I’ve been so curious about the Artis makeup brushes: their unusual toothbrush-like shape, the oval/elliptical head, the densely packed velvety fiber bristles. But as beautiful as the Artis brushes are and in spite of the great things I keep hearing about them, the Artis makeup brush price points are out of my range. Each brush ranges from $30-$100. Yikes! They’re gorgeous, but unless someone gifts them to me, I have to pass. 😥
Nevertheless, I’ve wanted to try a makeup brush in the Artis style. I wanted to see what it feels like and how it works to apply makeup with brushes that are more like a toothbrush or a hairbrush than an artist’s brush.
An ad from a shopping site, Sugar & Cotton, popped up in my Facebook feed about a month ago advertising a set of Artis-style makeup brushes with pretty rainbow handles. The price was somewhere around $30 or so for a set of 10 brushes (the website now is selling them for $37). Free shipping. I decided to take a chance on an unfamiliar website and unbranded makeup brushes just to give them a try.
Sugar & Cotton sells lots of trendy stuff: fashion, home decor, home goods like silverware, beauty tools. The customer service is good at keeping in touch after purchase. They warn you upfront that it will take a few weeks to receive your order because it’s coming from China. It took three weeks for my order to be delivered. I was OK with that.
The makeup brushes arrived a couple of days ago, but I’ve been so crazed with the fire alarm crisis in my house that I haven’t had a chance to try them yet. In the meantime, I wanted to give you a “first look” along with me.
The brushes are very pretty with their rainbow-ish handles or backsides.
The inside of the handles where the bristles are is a greenish-gold shade rather than rainbow. The handles are made of a heavy but flexible plastic. The flexibility was a surprise to me. I imagine that the Artis brushes must be flexible as well but because the Artis brushes appear to be made from metal, I didn’t realize they were flexible. It makes sense that the brush head would move with the contours of the face.
Here are all 10 brushes.
Frankly, I haven’t figured out what all of them are for yet. I assume the largest is for powder. The next largest must be a foundation brush, then blush, highlighter, and contour?
I haven’t figured out what the round head little brush (4th from the left) is for. Do you know? I’m guessing the 4th and 5th brushes are shadow application and blending brushes. How about the first triangular-shaped brush below? Any ideas? Brushes 2 and 3 below must be eyeliner or undereye shadow brushes, don’t you think?
At any rate, the brush heads are soft, very very densely packed, and velvety (as opposed to Artis brushes that have been described as “like velvet”). When I brush them against my skin, they are smooth and comfortable. I’m absolutely sure that the difference between these inexpensive brushes and the Artis brushes is vast, but I think I’ll have fun with them anyway.
I have not tried them out yet, so I will report back on what it’s like to use them, how easy or difficult it is to apply makeup with them, and how easy or difficult they are to clean. I’m a real fan of blending sponges for foundation application so it’ll be a real shift for me to use these brushes, but I’m game!
In case you’re interested in taking a look yourself, here’s a link to the rainbow-handled “Artis-style” makeup brushes on Sugar & Cotton. They seem to be always on sale (and where there’s always only 7 sets left!). The makeup case and 10 brush set is currently priced at $52. (Again, the insides of my brushes are not rainbow-hued like the ones below in the case, just the outside.) The website says there’s a 100% money-back guarantee. I do not intend to return mine.
I know you can’t feel them, but what’s your first impression of these knock-off brushes?
I adore the huge one from Avon because it applies foundation really quickly and I find that I need less product because it’s so dense. I also love the slim long one for my eyebrows but no idea how to properly use the tiny round ones. I look forward to your thoughts on these, Allison!
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That’s great, Shireen, that Avon has this type of brush! And I didn’t think about using these for brows, but of course. Thanks as always for great info!
They sure look nice! I’m looking forward to seeing how they work for you!
Thanks, Carleen!
I’ve started seeing these style of brushes and I’m not sure what to think, it seems like they would be too firm/stiff/densely packed and not fluffy and flexible enough.
I hope to try them tomorrow, Cindi. I really haven’t worn much makeup all week! I’m hoping that they have enough give in them. Supposedly the density and the shape of each bristle is supposed to make it so that you use less foundation. We’ll see!!
I use my largest Artis for foundation or powder. It’s like heaven. The truly round small one is for the inner corners of your eye. I have a similar brush but my eyes don’t look that good with too much highlighter in that area. I have a MAC one that is long and thin like some of yours and that works well for powder eyebrow blending.
The colors of your brushes are so beautiful.
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Thank you Marcia for the info! I forgot about brows! I need to figure out what the triangular one is for 😟 I agree that highlighter at the inner corner isn’t a good look for me either! At some point I have to feel one of the Artis brushes to see the difference. These look fun though
I actually received a brush like this in my Boxycharm last month and it has quickly become a favorite. I also use a sponge for foundation but have found that I really like the brush better and am planning on ordering a set. So I can’t wait to hear how you like these because if you do then I know I will and will order the same. Yours are very pretty & the one I received just plain old black.
I’m glad to hear you like yours, Paula! This week has been so crazy I haven’t worn much makeup. Hopefully I’ll give them a try tomorrow or over the weekend & I’ll report back!! Thanks for letting me know your thoughts on the foundation brush!
Have wondered about these type of brushes. Will be interesting to hear what you think of them as you use them.
I had planned to try them out today, but I was running late and I resorted to my favorite: Beauty Junkees black blending sponge. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll take them out for a spin!
I’m a multichrome nut and would love these! I also like this style of brush, I bought a cheap set on Amazon to see if I liked it, and have been looking to upgrade
I’ll let you know how they work, Lisa. At $30-37 for all 10 brushes, they’re in the inexpensive range too, but Ive got my fingers crossed that they’ll work out and last through cleaning. I’ll come back for a real review in a few weeks!
These are so pretty! I am loving round brushes lately!
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I’m hoping they’ll work out for me because they’re so pretty!
These brushes look super pretty! And it’s a pretty good price for all of them too!
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They are pretty. I had planned to use them today for the first time, but time got away from me and I resorted to my old standard, my blending sponge
I have a set of these style brushes from Makeup Revolution that I love!
I didn’t know that MR had Artis-style brushes. How cool!
These are the cutest! I have a smaller set of these (4 or 5… brushes) and have been amazed at how well they’ve worked and held up to washings. I use the little round one for cream bases (or primers.)
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Thank you, Bailey, for letting me know how you use the little round brush – I never ever would have thought of that!! So far, I’ve just used one of the foundation brushes, and I like it. I’ve gotta work my way through them soon!