Disruptive makeup brush brand Artis expands to Canada
Artis first launched here in the US in late 2014. Matthew Waitesmith, who previously worked with MAC and designed Masterclass brushes for the color brand, founded Artis with the intention of innovating brushes that do a better job, that are more efficient and effective.
“Why should we be stuck with just one kind of makeup brush construction,” asks the Artis company site, “same black wood handle, metal ferrule, and animal hair bundle glued to the end?”
New view
Artis brushes are distinctively designed. Many a beauty vlogger and application demo describes them as looking like a tooth brush or hair brush rather than like more conventional brushes.
“Good design brings customers back to a brand,” as Bryce Rutter of Metaphase Design Group told this publication last year. So ergonomics, like the weight, shape, texture, and hand grip of these brushes is a crucial value proposition, perhaps more so today when consumers have less in-person time with brands and rely on their personal experience of products to assess value.
Together the design and the brush fibers promise numerous advantages: “Uniform application, superior blending, retains shape better, best for sensitive and allergy-prone skin, animal-free beauty, CosmeFibre delivers consistent quality with every brush, chemically and UV resistant, wears longer, uses less makeup, and gentle feel during application of makeup,” are the advantages touted in the company’s press release announcing the Canada launch. But the Artis site expands on those and more in great detail.
Limited launch
In December, Artis launched its Fluenta Collection exclusively at all Holt Renfrew stores in Canada. The brushes are sold one at a time as well as in sets of 5 and 9.
Since the brushes are at first glance a curious departure from the norm, Artis is relying on beauty consumers’ penchant for skillful application and artistry to convert shoppers to buyers. As the release points out “experts [like filmmakers, watchmakers, and chiefs] leverage experience, talent, and instinct, but their tools of the trade facilitate their visions.”
Artis hopes amateur and aspiring makeup artists are ready for their tools to do the same.
