CHANEL Foundation Brush #6 (review & comparison)

*My Birthday Giveaway Week 1 ends on Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST – details here

 

Lately, I’ve been on a mission to create a “flawless” face, the very basis of a fabulous makeup look, and to do this, one needs the right tool.  As CHANEL’s new Foundation Brush #6 has been generating quite a bit of attention, I decided to see what the fuss was all about – and I’m so glad I did!

 

 

I understand that this brush is a newer version of a previous CHANEL foundation brush (which I do not own, however Sabrina from The Beauty Look Book has a wonderful review here, or you can also check Cafe Makeup’s review here for comparisons with the original). This brush bears a tapered domed head, with dense, yet flexible and soft duo fibre bristles.

 

 

The handle is in a new black matte finish, with the CHANEL name embossed in silver up at the top third, and is of a comfortable thickness and length, making it quite effortless to wield.

 

 

The above foundation swatch (please note that in all the following foundation swatches, I am using MAC’s Studio Sculpt in NC 42, a darker shade than I normally wear, for demonstration purposes), was applied with the CHANEL #6 brush, but not blended out at all as I wished to see how the product would lay down.

 

 

Blending was achieved quickly and easily, and I loved how the brush seemed to glide over my skin without seeming to touch it at all, leaving practically no brush strokes behind.

 

 

A final view showing the foundation deposit on the bristle’s edges, next to the blended swatch.

 

 

My regular paddle shaped foundation brush, has been MAC’s #190, and while I have had good results with this, I still need to work it quite a bit to eliminate as many brush strokes as I can, then pass a buffing brush over that to complete the finish.  As you can see in the above photo, the differences between these two brushes are quite readily apparent: the MAC brush is obviously longer, measuring 7 1/2″ with a thinner handle diameter, compared to the CHANEL at 6″, although the bristle length is basically the same. Lastly, the brush head of the MAC seems less tapered giving it a flatter look, as well as being slightly thinner when seen from the side.

 

 

A closeup view of the bristles, with the CHANEL on the left.

 

 

In the above unblended foundation swatch, I noted that the MAC #190 picked up basically the same amount of product, but to my eye, it appeared to deposit it on the skin in a slightly thicker layer.

 

 

Using the MAC #190 to blend the foundation swatch out, I realized that the differences were rather negligible when compared to the CHANEL #6 brush, although I did need to work it a lot more, and the bristles themselves were stiffer, without that gentle gliding feel.

 

 

A final view of the MAC #190 showing the deposit of product on the bristle’s edges.

 

Final thoughts: My usual method to creating my “flawless face” is actually a two-pronged approach; I begin by applying my foundation using the paddle brush (which up until now, has been the MAC #190), work it all over, then finish off by buffing out any brush strokes using my Sephora Collection I.T. Natural Foundation Brush (not pictured). The CHANEL #6 brush almost comes close to my knocking the second step off my routine, although I still prefer a final buffing for a truly flawless finish. I am completely impressed with the both the quality of the bristles and the comfortable feel of the handle, but it is this brush’s performance that has won me over…I’m already planning my purchase of a back-up copy!