Review: Sigma Makeup F50 vs. MAC 187

The MAC 187 is a quintessential makeup brush, every makeup artist has one, or a comparable one and it's great for a variety of uses. I got mine a few years ago during MAC's 20% off friends and family sale, I couldn't justify paying full price for it, it retails for $50.50 CAD. Before buying the MAC 187, I bought several dupes, in hopes that they would please me enough, to not have to buy the real thing, every one of them came up short. I bought the Quo skunk brush and several from Coastal Scents, none of which I liked. However, Sigma has a dupe which is very close and just as good as the MAC 187, this is the F50 brush. The Sigma brush sells for only $16 US, I know it sounds too good to be true, but I will try and show you with this review.

As you can tell in the picture above, the brushes look the same as first glance, the Sigma is noticeably longer in length, and the handle is a bit thicker. The ferrule is slightly longer on the Sigma too. The black and white bristles look the same.

When I first bought the new MAC Pro Longwear foundation, I used my Sigma F50 to apply it because I had the sneaking suspicion that a foundation that is supposed to last 15 hours may possibly stain my brushes. And because my MAC cost so much, I was willing to sacrifice the Sigma instead. And as you can tell from the pictures, it will be really easy to tell which one is the Sigma because the bristles are slightly stained (I hope this comes out!). I washed both brushes before this review to see how they dry and the Sigma one dried much faster. I suspect this is because the white bristles on the Sigma are thinner than the MAC, you can tell this in the picture above, the MAC seem thicker, possibly less of them and the Sigma looks more dense. There was no dye running out when I washed the Sigma brush, I have read people have this problem, did not happen with mine. During use, the Sigma did shed a few hairs, but it stopped after several washes.

Both brushes are incredibly soft on your face. I have read reviews that the F50 can be 'pokey' on the face, but the one that I have, this is not the case at all, so maybe they improved on this? I bought my F50 individually. The Sigma F50 does feel floppier than the MAC 187 which is firm in comparison, but not floppy that it can't be used. I find the F50 blends and stipples liquid foundation perfectly.

This is both brushes laid down, the Sigma head looks slightly larger, which I would say is the case in real life too, if you examine them closely. After washing, the Sigma smells just like my MAC one, like my anti-bacterial hand wash! there is no funky smell to it.

And here is another shot, I tried to show these brushes compared at as many angles are possible. The bristles look the same here. The black bristles fray out in both of the brushes. The Sigma has natural and synthetic bristles just like the MAC does.

So in conclusion, I like having both these brushes. I think the Sigma is slightly floppier and the MAC is a bit more firm. For application, I find they both do the same job. For those of you looking for a cheaper alternative to the MAC 187, the Sigma one is the best for the price in my opinion.

Have you tried the Sigma F50? What did you think of it?