Monday 3 November 2014

REVIEW: Artiste Manicare Professional Contour Brush


An affordable dupe for the NARS Ita Kabuki Brush? Yes please! Contouring and highlighting has quickly entered the realm of the everyday beauty lover and is no longer a technique only used by makeup artists, but it can still be pretty confusing. Trying to figure out where to add shadow and light, what the best way to apply bronzer is and what areas are worth contouring in the first place... you see where I'm going with this.

Well, enter the Artiste Manicare Professional Contour Brush.


Thank you for making my contouring life so much easier! I rarely contour unless I know I'm going to get my photo taken, as it does take a bit of time and effort to apply. However, this brush makes things a lot simpler and streamlined (ha, geddit?).

I found that the brush's slim, trapezium-shaped head is great for fitting into any 'hollow' and curved areas of my face, such as the sides of my nose, under my cheekbones and along my jaw and hairline. Fluffy brushes just can't do it the same!


The head itself is densely packed with short hairs, which is perfect for picking up lots of pigment and depositing it on the face in a specific area (i.e. no fall out!). But while the instructions recommend picking up the pigment and then tapping off any excess, this really isn't necessary in my opinion. As you can see below, after I tapped the brush after dipping it into my NARS Laguna Bronzer, pretty much all of the pigment disappeared. 


The best way to use it (for me at least), is to apply my bronzer straight to the area I want to contour, placing the flat end of the brush onto my face to create a line. From there, I blend it out using gentle 'wiping' motions.

Below you can see how I use it to contour my cheeks, jawline and nose.

Cheeks


Jawline



Nose



The great thing about this brush is how precisely it creates contour lines, so no more fish face for me!


Final Verdict


For just $21.95 from Priceline (compared to $74.00 at Mecca), it's definitely a great buy if you want to simplify the contouring process in your beauty routine. It does a fantastic job of sculpting your features without looking too obviously contoured so this one definitely gets my recommendation! 


Have you tried this brush? Do you contour often? Let me know in the comments below!

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6 comments

  1. This brush looks fabulous for contouring. Thanks so much for your detailed review!
    the-creationofbeauty.blogspot.com

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  2. I agree, it's a total lifesaver! It just manages get such a good line. My only issue was the crazy amount of due that came out when I washed it. I've heard from a lot of other ladies that they had the same thing happen and my brush actually seemed to have less dye come out than most. Apart from that it's a great brush and well worth the price.

    Dani | KaBOOM! Cosmetics

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  3. Everything looks so well contoured and just awesome! I really like rectangle shaped brushes for contouring - I'm using one that actually came with a Benefit kit haha! Would love a full sized brush though. Along with NARS Ita, it totally reminds me of the Illamasqua Blush Up brush!

    Tasha // shiwashiful.

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  4. I don't contour though I have attempted a couple of times.I have never seen a brush in this shape before!

    Amy at Amy & More

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  5. Oh I forgot to say, thanks for the pictures, really helped show where you put it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely brush design ^^

    恵美より ♥
    www.emi-doll.blogspot.jp

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Thank you for all of your lovely comments, I love reading them <3 Make sure to leave a link to your blog so I can come say hi! Otherwise look out for a reply on the post :) Love xx

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