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

Party Makeup Series - Purple & Pink 'Halo' Eyes

So today I'm bringing you my first party makeup pic tutorial.  I was fighting a losing battle against getting this done before the sun set, so the light does change in the pics.  But hopefully you'll get the idea.

I started with something a bit more colourful, as there'll no doubt be a few sparkly / neutral ones in this series.  This method is super easy and can be done with any colours you like; I picked purple & pinks.

 Here is the overall look

 

And here's how I did it...

When using bright colours, I think it's best to put down a light base (white works well) so I used the lightest concealer I could find (in this case, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Shade 1 - CV).  I patted this all over the lid and blended it in with my finger. Don't add too much or it'll crease.

The eyeshadows I used from this palette mostly came from the Revolution Matte Brights Palette.... ooooh see how pretty....

I started by picking up the lightest pink

With a fluffy blending brush (I used a bdellium 785), put this colour in the crease. This won't really show and so doesn't need to be neat. Just go back and forward really roughly in the crease.  This is our transition shade. 

Then with a flat brush (I used a Furless PM2), pick up some of your bright purple.

Pack this on the inner and outer 1/3 or so of the lid

I switched to a pencil brush (Furless PRO3M) as I wanted something that would the colour packed on a bit more.

Then join up the inner and outer corner by using windscreen wiper motions with the pencil brush in the crease

It should look something like this

Then go back to the blending brush you used for the light pink and blend so there's no harsh edges. Repeat these steps (packing on purple, blending out edges) until you're happy with the colour intensity.

With a clean blending brush (this is an Illamasqua blending brush), pick a small amount of up the dark pink. 

 

Put this just above the purple and blend it well, going back to your blending brush and adding a bit more light pink to blend out if needed.  The aim is to create a bit of a gradient.

Then pick up the white (I used a bdellium 776)

And put it under the eyebrow to highlight the brow bone

Then wipe off your flat brush (or use a clean one) and pick up some light cream eyeshadow.  You can skip this step if you have a really pigmented shade for the next step, but mine wasn't very pigmented so I did this to give the shimmer something to stick to and make it stand out more.  This is Superdrug's B. Cream Shadow in the shade Lizzie (V).

Pat this onto the space in the middle of the lid that we left free.

Then flip the brush around and pick up a light and shimmery eyeshadow or highlighter.  This is Revolution's Baked Highlighter in Peach Lights (AV)

Pat this over top, feathering out the edges to blend it into the purple.  If need be, add a touch more purple to blend it.

Then add some black eyeliner. This is optional but I like the way it looks with liner.  I didn't wing out the liner much, just finished it off at the edges.

Then line the waterline with a gold eyeliner. I used GOSH's Velvet Touch Liner in Renaissance Gold (CV). You could use black or silver if you prefer.

Then add plenty of mascara, I used my favourite, Barry M Lash Vegas + Fibres (V).

You can add lashes too at this point, but as this was just for Monday night salsa, I skipped them. However, at the end of this post is a similar look I did on a weekend away, that shows you how much more dramatic this will look with lashes! :)

Onto the face.  I mixed 2 pumps of B. Youthful Foundation (shade 10, Linen - V) with about half a pump of SEVENTEEN's Skin Wow! Highlighter (CV).

I buffed this onto my face with a bdellium 954 brush, which I've been loving for foundation lately.  

Then I added concealer under my eyes (Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, shade 2 - CV). I like to blend this out with a bdellium 949 brush.

Set under the eyes with powder - I used a Real Techniques Setting Brush and MUA's pressed powder in shade 1 (AV). I switched to a Barry M Kabuki brush to set the rest of the face. (Sexy powder face!!)

Then go back to the eyes.  Using your pencil brush again, pick up a tiny bit of the purple and blend it under the lower lashes, connecting the corner up to the purple on top.   I also filled in my brows with Anastasia Beverley Hills' Brow Wiz in Ash Blonde (AV) and added a bit of GOSH's Clear Brow Gel on top (CV).

This is where I'd totally lost the light so moved into another room! :)

For the face, I used my Revolution Sugar & Spice Ultra Blush Palette (AV).  I swirled my brush into the 2 bronze/contour shades on the top left.

And dusted it high on the cheeks, forehead and a bit over the bridge of the nose, to warm up the face. I used a Real Techniques Powder Brush.

Then I picked up this blush shade with a Real Techniques Blush Brush

This is one tiny tap!  It's SOOOO pigmented  (I REALLY love this palette!)

I tapped it off on the back of my hand then tapped the brush onto the apples of the cheeks, so as not to put too much colour on.

Then, I used a Real Techniques Contour Brush to add Revolution's Peach Lights highlighter, the same I used on the eyes, to my cheekbones, bridge of the nose and the cupid's bow.

I lined my lips thickly with OCC's pencil in Hoochie, but not fully.

Then filled in with Barry M's Gelly Hi Shine Lip Pencil in Electra (V)

So that's the final look.  The next one is going to be glittery, as I'll be wearing it to my work's Christmas do, so stay tuned! :)

As promised above too, here is another example of this look; I used a brighter shadow in the centre of the lid (although I can't for the life of me remember what it is!), used black in the waterline, a sparkly white on the inner corner AND I added lashes and gold eyebrows!  The brows are Sugarpill's Goldilux pigment (V) mixed with Illamasqua Sealing Gel (CV).

Happy Humpday all, what's left of it!

Love & Stuff
Sal xXx

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