Da-da-da-da! Today is the last post in this week's face/base product reviews and I've saved the best for last. This is a product you either love, or don't love enough to spend $20 on it so you look for a dupe that's cheaper. I'm talking about the Original Beauty Blender. Now let's be unbiased readers and FORGET how much it costs for a second. The reason I bring up the price first is because a.) you probably already know how much it costs and b.) if you didn't, I don't want the last thing you read in this review to make you go 'ehhh'. You pickin' up what I'm putting down?
The Original Beauty Blender is a sponge make up applicator who's job is to leave you with a professional finish and flawless complexion. Their website describes the shape of the Beauty Blender to be "elliptical" but let's just say it's egg-shaped, cause it sort of is, haha. The purpose of having a rounder bottom (hehe) and a sharper edge at the top is so that you can cover the larger areas of your face such as your cheeks, forehead and chin, and then get into the smaller spots like around your nose and under your eyes, when applying foundation. You can also use the Beauty Blender to apply cream blushers and bronzers. Using the tip of the brush would be great for contouring.
The point of the Beauty Blender is to use it damp. It comes packaged rather tiny while it's dry, but when wet it expands to maybe 2x it's original size. I have a photo comparison below. Before I use it I run it under the sink for 10 seconds and then give it a few gentle squeezes to get the excess water out. It shouldn't be soaking, just damp. You don't have to use it right away - mine usually stays nicely damp for about 30 minutes. It's really simple to use, and although a lot of people say it's more time consuming to use the blender, I'd have to disagree. If anything my foundation is applied much faster because the foundation blends out amazingly each time and I don't have to go back and make sure I've blender everything out. When I'm ready to use it, I pump some foundation on the back of my hand, but instead of dipping the Beauty Blender into the product I place dabs of foundation all over my face. That way I'm not wasting any product or have to worry about the blender sucking too much of it up. I then bounce (stipple) it on my face, using the appropriate side for wherever I am on my face. When I see that my foundation is applied, I'll hold it on it's side and roll it up towards my hair line, ears, and down my chin to make sure it's blended there as well.
I'm super impressed with the Beauty Blender. It's a product I kept tossing into and out of my shopping basket for months because while I heard it was amazing, the price was putting me off. It leaves my skin with a flawless application of foundation. There's not a single dry patch or flake, and I think that's thanks to the fact that you're using a damp applicator. I don't have to fuss around with my base at all after I've used this. I would recommend this to everyone, yes everyone, especially if you have dry skin and it seems like no foundation, no matter how dewey or glowy or moisturizing it promises to be, you're still left with a caked up, dry face.
Clean up is easy. When you're done using it, just pop it on top of the container it came in (I demonstrated this in a picture below). It does get a bit stained, which is the only 'mehh' thing about it, but you can wash it clean with baby shampoo or brush cleanser. Beauty Blender does make a cleanser for it, but I haven't tried it yet, as the methods I just mentioned seem to work just fine!
It's simple to use. You're left with a flawless application each time. There are no dry patches or flakes left. The price might still be leaving you unsure but think about how much money you waste on constantly buying a foundation you think might work for you and then it doesn't? Give the Beauty Blender a go. It is $20 but it's an applicator that really works, and beautifully at that. I can almost promise you'll love it as much as I do.
So ... what do you lovelies think?
