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Beauty
sponges are all the rage right now in the beauty world. What is a beauty
sponge, you ask? A beauty sponge is a tool you use to apply foundation,
concealer and, in some cases, even powder. To use a beauty sponge you first run
it under water to dampen it. Dampening the sponge prevents it from absorbing
all of the product. Beauty sponges help foundation, etc. go on smoother and
give you a lot of control over blending products. You supposedly use less
product with a sponge as well, but this has not been my experience (I like
really full coverage though).
In the
High-End Corner, weighing in at 2oz (?) and $20, from the great store of
Sephora, the original beauty “don’t make smoothies” blender!
The Gucci of beauty sponges is the beautyblender. It is an exaggerated egg shape—like an
egg, but the top is much wider than the bottom. You use the wider side to apply
foundation and the pointed bottom to blend concealer or spot conceal. It sits
nicely in the container it comes in, just rest it on the cup to dry. It is $20
at Sephora. Yes, $20 for a sponge. I was very skeptical about this for a very
long time. No matter how many YouTubers/bloggers said it worked wonders for
their foundation application, I couldn’t bring myself to spend $20 on a sponge.
Fast forward many months and I couldn’t hold out any longer. I had to see what
this was about. I am so glad that I got the beautyblender!! I used to use
either my fingers or a flat foundation paddle brush to apply my foundation. The
beautyblender cut the time it takes me to apply my foundation in more than half
and the foundation goes on smoother and less cakey. Since I like full coverage
foundation, it can look heavy at times but the beautyblender pretty much
eliminates that. Since the sponge is slightly damp it gives you time to work
with “drier” formulas (e.g., Revlon ColorStay) and really blend your concealer
into your foundation.
The
Challenger, in the Drugstore Corner, weighing in at 3oz. (?) and $6, from Ulta,
The Real Techniques Miracle “The Whip” Complexion Sponge!
I had heard that the only beauty sponge that comes close to the beautyblender is the
Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. Naturally, I wanted to see how the two compare. The Real
Techniques is about $6 at Ulta and, better yet, Ulta runs regular sales on Real
Techniques too (e.g., buy one, get one 50% off). The shape is different from
the beautyblender. It is sort of egg-shaped, but one side of the egg is cut off
so there is a flat edge. The concept here is that you can use the rounded edge
to apply the majority of your makeup (like the beautyblender), the pointed end
to blend your eye concealer (like the beautyblender), but the flat side can get
around your nose and under your eyes (the beautyblender is missing this
feature). The Miracle Complexion Sponge also cuts my foundation application time
down substantially and applies products mush smoother, leaves a nice finish and
works well with “drier” foundation formulas.
And The
Winner Is…
The Real
Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge! The two sponges perform very similarly,
but the flat side really puts the Real Techniques sponge ahead of the
beautyblender for me. And it’s less than 1/3 of the price to boot. If you want
Gucci performance at a drugstore price, I would highly recommend the Real
Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge.
Have you
tried a beauty sponge before? Are you intrigued? Let me know your thoughts!
Disclaimer:
These items were purchased with my own money or by my lovely husband and all
opinions are 100% honest and my own. I do not provide positive reviews for
payment. Products that work for me may not necessarily work for you.
Referral
Links:
Birchbox: https://www.birchbox.com/invite/dqphm
at checkout enter the following code: M3d2Q1dTT21MR1RTNWJ0KzhRWUo0Z0lWWWtoRnVrZmk0NGNOVWY0MVBHRT0=
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