Is Coastal Scents Pro Blending brush- Dupe for MAC 217?

I've been obsessed with creating eye makeup looks and my Project 101 eye makeup looks is a testimony to that madness. 

The first and biggest hurdle a Makeup enthusiast faces while starting out with eye makeup is non-availability of quality blending brushes on a budget.

 The choice is pretty limited either you pick up one of the Vega pro brushes ,or try out one of the few random brushes from Faces / QVS / Babila or suck up  and buy a MAC brush.Blogosphere is filled with the story of MAC 217 as HG blending brush, and I know most of us wonder is there no other alternative?

After all 1500 bucks is not chump change and as much I love eye makeup I'm not ready to fork out that kind of money on a single eyeshadow blending brush just yet- later who knows I might just change my mind, but right now I'd make do or do without!

So in the spirit of Make do I ordered a bunch of eye shadow brushes from Coastal scents- few of which have become my all time favorites.

 One of the things on my wishlist was a domed eyeshadow blending brush and touted as a dupe of MAC 217 was Coastalscents Pro Blending brush. So is it  really a dupe?

The Pros of Coastalscents Pro Blending brush

1. Nice sturdy handle and soft goat hair bristles.

2.The domes shape bristles allow for easily blending away harsh lines and creating soft blended looks.

3.Price- at $ 4.95/ Rs 285/- approx this is very affordable

4.Very low shedding of the bristles.

5.Doesn't eat up to much product.

And now for the Cons

1.The white colored bristles get easily stained when used for blending darker/ pigmented shadows.(No amount of washing will get the squeaky white again.)

2.The bristles are too soft- Now this might sound like a huge plus to a lot of people, but this eventually means much lower control and the bristles don't hold firm when blending. This also doesn't work too great of cream shadows.

3.The bristles splay out too much on washing and no amount of reshaping and brush guard will retain the 

 firm domed shape.

4.Availability- Once bought online the International shipping really bites and the overall brush cost moves up size-ably.

So does it work as a MAC 217 Dupe- Yes & No!

Yes 'coz  it looks like MAC 217 & No 'coz the CS pro blending brush's bristles don't offer great control during blending. 

The larger splayed out dome shape mean you won't get a very precise blending.That being said, it works well on its own as a budget blending brush, it works well when you wan to create softer more diffused looks.If you are looking for more precise spot blending then go in for tapered blending brush.This is a good to have, but not must have in your vanity.Buy it as a pocket friendly blending brush, but not as a dupe for MAC 217.

About MAC 217- It has more firmer bristles and the brush head retains its shape well and the brush offer much better control.If you are serious about eye makeup and don't mind they hefty price tag then go right ahead and invest in a 217.Though with my experience in eye makeup you can get by perfectly fine even without 217.

If you are looking for a good blending brush then check out

Coastal scents Classic Blender Crease Synthetic brush,

The Body Shop Eyeshadow blender brush (costs approx 500/- rupees, but is totally worth it!, hang on till TBS sale in July /August) or 

Sigma Beauty's E 25 Tapered blending brush ($ 9,currently at 10% discount from 1st June-30 June'12 with the code STAR2012).

Tip- If you can't order / find/ buy the recommended blending brushes hang on, tapered blending brushes are rare to come by ,in brands easily available in India.

Try  ordering from one of the International sites as a group for lower shipping costs, don't waste your moolah  on random blending brushes as the quality of blending brush can totally make or break the eye makeup look.

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