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MAC 116 Blush Brush Photos & Review

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Christine |

Beauty Basics: MAC Face 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 Face Brushes.

Focus On: MAC 116 Blush Brush

MAC 116 Blush Brush ($32.00) is a natural-haired, tapered, rounded brush. It is smaller than the 129 Blush Brush, and it also feels a bit denser to me. It’s an incredibly soft bristled brush, and it does have some give, but it is still firm. The smaller size of this blush brush relative to other popular blush brushes makes it easier to control where you apply your blush, and it also picks up a good amount of color and deposits it on your cheek without eating it up. Since purchasing this brush, I find myself regularly switching back and forth between this and the 129, and I think I am starting to prefer the 116. I also like this with pressed powder to dust all-over. If you’ve been looking for a brush for more precise blush application, I’d urge you to consider the 116!

How do you like to use this brush?

See close-ups…

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18 Comments

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steelnpurple Avatar
steelnpurple

I use this brush to my foundation (Studio Sculpt..), first I spray some Fix+ on the brush, then I dip the tip into some foundation and buff it in to the skin. Hardly any shedding (like the 109) unless you press it too hard.
It’s awsome for this, gives a perfect almost “photoshopped” skin.

🙂

Sass Avatar
Sass

I don’t have this brush and decided not to get it since I use my 109. If I don’t get the 116 that I want then I may get this brush. Can never have too many MAC brushes.

Miss_M Avatar
Miss_M

The 116 was the first MAC brush that I ever bought, about 4½ years ago. The quality is great, in all those years it never shed one hair. Great brush to have if you prefer a smaller blush brush like I do 🙂

Stephanie Avatar
Stephanie

I recently bought this, and I love it! especially with my studio fix, it’s amazing.. Though there are 2 things I don’t really like: 1) it doesn’t seem to stop shedding hairs… 2) also, i washed it once, and now it’s all fluffy and stuff, I don’t really know how to explain it properly. It’s gotten ‘bigger’, yeah, it just got fluffier 😛 Any idea how I could solve that?
The thing is, here (Belgium) we can’t just return brushes, because they don’t take them back… Really weird, but we can’t exchange things in the mac store, which actually kinda sucks and makes me jealous of you guys. 😛

Anyways, I do like it, I’m just not sure what to do about the shedding and the fluffiness. 🙂

Christine Avatar
Christine
Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. View Christine Full Profile

If you’ve only washed it once, it’s hard to know if the shedding is a continuous problem or not. The one I have doesn’t really shed at all… maybe one hair every month or something! 🙂

I’d make sure to squeeze it back into shape or use a brush guard to help it retain its shape!

mary Avatar
mary

christine, just wondering, since the new 131 brush is coming out and it kinda looks like this one. which would you recommend for blush of the two?

also, could you do reviews of the 130 and the 131 just like how u’ve done with the other mac brushes. especially the 130 cause its now permanent. thanks!

Jen Avatar
Jen

I have the 130 and I use it for application of my foundations. It works beautifully in a buffing motion and i stipple on for more coverage in areas where I need it. I have never used it for powders/powder blushes.

Noelle Avatar
Noelle

I have this one but it looks totally different that the pictures. Mine is way wider, not as straight as the one on the picture…? Is it maybe a new one, that it looks like that? Mine’s been used a lot. Plus, mine appears to be a bit slanted but that’s possibly cuz of the way I wash/dry it…? I don’t know, lol.

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