MAC 217 - Cruelty Free & Vegan Dupes

Way back when I first trained in makeup, I was all about the MAC products. I trained in London and it was mostly MAC we used. I had a pro card so I got a discount and I basically built my pro kit of makeup and brushes using it. Spent a fortune too.

I was fairly newly veggie back then, although I'd gone cruelty free with my makeup a year or so before that. So I loved that MAC were cruelty free. As I went vegan and started phasing out non vegan makeup, I was super glad that they had vegan options too! But then it all went tits up and they stopped being cruelty free! Which meant a huge percentage of my pro kit was made up of products that I didn't want to recommend to clients! Hence I still have a bunch of MAC stuff gathering dust.

Anyway I am rambling. What this preamble is leading to is that the MAC 217 (or at least something similar) is a must have in most makeup artists' kits and I still have 3 of them (although they are now dusty and unused and sitting on top of my wardrobe for the day that I get round to putting them on ebay or something). It's a great brush for picking up colour, packing it on and for blending. It's also more precise that a larger/softer fluffy brush.

So over the last 8 years, I've been searching for a good synthetic alternative; there's loads of cruelty free / cheaper dupes of this brush but they are usually still goat hair. But now... I have found 4 synthetic brushes to talk to you about, that I think are pretty good dupes for the 217.

I have taken side by side pics of all these brushes with the 217, in all of these photos the 217 is the white haired brush on the right. Also, bear in mind my 217 is quite old and a bit fluffed out, if that makes sense, whereas my synthetic ones are all newer and not as used, so they haven't expanded much yet.

Crown Infinity C460 Blending Fluff Brush: £4.99 from Crown's website

I talked about this in my October favourites last week, but I think this one is a great dupe for the 217.

Size wise, it's a little wider than the 217, but the shape is very similar.

Side view, also very similar and the Crown brush is just as fluffy and great for blending.

Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush: £21.99 from Boots or Superdrug (I know it sounds pricey but it's because you can only buy it as part of a set, but all the brushes in the set are worth having, in my opinion).

side by side comparison

And turned sideways

Bdellium Tools 776: £7.50 from Lovemakeup
I love Bdellium brushes, they are so awesome. They're really affordable and ALL of the bambu brushes are vegan (and the whole range comes in about 4 different colours).

 

Side by side

Turned sideways

(it's a little flatter, but that is probably due to the age of my 217 more than anything)

Zoeva 227V Soft Definer: £5.95 from Lovemakeup
Firstly, this (and the bamboo winged liner brush) was the first Zoeva brush I've bought, so I thought it was super cute when I saw that it came in a little ziploc wallet. I think this will be brilliant for taking a few brushes with you when you're travelling.

Side by side

sideways

All of these are great alternatives and work just as the 217 does. The major upsides of synthetic brushes vs animal hair, in my opinion are:

1. Obviously - 100% cruelty free and vegan
2. They do not absorb as much product so they are perfect for creams as well as powders
3. They wash up better than real hair brushes
4. They do not shed like animal hair brushes, which is something that used to drive me nuts.

Also, the MAC 217 retails for £20 in the UK, so all of these are MUCH cheaper options, except of course the Real Techniques Base Shaow Brush, but as I mentioned, it's because it's only available as part of a set of 4 brushes.

Did I convince you yet? ;o)

Do you know of any 217 dupes I've missed? Or there any other brushes you need a dupe for?

Sal xXx