strolling in Eastwood mall and I passed by MAC's pop-up counter and all of a sudden, I remembered my beauty blogger friends telling me that they've got awesome brushes so I bought one on a whim. I went for this brush, MAC 217, because it has earned that Holy Grail title in many beauty blogs here and overseas-I even asked my friends for recommendations and they kept on referring this brush so I bought it, based on suggestions. Boy, I felt like a newbie that time! LOL!

I digress. They said that MAC 217 is often imitated, but never duplicated, and one of a kind, hence it's a favorite by many makeup lovers from pros to enthusiasts. Well, I AGREE! Click READ MORE and find out why!

MAC 217 IN DETAIL

The handle has very good quality: It feels really solid, as if it is carved from a chunk of wood yet it is so lightweight. However, its size is not travel- friendly and it doesn't come with any protector or case--you get it as it is. I'm currently storing it in a cylindrical container to preserve its shape. It's P1,300.00, you know? :D

This brush is made from Goat hair, the ideal hair to use with powder products. Indeed, this thing is wonderful: It blends eyeshadows into each other easily, quickly, and effortlessly: I can just slap the eyeshadows right on my lids, do around 10 swirls with this brush, and I'm good to go. If compared with my blending brushes from Suesh and Charm, I like the medium height of this one better as I find that the latter brands only have either short or tall blending brushes. (Don't get me wrong, I love my Suesh and Charm brushes too, but this one is just different) There's something about the height of this brush that it lets me achieve better- looking color gradients even with minimal effort. It acts like a broom, sweeping the eyeshadow colors right to wear you want them to be. Regarding density, it's as dense as the blending brushes of Suesh and Charm. Also, this brush has shed around 2- 3 hair strands during the initial wash, but not anymore in the succeeding washes.

Apart from its excellent height, I also think the secret why this brush has awesome blending powers is because of its shape: It's not too fanned out (prevents the colors from being dusted off my lids) and not too tapered. (prevents the colors from being too concentrated) The bristles are semi-soft and not at all flimsy, yet non-scratchy. The circumference of the brush is quite universal and will fit any eye shape. 

I made a good choice with this brush. Sometimes, I only use this one for the base, middle, crease, and highlighter colors because it's that brilliant and good! However, it's not without its limitations: You'll have a hard time using it on your inner and lower lids, but I have my smaller blending brushes to take care of that for me.  If you're going to ask me now what particular costly brush to recommend, get this! In fact, I wanna buy two more! :D

MAC 217 RATING