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Friday, November 15, 2013

Is that a toothbrush or a make-up brush? A new MAC range promises to make ... - Daily Mail

• The new Masterclass brushes' handles allow the user to get closer to the mirror
• MAC says the tools are designed with people applying make-up to their own faces, rather than make-up artists, in mind

By Misty White Sidell

PUBLISHED: 17:49 EST, 15 November 2013 | UPDATED: 17:50 EST, 15 November 2013

MAC Cosmetics has released a new range of make-up brushes that, quite simply, look like toothbrushes.

The label's 'Masterclass' range of brushes were designed with consumers, rather than make-up artists in mind, and aim to help people get closer to the mirror when applying their make-up.

The brushes have vertical handles, from which technologically-advanced bristles protrude at a perpendicular angle—a model that MAC says makes for a more ergonomic make-up-applying experience.

The new guard: MAC’s Masterclass range resembles toothbrushes

The brushes, which hit stores yesterday, have been released in three sizes: Linear1 ($ 25), Oval3 ($ 32), and Oval6 ($ 42).

Oval6 is the largest and should be used for foundation, brush, or powder. Oval3 is the middle size and is intended for eye shadow and blending concealer. And Linear1, the smallest brush with a tiny line of bristles, was created with fine eyeliner and eyebrow work in mind.

Femail acquired MAC's new tools to take them for a test drive. While skeptical about their potential at first, we found that the brushes did in fact deliver on their tall-order promises.

This reporter sampled the Linear1 and Oval3 models. The Linear1 brush was used with the new pot of gold Chanel glitter that I've been trying out (and trying to control) on my eyelids. Better than any other liner brush I had tried, the linear enabled the glitter to slide over my lash line in impressive geometric order. Unlike the other, more pointillist liner brushes I've used, the Masterclass brush did not run out of product midway through the eyelid either.

The Oval3 brush was used to reapply my Make Up For Ever concealer on a few spot areas. As someone who typically uses their fingers to apply concealer, I was impressed by the brush's ability to smooth and blend the product onto my skin to a velvet-y, natural finish.

While the brushes' bristles felt incredibly soft, it was interesting to learn that they are in fact, synthetic.

MAC

Backstage: The Masterclass brushes were used at fashion shows including Carolina Herrera (L) and Chloe (R)

Tamara Abraham, Femail's U.S. editor, sampled the Oval6 brush to apply her Chanel Pro Lumiere foundation, initially thinking 'that it would be awkward to apply my foundation with [a brush] this shape.'

To her surprise, the brush 'felt very natural. I'm short-sighted, so it was helpful to be able to hold the mirror closer than normal.'

She found that after 'afterwards I had plenty of compliments on my glowy skin. Whether that is the foundation or the brush, I don't know, but it's clearly a winning combo.'

The brushes have been in development for the last couple of years and were tested backstage at fashion shows around the globe.

Romero Jennings, MAC's director of makeup artistry, told MailOnline: 'The most important thing about the brushes is that they let the consumer get really close to the mirror.'

With normal brushes, he said, 'you usually keep the distance of the long handle, but with these you just get a lot closer.'

Ergonomic: The brushes (being used backstage at Giambattista Valli, above) are meant to help consumers get closer to the mirror in a more ergonomic fashion

For this reason, he explains, the Masterclass brushes are particularly useful to those who are short of sight.

Jennings says that in researching the Masterclass series, MAC developers looked far back into history, examining 'the first artistic brushes that were made from things like twigs and feathers,' to help them formulate a unique, user-friendly shape.

'It's something no one has seen before,' he added of the product.

Its bristles were technologically formulated to help attract individual molecules in both powder and cream products. 'The way each individual fiber is made, it's almost pin-like,' Jennings said of each bristle's tapered end.