The Original Beauty Blender is an update on your typical wedge makeup sponge. It's a teardrop-shaped sponge that claims to give you a flawless application of foundation, concealer and cream blushes. I was sent one recently to try out by ebeauty.ca.
The Beauty Blender was created by Hollywood makeup artist Rea Ann Silva and has (or at least has been used on) a host of celebrity endorsers including Beyonce, Shakira, Betty White and Queen Latifah. Included with the Beauty Blender includes an instructional/promotional postcard (above and below).
Included with the Beauty Blender is a custom-cleanser as the sponge needs to be washed after every use. The Blender Cleanser can be used to clean regular makeup sponges as well as makeup brushes.
The cleanser comes with a platform pump which you depress to get the cleanser out. I'll talk more about the sponge-cleansing process later.
You can buy the Beauty Blender in the Beauty Blender/Blender Cleanser duo ($37 CDN), in the Beauty Blender duo (two sponges) ($28 CDN) or on its own ($21). The 5 oz. cleanser can also be purchased on its own ($19). You can buy the Beauty Blender products on the Beauty Blender website, ebeauty.ca or Sephora.com.
The Beauty Blender comes in one colour - hot pink - but is otherwise fairly similar in texture to those little wedge-shaped makeup sponges.
The Beauty Blender website has an instructional video on how to use it and it's worth taking a look at before you use it for the first time. There are instructions on the postcard that comes with the Beauty Blender as well.
You have to dampen the sponge before using it. Otherwise it'll soak up all your product. The Beauty Blender swells when it's wet, as shown below.
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| Dry |
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| Wet |
You can see how much it expands when it's wet.
The sponge is egg/teardrop-shaped which makes it easy to hold onto and use. The rounded bottom is great for your cheeks and forehead while the pointed end is good for getting into smaller corners such as under the eye and around the nose.
Beauty Blender instructions:
There is also an instructional video telling you how to clean the Beauty Blender. You press it down onto the applicator platform on each "dirty" end to make sure there is cleanser inside the sponge. Then you work it gently to lather and loosen the product inside. Then you rinse and rinse again until it's completely clear of cleanser and product. Then you let it air-dry.
Whew! OK, that was a complicated explanation and that's my first point to make about the Beauty Blender. What a complicated little tool! Does a makeup sponge really need to be so high-maintenance?
As for how it works, I do find that it does blend out my cream and liquid makeup very, very nicely. I used it with my tinted moisturizer, primer and to blend out concealer and it really gives a smooth, soft, blended appearance to the product application. Even if you prefer to use your fingers or a brush to apply your product to your skin, you can use the Beauty Blender to smooth and blend afterwards. The Beauty Blender can be used with any cream or liquid product, including cream blushes, cream and liquid highlighters and cream bronzers. Anything you want to blend, really.
I do find that I need to clean it after each use, which is a bit of a pain. It takes a bit of effort to clean and another note is that the colour of the sponge comes out with each cleaning. This isn't good if the colour comes out when you're using it on your face. You don't want to tinge your foundation or concealer with hot pink.
The Beauty Blender can be recycled via the Beauty Sender recycling program.
Overall, I would recommend the Beauty Blender, although I don't think I would personally buy this. It elevates your product application and is definitely an improvement over using a cheap latex makeup sponge but I don't see much of a difference between using a makeup brush to apply your product and this one. It seems unnecessary if you already use a brush.
Have you tried the Beauty Blender? Tell us what you love or hate about it!
C.