Item: beautyblender Sponge & Cleanser Kit (includes two sponges & cleanser)
Price: $39.95 at beauty.com minus 25% bing cashback and no sales tax Also available for $19.95 for one sponge & $34.95 for one sponge & cleanser
Buy again?: Yes ma'am
Ok, I admit... the reason why I bought this was because TiffanyD reviewed it in one of her videos and loved it. I normally apply my MAC Studio Stick with the 188, but wasn't too pleased because it was a little streaky and often had to mist my face with Cinema Secret's moisture spray and re-stipple to "unstreak" myself and achieve a bit of a sheer coverage that I was after. It finally dawned on me that MAC's foundations and powders were breaking me out, so I thought it would be the perfect time to switch to a liquid foundation for the days that I want medium-full coverage. I went down to Sephora and had a SA apply MUFE HD foundation on my entire face. She used her fingers (Which now that I think about it is pretty gross and unsanitary.) and it looked ok in the store, so I bought a bottle. When I got home and looked in the mirror, I was horrified to see that I looked like a plastered mess! The results were not natural at all, so I chocked it up to the SA's heavy-handed application skills. The next day, I used a 190 for application. The results were too caked-on for my liking. (I have clear skin with a few acne scars on my chin, so I'm normally a LM tinted moisturizer kind of gal.)
Desperate to make my dreams of liquid foundation a reality, I decided to purchase the beautyblender. Normally I would laugh at the thought of paying so much for a sponge that you would have to toss after 3 months of use, but I figured it was worth a try since bing was offering 25% cashback plus CA residents are not charged sales tax through beauty.com. When that sucker arrived in the mail, you bet I washed my face, soaked it in water and squeezed as directed and reapplied my foundation right away. Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce.... The results? The most perfect, streak-free, airbrushed finish I could ever hope for. This thing is amazing! It was MUFE HD foundation's saving grace. (Too bad I broke out with that line of foundation and ended up having to return it for NARS.) It gave my face a dewy, fresh finish. I figure this is an improved way of how I used to apply my studio stick because instead of having to mist my face with Cinema Secret's moisture spray and re-stipple, all I had to do is apply my foundation with the beautyblender since I'm working with a damp tool already. The dampness also allows me to sheer out my liquid foundations because I usually don't want full coverage. But for those of you who don't want to sheer out your foundation, all you have to do is squeeze most of the water out of the sponge. The round end of the sponge is used for the majority of the face, but there is also a pointy end that can be used for hard to reach areas such as under the nose, around the mouth, and around the eye area. All you have to do is bounce the sponge around your face, and in doing so eliminates streaking. Enkore also uses this sponge to apply mineral mu as well, but I haven't tried it with my BE foundation yet. If I ever get around to it, I will update this review.
I wash my sponge after each use and the cleanser does a great job at removing all of the remaining makeup. I'm not sure if there are any dupes for the cleanser, but since it came with the kit I'll worry about finding a cheaper alternative when I'm almost out of this one. I've been using mine for about a month now and it still looks new... except for the tiny tear my 1 yr old daughter made to the pointy end. (Warning: this bright pink sponge is a magnet for toddlers. My kid LOVES to smash this thing on her face... especially when it's damp. It went missing one day and I found it in her toy box a couple days later.) The plastic box that everything comes in also serves as a place to dry your sponge after cleansing. The company also offers to recycle your old sponges for you if you mail them in. Too bad there isn't any incentive in doing so... except for a cleaner planet, so I guess it's worth doing. LOL! J/K.
Anyway, sorry for the long back story/review. To sum it all up... yes, I highly recommend the beautyblender if you want to achieve a perfectly air-brushed finish with your foundation. Don't get me wrong. I also have and love Sephora's airbrush foundation brush, but I only use it on days that I'm too lazy or don't have time to dampen and clean the sponge. I hope this review helps!
Price: $39.95 at beauty.com minus 25% bing cashback and no sales tax Also available for $19.95 for one sponge & $34.95 for one sponge & cleanser
Buy again?: Yes ma'am
Ok, I admit... the reason why I bought this was because TiffanyD reviewed it in one of her videos and loved it. I normally apply my MAC Studio Stick with the 188, but wasn't too pleased because it was a little streaky and often had to mist my face with Cinema Secret's moisture spray and re-stipple to "unstreak" myself and achieve a bit of a sheer coverage that I was after. It finally dawned on me that MAC's foundations and powders were breaking me out, so I thought it would be the perfect time to switch to a liquid foundation for the days that I want medium-full coverage. I went down to Sephora and had a SA apply MUFE HD foundation on my entire face. She used her fingers (Which now that I think about it is pretty gross and unsanitary.) and it looked ok in the store, so I bought a bottle. When I got home and looked in the mirror, I was horrified to see that I looked like a plastered mess! The results were not natural at all, so I chocked it up to the SA's heavy-handed application skills. The next day, I used a 190 for application. The results were too caked-on for my liking. (I have clear skin with a few acne scars on my chin, so I'm normally a LM tinted moisturizer kind of gal.)
Desperate to make my dreams of liquid foundation a reality, I decided to purchase the beautyblender. Normally I would laugh at the thought of paying so much for a sponge that you would have to toss after 3 months of use, but I figured it was worth a try since bing was offering 25% cashback plus CA residents are not charged sales tax through beauty.com. When that sucker arrived in the mail, you bet I washed my face, soaked it in water and squeezed as directed and reapplied my foundation right away. Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce.... The results? The most perfect, streak-free, airbrushed finish I could ever hope for. This thing is amazing! It was MUFE HD foundation's saving grace. (Too bad I broke out with that line of foundation and ended up having to return it for NARS.) It gave my face a dewy, fresh finish. I figure this is an improved way of how I used to apply my studio stick because instead of having to mist my face with Cinema Secret's moisture spray and re-stipple, all I had to do is apply my foundation with the beautyblender since I'm working with a damp tool already. The dampness also allows me to sheer out my liquid foundations because I usually don't want full coverage. But for those of you who don't want to sheer out your foundation, all you have to do is squeeze most of the water out of the sponge. The round end of the sponge is used for the majority of the face, but there is also a pointy end that can be used for hard to reach areas such as under the nose, around the mouth, and around the eye area. All you have to do is bounce the sponge around your face, and in doing so eliminates streaking. Enkore also uses this sponge to apply mineral mu as well, but I haven't tried it with my BE foundation yet. If I ever get around to it, I will update this review.
I wash my sponge after each use and the cleanser does a great job at removing all of the remaining makeup. I'm not sure if there are any dupes for the cleanser, but since it came with the kit I'll worry about finding a cheaper alternative when I'm almost out of this one. I've been using mine for about a month now and it still looks new... except for the tiny tear my 1 yr old daughter made to the pointy end. (Warning: this bright pink sponge is a magnet for toddlers. My kid LOVES to smash this thing on her face... especially when it's damp. It went missing one day and I found it in her toy box a couple days later.) The plastic box that everything comes in also serves as a place to dry your sponge after cleansing. The company also offers to recycle your old sponges for you if you mail them in. Too bad there isn't any incentive in doing so... except for a cleaner planet, so I guess it's worth doing. LOL! J/K.
Anyway, sorry for the long back story/review. To sum it all up... yes, I highly recommend the beautyblender if you want to achieve a perfectly air-brushed finish with your foundation. Don't get me wrong. I also have and love Sephora's airbrush foundation brush, but I only use it on days that I'm too lazy or don't have time to dampen and clean the sponge. I hope this review helps!