I have used an angled brush to apply bronzer and blusher to my face for the longest time. It is the one thing I have to do everyday (apart from filling in my brows), even if I am not wearing any foundation. I am a huge fan of clean skin and strong contoured features, because it makes a world of a difference to my slightly round, heart-shaped face.
Alexander Wang New York Spring 15
Sculpting my face by painting streaks of bronzer and highlighter on – what Kim Kardashian is known for – is way too tedious for me. I still sometimes struggle with bronzer on sluggish mornings, picking up too much product and end up having to deal with a face that is two shades darker than my natural tone afterwards.
This however, changed a week ago when I found the Nars Ita Kabuki brush.
Apparently I’m a little late to the game when it comes to this brush. It is the brand’s best selling sculpting brush in Singapore and was out of stock globally for a pretty long time. A quick check revealed that it’s currently out of stock on the Nars US retail site as well as American luxury retailer Nordstrom.
So if you have not heard of this brush, now’s a good time to start listening.
The bristles – made out of natural goat hair – are about two centimetres long and flat at the top. While it isn’t necessarily as soft as other goat hair brushes I’ve used (it felt a little coarse when I first tried it), the stiffness of the bristles actually helps to focus the application on a particular area and give that strong sculpted effect we all want.
This is how I use it. I pick up bronzer by tapping the bristles lightly onto the pan, then tap the handle once on my fingers to remove the excess. To apply, start pressing the brush from your hairline, working along the hollows of your cheeks. I find that this method deposits a little more product and really concentrates it at the places you want the powder to go. The artists at Nars have said that you can simply sweep the product on instead of pressing it onto the skin like I do. Apart from application of cheek products, this is great as a finishing brush for loose powder, too.
The brush is easy to maintain on a daily basis with a professional brush cleanser. Just avoid using pure sanitising alcohol as it could dry up the natural brush hair. Nars recommends using a mild shampoo to gently wash the bristles every week. Make sure you rinse it thoroughly and let it air-dry.
So if you are struggling to get contouring right, pick up this brush. You won’t regret it (and you should probably hurry over to the counter in case it goes out of stock again)!
Nars Ita Kabuki Brush, $86, is available at the Nars counter at Tangs Orchard. For more information, visit www.narscosmetics.com, and follow the brand on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.