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MAC 190 Foundation 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 190 Foundation Brush

MAC 190 Foundation Brush ($32.00) is a flat, paddle-shaped brush with very rounded edges and almost comes to a soft, rounded point. It’s fairly small, and it is thin. It’s a firm, densely-packed brush with fibres that make it easy to use with liquid and cream products, particularly foundations. I like it more for initially applying liquid/cream products onto the face rather than as a tool to blend or actually give me full coverage. I find fluffy brushes like the 109 are much more to my taste for application of foundations, but they can get a bit gummed up if you simply get the foundation on it from the get-go. Often using the 190 to dab on the product to my face, and then using the 109 to blend it out, works best for me. While a quality brush, I rarely reach for it, so I wouldn’t consider it a must-have.

How do you like to use this brush?

See close-ups…

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33 Comments

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Steph Avatar
Steph

This brush is a must-have IMO for Studio Fix fluid or the Studio Sculpt foundations ….if you need full coverage.

The 109 is of no comparison if you are trying to get full coverage, 109 is more for sheer to medium coverage.

littlemissmagic Avatar
littlemissmagic

HG. LOVE this brush for foundation.. i use short strokes, dabbing and blending out MAC’s face and body foundatoin, which i afterwards buff w/ 129 brush and prep&prime finishing powder.

Wilcoa Avatar
Wilcoa

Kinda love the brush. I love using a foundation brush for, well, foundation, but I have found that I gravitate more to my TBS brush than the MAC one… TBS brush, for me, is softer and blends better in tight spaces (i.e. around nose).

tess Avatar
tess

i always depended on my 187 and 109 for foundation so i thought there’s no reason why i should have this. or maybe later on just to complete my mac brush sets…

Al Avatar
Al

I love this brush. I don’t like it for foundation, but it’s excellent for concealer. I got that tip from TiffanyD on Youtube. I use it with Laura Mercier’s secret camoflauge and this brush helps me lay the product beautifully (especially for those of us who have larger areas they want to cover up).

It’s also great for applying primer/creamy products. I’ve even used it for applying strobe liquid.. Love it!

stephanie Avatar
stephanie

this was my first foundation brush. i purchased this years ago when i tried out the studio fix with moisturizer mac had out a while ago. i loved it at the time.

later, i stopped using liquid foundation, therefore, the brush became my moisturizer applicator. i love how applying moisturizer with this brush feels! its awesome.

Angela Avatar
Angela

I love this brush for foundation, I find it gives me great coverage, although it does tend to streak I just blend it out. Im looking forward to trying it with my new studio tint from the Baby bloom collection. Im just debating whether to use the 190 or buy a 191 for it. Any thoughts?

Kayla Avatar
Kayla

Hi Christine! I just purchased the 190 from my local mac counter and after looking it over I realized that the end of the handle doesn’t have a country of origin engraved in it. (Ya know Japan or France etc.) Does this mean it’s a fake?

Kayla Avatar
Kayla

Wow you’re quick! I really appreciate that. I’ve been doing research and I read somewhere that if the brush is made in the U.S. it may not have USA engraved on it. By the bar code thing, mine appears to have been made in the U.S

Nancy Avatar
Nancy

They are Made in USA but it is not engraved on the handle. I just bought 3 today and mines the same as yours I was confused a little then I asked the MAC MUA and she said the ones made in the USA aren’t engraved.

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