Take a makeup sponge, then try to imagine why it should possibly cost a thousand bucks. Can you? I couldn't. I've said several times before that I am skeptical when it comes to the Beauty Blender hype. Until I got my own, that is! This was a surprise from Digital Traincase after attending her workshop with Jigs Mayuga (more on that soon).

Anyway, now I know why makeup artists adore the Beauty Blender. It blends wet makeup (liquid or cream) onto the skin seamlessly! I've tried brushes that blend makeup seamlessly before, sure, but the process is not as effortless and simple as using the Beauty Blender. With brushes, I end up blending and patting several times to achieve what Beauty Blender can do in two passes. This stuff really works!

What makes the Beauty Blender so different...and so expensive?

This sponge is non-latex, non-comedogenic, and doesn't have that weird chemical smell from cheap sponges. I didn't break out from using this at all! The shape is also ergonomic so it fits into the awkward corners of the face.

But that's just superficial, and obviously easy to copy. The difference lies in the material of this sponge. It swells up to twice its size when its wet, thus becoming exponentially softer and increasing its ability to deposit and blend the makeup perfectly. With little effort, might I add!

There seems to be some confusion about what goes first and what matches (texture-wise) when it comes to makeup application. Now, there are several makeup textures - powder, cream, liquid, and gel. The general rule is to match wet textures with each other (cream, liquid, gel) and powder over powder.

Nonetheless, we always need to mix products so it's important to know what should go with what. You don't want streaky and uneven application, right?

For example, powder blush MUST go on over some kind of powder base (foundation or setting powder). If you apply it on top of liquid or cream foundation, you'll find that you'll get nasty streaks and too much color! The wetness will "grab" the pigment on the blush and make it brighter where it's wetter.