Chanel Foundation Brush #6

Chanel is currently revamping their US brushes and the first new one to be released is the #6 Foundation Brush ($45). Many thanks to Cafe Makeup who let me know this was released with the new foundation (the brush was not on the Nordstrom display and without her, I would not have realized this was out). The brush has a sleek and sophisticated look with a matte black handle and silver embossed lettering. I’ve tested the new one for about a week with different liquid foundations and find it performs very well to evenly blend the foundation on the face. With all foundation brushes, I find a bit of streaking because of the bristles. I typically prefer a sponge, but when I do use a brush, I always end up smoothing out my face with fingers or a sponge. This one seems to work better for me than most others because the bristles are more naturally tapered.

Compared to the original one #16, the new #6 is made of different bristles, is slightly shorter in overall length, has shorter bristles and is slightly chubbier in depth. Both the original and new versions are made in China. To me the performance is very similar but I prefer the look of the new one. It just looks cleaner and more professional. Here is the original compared to the new:

Here is the new Chanel compared to a few other brands including Armani, Prescriptives and MAC:

The other brands have worked well for me in past years. The oldest one I own is the Prescriptives Foundation brush which has held up for me since my high school days. All the ones I’ve tried have worked well, I have no complaints, but the new Chanel #6 definitely has the best design and at $45 seems  very reasonably priced (unlike their eyelash curler). Definitely worth checking out if you’re near a Chanel counter. I’m testing out the new Perfection Lumiere and so far love it but need a few more days of use to provide a thorough review.

Have you checked out the new Chanel foundation brush? Do you own the original? What are your thoughts comparing the two?