Artis Elite Black Brushes

 Tis the season to start thinking about Christmas gifts, and here's a gem for the beauty fangirl or boy in your life. Artis are the CosmeFibre makeup brush legends, creating lightweight sleek tools that allow seamless application. Their new Elite Black collection has landed, slightly more affordable than their classic range (the ones that look like old-fashioned hair brushes), but no less effective. These hardworking beauties are incredibly soft, and look fantastic on your dressing table. The three-brush set includes Oval 7, the largest of the trio, which is perfect for seamlessly blending foundation, Oval 3, which is the ideal size for getting around the eye and blending concealer or cream eyeshadows, and the thin one is Linear 1, which they suggest using for filling in eyebrows. I personally found it worked well for getting a good blend in the eye socket, especially if I'm bringing shades out in to a point.At first it feels weird using brushes when I'm so used to a beauty blender sponge, but the luxury feel of sweeping soft-as-silk bristles across your face is addictive; it makes me feel like I can't wait to get my makeup on. There are several YouTube videos out there advising you how to use the brushes (it's more of a circular motion than dragging across), and as someone with open pores and texture, I appreciated the way they helped foundation blend over primer to give a flawless finish. These come in a sturdy presentation box and make a brilliant Christmas gift (treat yourself too). You can pick up this set for half price in the Black Friday sale on Artis' website, and there's also a five-brush set, or you can get the brushes as singles. You can also find them on Net A Porter for £76. Artis kindly gifted me this set.