You may have heard of the Beauty Blender sponge. I had heard such great things and bought 2 sponges and the sponge cleaner when I was at IMATS but didn’t really test drive it until recently.
Avon has also come out with their version and via a twitter conversation between myself, Arianne and Sparkled_Beauty I was asked to do a comparison post on these two sponges.
In case you’re not aware of what the Beauty Blender Sponge or the Avon version do they basically blend your makeup into your skin for the perfect finish! The Beauty Blender is egg shape is what made it unique. The larger areas for blending foundation on your forehead, nose, chin and cheeks and the tip used to get into harder to reach places like under your eyes and around your nose. The tip is great for precise blending of concealer too.
The Avon “Precision Grip Teardrop Blender” (kind of a mouthful) is a different shape (to be honest the Beauty Blender looks more tear shaped to me!) but works in the same way. There is a groove in the middle which does make holding and manoeuvring the sponge easier – I guess that’s where the precision grip part of it comes in.
You can see from the photo that the Avon version is tiny – it’s actually a little bit larger than the Beauty Blender when they are dry.
Right from the start besides the obvious differences in shape and colour (the pictures a little off, the Avon version isn’t as purple – it’s more of a dark bluish pink) is the texture. The Avon sponge is definitely more dense with the Beauty Blender being more porous. The Beauty Blender is also more bouncy when you squeeze it. The price is also the biggest difference. The Beauty Blender can be found at ebeauty for $21.99 while the Avon version is $6.99 (Canadian price).
When they are wet they swell about the same amount. I couldn’t really tell if one held more water than the other but the Avon one remained more dense when wet. In terms of texture the Avon sponge feels more like the material of those disposable triangle sponges you can buy in packs from the drug store. So I would imagine that it absorbs more of the foundation than the Beauty Blender would.
As for how they both worked to be honest I couldn’t tell a huge difference! The Beauty Blender is definitely more bouncy and I have read reviews that it blends better and sheers foundation out better. The Avon one still does a great job of blending but perhaps leaves a slightly less sheer finish. I actually think this great when you need a bit of heavier coverage like I do to cover up acne, scars and dark marks although I guess for a more natural finish you wouldn’t want to have as much coverage. It also does take a bit more effort and a longer time to blend the foundation into the skin with the Avon one vs the Beauty Blender probably due to the lack of bounciness.
I’ve been using the two interchangeably and I’m pretty happy with both! I’m finding that the more I use them the harder they are to clean – does anyone else have this problem? I have to admit I’m very lazy and I don’t wash out the sponges every day like I probably should so maybe this is my issue?
As for how well it holds up I can’t really say right now. I’ve been using my Beauty Blender since March and I’m seeing little tears in it already but I will keep using it until it completely falls apart LOL! The Avon one I only started using a few weeks ago and so far it’s holding up the same although the shape is slightly deformed now.
If I HAD to choose I would still probably pick the Beauty Blender. The bounciness of it just makes it more unique and easier + faster to work with. But the Avon one is a great inexpensive alternative.
Please remember I’m not a makeup artist nor a makeup pro so perhaps this is why I couldn’t see a huge difference in the way the sponges performed. Perhaps for photographer or television the difference in the finish would be more obvious, but for $6.99 CDN I say it’s worth a try!
Have you tried any of these blender sponges out? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!