Review: beautyblender

If you're a subscriber to this blog, then you know, I'm a huge fan of sponges and wedges. One of things I like the most is that there are so many of them to go around that I really can use one daily, wash it, and reuse it. I wasn't getting that kind of mileage from my brushes (after all, if you wash them every week [which you should do], then you need to have at least two sets to continually rotate them). I got a much better application with the sponges which seemed almost airbrushed, if I paired it with the right primer.

My friend who subscribed to Birchbox a while ago got this beautyblender in one of her boxes and handed it to me after she realized how much I depended on sponges (versus my brushes).

I was really excited to try it because I had been coveting for a while but given my stash of wedges, I hadn't really seen the   need to get one. But I was happily gifted one and here's what I have to report about them.

I love the sponge, it's got a nice feel to it, so while it is easier to hold in comparison to the teardrop sponges (which are flat), it's a bit harder to hold compared to the normal wedges. Normal wedges are smaller and thus easier to handle. Please note that there isn't a huge difference and what I'm reporting is incredibly minute but I do feel that it is worth pointing out.

In terms of how it works out, I also adore it. It gives a nice airbrushed look which is similar to that of what the wedges and sponges can accomplish. It just happens to get into crevices (the corner of my eyes) much better than the others can. But there is a slight drawback for me and that's the one that puts me squarely on the fence.

I use all of my sponges and wedges once and then I wash them thereafter. As a result, I tend to keep several wedges and sponges around -- that's easy to do when you can buy a pack of 32 wedges for ~$3. A single beautyblender is $19.95. That's not too bad because if you get a pack of two for $25.95 and keep two in rotation -- but you'd likely have to treat them as brushes which means washing them once a week rather than after every single use. Now this is a pure matter of choice now, or perhaps even preference. 

I'm somewhat of a neat freak.* I wash my brushes and my sponges after every single use. Not washing them after every single use irks me. So when I use the beautyblender, I find it somewhat bizarre that I'm supposed to keep using it all week and wash it just once. Now if I bought one for every single day so that I could get over my own shenanigans, that's still a lot of money. As of now, it's been nice to throw it into the mix with the rest of sponges and wedges, but it cannot replace them. The wedges that I reviewed back in March of this year are still in use; I was them every day and they barely have any wear or tear.

Now I will touch upon this. You should wash a sponge after every single use. It's up to you whether or not you want to. If it's been working out just fine for you, then far be it from me to tell you to change. It is recommended that you wash them once a week, but again, it's entirely up to you. All I'm saying is that if you're the type of person that needs to wash them everyday (which is what compels me), then this won't work out as a sole sponge. It takes a few days to dry out. 

* That would be putting it very lightly.

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Product: beautyblender
Price: $19.95
Would Recommend? If you're obsessive about cleanliness, then this shouldn't be your only sponge.
Takeaway: If you're the type of person that needs to clean your sponges after every single use, then don't let this be the only one you have in your makeup kit. If that sort of thing doesn't matter to you, then this product is great! >_< You get am even application (especially with a primer) that looks airbrushed. That goes for foundation to blush. Easy to hold and easy to use, but do keep in mind that like with all other sponges, it will pick up a lot more product as a result.