MAC 286 Duo Fibre Blending Brush Review

MAC 286 Brush

MAC 286 Duo Fibre Blending Brush Review

The MAC 286 Duo Fibre Blending Brush retails for $30.00 and was released as part of the MAC, Naturally Collection this January 2012. I got mine online at Nordstrom.com. I don’t know if this is going to be limited edition brush.

Ever since I saw the MAC, Naturally press release I knew I wanted to try this brush. MAC claims that this brush “gives more controlled application of M·A·C Mineralize Eye Shadows”. It’s made of goat and synthetic fibers, which is why it has bristles of two different colors.

I love makeup brushes but after playing around with it, I just can’t fall in love with the 286. There some positives about it of course. It really doesn’t shed or bleed. That’s always a plus. However, the bristles are long and stiff and they don’t have a lot of give. This brush reminds me of the MAC 224, but that one I find softer and less dense. I could see myself using the MAC 286 Duo Fibre Brush to apply color to the crease. However, when it was time to blend eye shadows in the crease, this brush gave me a headache. It was a bit tough, I don’t know, but compared to others I’ve tried, it just made me work a lot harder. As they said when I was little, maybe “it’s the Indian, not the arrow”. I don’t know, but I have tried mineralized products, regular powder products and still don’t get perfect blending. I get much better results results with any of MAC 224, MAC 217, MAC 226, Sigma E25, or Sigma E40, or Sigma E45.

It takes a lot for me not to love a makeup brush. However, the MAC 286 Duo Fibre blending brush didn’t impress me at all. There are so many other amazing blending brushes in the market for a fraction of the cost of this one that I just can’t justify recommending this one brush. If you have a similar or different experience, let me know below. Maybe there’s a trick I need to learn ;-)

MAC 286 Brush

MAC 286 Brush