Urban Decay recently started including their new Good Karma shadow brush with their Naked palettes instead of the double-ended liner, and having recently acquired a back-up Naked palette for myself, I've decided to take a look at the new shadow brush as compared to their "vintage" one (that's what they call it now) that I bought a couple years ago.
All of Urban Decay's brushes, old and new, have Taklon bristles (so they're vegan-friendly) and lightweight aluminum handles.
They are pretty much the same thing - flat, stiff brushes meant to pat shadows onto the lid, not swipe - except for two miniscule differences.
One: the new one is tiniest bit narrower than the old one (I'd say, by a couple millimeters):
And two: the new one is thicker (more bristles) than the old one:
The difference in the widths of the ferrules is probably too small to make a great difference, but the thickness allows the newer brush to pick up more product - it's not just that there are more bristles, but as you can see, the tip is tapered - there are more bristles that are shorter in length, meaning that there are more tips to pick up eyeshadow with.
In general, I tend to prefer slightly fluffier, narrow brushes to apply my shadows (my lid is small, so I need more precision), but UD's brush definitely gets the job done. Using a flat, stiff brush like this to apply means that you'll need separate brushes to blend and smudge (and they definitely sell those too), but if you're lazy like me, and like to take short cuts, then you might pass on this one for a small fluffy eyeshadow brush that can multi-task. (I haven't yet seen UD's Multi Tasker brush in person, so I can't comment on that one.)
All of Urban Decay's brushes, old and new, have Taklon bristles (so they're vegan-friendly) and lightweight aluminum handles.
They are pretty much the same thing - flat, stiff brushes meant to pat shadows onto the lid, not swipe - except for two miniscule differences.
One: the new one is tiniest bit narrower than the old one (I'd say, by a couple millimeters):
And two: the new one is thicker (more bristles) than the old one:
The difference in the widths of the ferrules is probably too small to make a great difference, but the thickness allows the newer brush to pick up more product - it's not just that there are more bristles, but as you can see, the tip is tapered - there are more bristles that are shorter in length, meaning that there are more tips to pick up eyeshadow with.
In general, I tend to prefer slightly fluffier, narrow brushes to apply my shadows (my lid is small, so I need more precision), but UD's brush definitely gets the job done. Using a flat, stiff brush like this to apply means that you'll need separate brushes to blend and smudge (and they definitely sell those too), but if you're lazy like me, and like to take short cuts, then you might pass on this one for a small fluffy eyeshadow brush that can multi-task. (I haven't yet seen UD's Multi Tasker brush in person, so I can't comment on that one.)