Sometimes I use beautyblenders, but I loathe cleaning them (just feels like it takes so much water to rinse them clear), and when I do, it’s usually to sheer out heavier coverage foundations or to add moisture to a more matte foundation/concealer. Sometimes, I’ll use them for a cream blush but find I prefer fingertips for most cream/liquid cheek colors!
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I don’t use makeup sponges at all. I’ve tried them, but I don’t feel they’re ever clean enough no matter how much I wash them.
I feel the same way!
Same – I feel like I can never get the water to run clear enough.
I prefer a Sonia K marble sponge and while I usually start with a brush for foundation, I finish with a sponge after a spritz. I use it to intentionally take down coverage slightly and to set my face. I do not bake so sponge use is limited to foundation. I use my ring finger for concealer.
I like sponges for applying and blending my foundation. I’ve never tried a brush before, although I’m curious about how it would turn out. I’ve also used it to apply Colourpop Super Shock Cheek products and it works well for that. I tend to wash my sponge after every use because I’m paranoid about breakouts.
I use either a Beauty Blender or the ecoTools Total Perfecting Blender for applying most of my liquid foundations. (I stopped using the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. RT changed how the made them a while back, and I no longer like them.) I don’t use sponges for anything else.
I tried one once just to try it, but it didn’t work any better than my hands and just absorbed a lot of product in the process.
I usually use a combination of sponge and brush although I can use exclusively either. In general, I apply my foundation with either my fingers or my Artis brush and then I will spray my beauty blender with a MAC Fix + and pounce it over my face to really work the foundation into my skin. I started doing this before I started shaving my face and I did it originally to stick my peach fuzz to my skin and make my foundation look smoother but now I shave my face and I don’t really need to do this step but most of the time I do it anyway. It is a habit, I guess. I also use my beauty blender to apply powder under my eyes. For the remainder of my face I use a powder brush but I like the way a BB applies the powder and it seems to make it appear better hydrated and set. My daughter started using the SK marbled sponge about a year ago and she likes it better than the BB but so far, I haven’t changed. I have been using the old fashioned makeup sponges every once in awhile, lately. I saw someone use them for setting the under eye since they have that narrow wedge end and they do work pretty well for that. I also like that they are basically a few days use and then toss them so I don’t have to worry too much about heavy bacteria load.
Honestly, I just started using my Beauty Blender sponges. (I received some from various makeup boxes, but never used them! I thought that they soaked up too much product and didn’t like the egg shape of them.) Well, that all changed after I used some when I was cleaning my makeup brushes. I still don’t *love* them, but they’re better than I thought. I mainly use them on the weekends to help blend out concealer or powder foundation.
Almost every time I apply foundation and concealer, I use a Real Techniques beauty blender type sponge. It is the most effective and quick method for covering up my pores and any fine lines I have without having to wear my foundation at full coverage level. Plus, it allows me to get up close to my makeup mirror to see what I’m doing without a brush handle getting in my way!
I don’t use sponges at all in my makeup routine – far too hard to clean and I think they are germ magnets.
I like Beauty Blenders and the minis when my foundation feels a little too heavy, especially when I don’t have enough moisturizer underneath, ie, winter. I like to use it damp but squeezed almost dry in a paper towel and sprayed with UD setting spray. I bounce it over my foundation until blended and smooth. I use the minis for around my eye concealer when I use it. I usually keep a couple in rotation and don’t use them everytime I wear makeup. This makes it easier to clean them together after one use each along with brushhes.
I don’t use sponges, but I do apply my foundation with one of those CoverGirl Makeup Masters powder puffs that they sell in 3-packs. I blend with the puff and then blend further with a foundation brush.
I rarely use a sponge, and when I do it’s the Sonia Kashuk marble sponge because of its density. I prefer brushes and my fingers. Lately I’ve preferred to use my fingers when applying foundation and then smoothing it out with a Sonia G or Wayne Goss foundation/blender brushes. My beauty blenders do get cleaned after each use but it takes time to get them cleaned right.
I pretty much always use my Beauty Blender for foundation. On days when I’m just spot concealing, I’ll sometimes use a sponge but more often reach for my Sigma 3DHD concealer brush to maintain coverage.
My Beauty Blenders last me a long time. I wash them with the solid cleanser and have never had any issues with them ripping or staining.
I actually use the cushion from cushion compacts for my base. They’re easier to clean and don’t soak as much product. They’re also very cheap from Asian retailers.
Sometimes if I think I have too much foundation on I use them on my face I use brushes for foundation.
But I like too for applying concealer and setting it.
Sometimes I throw the sponges in the bath and wash them but lately I put them in a mesh bag I recieved with halo circles and throw them in the wash with my clothes. I have beauty blenders but I love the Sonia Kashuk small ones from target. 3 am ones for $7. They are so soft and and to bb size.
I use sponges quite a lot, but I’m on a minute with brushes. I got a new foundation brush recently and have been using it. I used to use a brush for all over foundation and just found it so difficult to get the goopy stuff out from the base of the bristles, even with oil soap.
Typically though, I have two sponges on the go, one for foundation and concealer and one for cream contour; I like to keep them separate.
If I’m on a light foundation day and use a BB Cream or my Kosas Oil Foundation, I use my hands, then a sponge for under eyes/nose/concealer.
Always a sponge for the under eye, no matter what method I use elsewhere.
I prefer the BB pink solid cleanser to the original white solid cleanser. The pink one resembles a glycerin type soap. I find it cleans the sponge much faster and more throughly than the white soap.
I like the sponge, and brushes, too!
I used to use them, but have since switched to brushes for just about everything. Now I just tend to use mine (an Ecotools one) to correct mistakes like if I put on too much of something (today I used it to tone down my blush a bit).
Foundation and in particular, blending my concealer. Ditto on feeling bad about the wasted water and time to get it as clean as I want it.