Another 187 Dupe and Studio Tools Brushes Review

So I was walking around Target, not intending to buy anything makeup-related, and I stumbled across the Studio Tools section near the Sally Hansen nail products display. Damn, I was in for some impulse buys. I had already owned the Studio Tools Smudge Brush, which I love, and decided to pick up three other brushes. And after I remembered seeing a video that Kaycee did about the Studio Tools Dual-Finish Brush, I decided I had to get it.

The Studio Tools Dual-Finish Brush is $6.99 and it's a stippling brush with natural and synthetic fibers. The entire brush measures a little over 6.5" long and has a transparent, dark-gray plastic handle, as do all the brushes. The handles look solid black but if you hold them up to the light, you'll see right through them. They are also made in China and so far, only a couple hairs from the crease brush has shed.

Now, I don't own the full size MAC 187 because I don't use liquid foundation (watch Kaycee's video that compares the full-size MAC 187 to the Studio Tools), so I'm comparing the Studio Tools brush with other stippling brushes that I own. I love these types of brushes for blush, bronzer, and contouring.

For my previous posts about these other 187 dupes, click below:
Flirt! Feather Dust-her Brush from Kohl's
Everyday Minerals Skunkless Foptic Brush

~The Studio Tools 187 dupe has the perfect ratio of natural to synthetic bristles. It's not as dense as the EDM and not as sparse as the Flirt! brush - it's perfect. I also love the height of the bristles and the handle is chubby enough to fit comfortably in my hand without being too big. Another good thing about it is that the end of the handle is flat, so you can stand it upright on your desk or vanity. That's a good thing for me since I have no more room in my brush holders. The bristles are soft, they haven't shed (so far), and it did not smell funky right out of the package. It gets a 5 out of 5.
~If I had to rank my 4 stippling brushes in order of preference, it would be exactly like the pictures below: Studio Tools, MAC, Flirt!, and Everyday Minerals.

(Click to enlarge)

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~The Medium Shadow Brush ($2.49) is one of those brushes you grab for when you're lazy and don't want to get out another brush. You can do a whole look with this one brush: lid, crease, outer-V, and highlight. It's super soft, not pokey at all, and made with natural hairs.
5 out of 5
~The Smudge Brush ($2.49) has shorter, stiffer bristles and it's good for packing on color on small lids or for applying three or four different colors on your lid if you're doing a rainbow look. Of course, it's also good for smudging out your eyeliner and is made with natural hairs. 5 out of 5

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~The last brush is the Eye Contour (crease) Brush ($1.99) and I have to say that this is now my favorite crease brush. It's not as full as the Sonia Kashuk but it's almost similar to the elf Blending brush - the Studio Tools is more tapered at the end, so it fits into your crease nicely. It's super soft and not pokey, just like all the other brushes. This is also made with natural bristles and can you believe it's only $1.99! 5 out of 5

~(BTW, the UpStage Crease brush is another fave of mine and I got this at Long's Drug, which is now converting to CVS, so I don't know if you can still find it there. I love how fluffy, tapered, and pointy this brush is and it fits perfectly into your crease - a very underrated, unknown brush.)
~The MAC pencil brush (219, not 119) is just there to give you an idea of the brush head sizes.

(Click to enlarge)

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FINAL THOUGHTS

1. These 4 Studio Tools brushes are affordable, easy to find (at Target), and very soft. All of them get 5 stars!
2. All brushes have handles with flat ends, so you can stand them upright. This is a great option for the Dual-Finish brush.
   

Hope this helps! It's 3 in the morning and I'm going to bed! =)

An Inexpensive Dupe for the MAC187 SE

The MAC 187 brush is a very pricey duo fibre, stippling, skunk, fiber optic (whatever you want to call it) brush that runs for $42. It's usually used for liquid foundation or for blush to give you that flawless air brushed look. I personally don't use liquid foundation and I wanted a duo fibre brush to apply my loose mineral blushes.

There was no way I was going to spend $42 on one brush even though it's a very good quality item. But when Nordstrom came out with their Colorforms limited edition collection earlier this year, I had to snag up one of the brush sets for $49.50 that included the 187 SE (special edition). Mind you, the special edition brushes are not of the same quality as the regular brushes but still useable. The current brush set that contains the 187 SE is from the Adoring Carmine collection, which is also $49.50.

So I found a pretty good dupe since I needed another stippling brush. I picked up the Flirt! Feather Dust-her brush at Kohl's for only $7. Sadly, it's not listed on either website so if you're near a Kohl's store you should walk in quickly to check it out.


DIMENSIONS

Flirt! Feather Dust-her (cute name):
Length- 6.75" long
Bristles- 1.75" long
Brush Head Width- 1.5" long
Bristle Base Width (right above the ferrule)- a little over 0.5"

MAC 187 SE:
Length- 5" long
Bristles- 1.5" long
Brush Head Width- 1.25" long
Bristle Base Width (right above the ferrule)- 0.75" long

[sorry about the decimals, I can't put fractions]

COMPARISON

The Flirt! brush handle is longer and has a nice matte look to it. The significant difference is that the Flirt! brush has about twice as less bristles as the MAC 187 SE, which can be a plus because if you're using a very pigmented blush, you only want to pick up a little bit of color anyway. The Flirt! brush head is more narrow at the base than the MAC, hence, less bristles, and it flares out more at the top than the MAC 187 SE. The black bristles, which I believe are animal hair (don't quote me on that), get more frizzy and frayed the more I wash it but it doesn't bother me since the focus of the brush are the white synthetic bristles.

The white bristles are very soft on both brushes. In fact, they feel exactly the same and the length of the white bristles poking out from the black bristles on both brushes are the same length. The MAC 187 SE is a little bit stiffer but for applying blush, the Flirt! brush does the job perfectly.



L: Flirt! Feather Dust-her, R: MAC 187 SE

Overall, the Flirt! Feather Dust-her brush for $7 is a steal and is a very good dupe for the MAC 187 SE. As for shedding, mine has not shed one hair. The only thing bad about the brush is that it's hard to find. I checked both the Koh'ls and Flirt! website and it's not there. And the first time I went looking for this brush at a Kohl's store, it was sold out and didn't come back in for about two weeks. But another bad thing about the brush is that it might be too flimsy to use with liquid foundation. I've heard Sonia Kashuk has a similar brush available at Target's but costs more that the Flirt! and I can't seem to find it at any of my local Tar-Jeh's.

So if you're ever near a Koh'ls and want to try your first duo fibre brush at an affordable price, pick up the Flirt! Feather Dust-her. I just love the name of it. The play on words is cute.

Hope this helps! =)

EDIT:
A con about this brush is that the black dye on the natural hairs will fade to a purplish color. I now use this mostly with my finishing powder and it works great.

For a review about another 187 dupe, the
Studio Tools Dual-Finish Brush, click here.