Beauty Basics: MAC Eye Brushes
Beauty Basics is a series covering basic products and tools that help to make applying your makeup easier. To view the entire series to date, be sure to visit the beauty basics, or you can view posts within the series about MAC Eye Brushes.
Focus On: MAC 249 Large Shader Brush
MAC 249 Large Shader Brush ($27.00) is super flat brush with no real fluffiness to it. It is fairly firm, but it has enough give to work well on the eye lids. This tends to be my go-to brush for applying any creamy eyeshadow base, like paint pots, because it gives me the right firmness to apply it quickly and efficiently, and it doesn’t pack on too much or waste a lot of product in the bristles. The synthetic fibers makes it a better brush for creamy and more emollient products, but it can be used with powders if desired. This is similar to the 242, but it is larger and flatter with no fluffiness.
How do you like to use this brush?
See close-ups…
Do you ever use as a concealer brush?
I don’t, but you definitely could!
gr8t 4paintpots x
Agreed!
I have the same brush but made by Sephora (and it’s very good). I solely use it to apply paint pots. For some reason, I think this kind of firm synthetic brush is not working very well for powder products. It’s really better for creams.
I totally agree, Nathalie. I don’t find it works very well with powder products, but I love it with creams!
Awesome — glad the Sephora one works well for you! Synthetic brushes tend to work better with creamy products.
christine – do you mean like the 242? (as opposed to 249)
Yes, sorry about the mix up!
i love this brush!it is very good especially for applying eyeshadow all over the lid, with powder eyeshadows..you have to spray some fix+ to make it work.
Yayyy!
i recently got this brush and i always use it for paint pots, i actually bought 3 of them and i use 1 for concealer, 1 for paint pots and just have 1 as a back up
Haha! I love it, Cindy! I love that you have three!
Would this be a good brush to use to apply highlight the browbone? I got reccomended the 252 for that purpose, but to me it seems to be too BIG.
I like the 272 or 217 for the brow bone… 249 is kind of odd… better for creams.
I’m looking for a brush to apply MAC PPs. Would you recommend this or 242? Thanks!
249!!
Which MAC brush would you recommend for concealer? Ideally one that I could use to both cover spots and under eyes.
I like the 217 actually…
Isn’t it a powder brush?
The 249? It’s an eyeshadow brush!
No, I meant the 217 – you said you’d use it for concealer…
Oh – yes, I use it for concealer, because it’s fluffy and small enough to get into nooks and crannies!
Hi christine, how would you compare the ecotools eyeshadow brush to the mac249 brush?
I don’t have that brush!
hi christine
have you tried the ecotools eye shading brush? how would you compare it to the MAC 249? can i use the ecotools one for paint pots as well?
I haven’t, sorry!
I love the 249 brush. I use it for spot treating concealer on the dark spots from acne scarring. I also use it for blending concealer around the eye brow area to make brows pop. The thin brush helps with precise applications. Also great for eyeshadow creams or bases. It’s a great multi purpose brush for me. I find myself cleaning it every night. I’m going to purchase 2 more.