I love using a dampened sponge for cream/liquid products for a sheerer effect that seems more “pressed” into my skin, but man, I loathe cleaning sponges!
— Christine
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I do like the natural finish they can bring to foundation (not that I wear foundation all that much, even pre-Pandemic). QUO (Shoppers Drug Mart house brand) has come out with a wonderful improvement on the traditional Beauty Blender type sponge….it’s perforated so it seems to soak up less water and less product but it also dries quickly and thoroughly. Brilliant! The “downsides” of sponges taken care of by one clever sponge!
I’ll have to try the Quo one thanks for the review!
I like the finish it gives to the skin but I feel like I can never quite get them clean enough, don’t like the staining after multiple uses.
I love me a Sonia Kashuk .. so much so that I have ordered backups before I move. I’m a sponge for liquid, brush for powder foundation person. I hate cleaning mine too and instead of using the made for cleansers, I just use the same cleanser I use on my face and find it works just as well and is undoubtedly cheaper.
I absolutely love how evenly and smoothly foundation and concealer apply using a sponge as opposed to a brush. It gives even the areas of my face that have large pores and fine lines an airbrushed effect.
However, like you, I despise cleaning them! Nothing ever gets them 100% clean without shortening their lives.
I haven’t used a makeup sponge in almost 2 years… so it’s just memories for me now. 😅
I definitely started using sponges and enjoying it because they offered me coverage without the cakey finish, and I managed to get a better blending than with brushes. But it was user error, in time I learned to apply less foundation and get a more natural but perfected look through other techniques.
I never found sponges hard to clean (especially not compared to a dense foundation brush). I usually washed them after every use (my hand wash is a homemade diluted Castille soap solution, so it was quick to wash it after I applied makeup since I already wash my hands once finished), and never had issues with keeping it clean.
I do find them somewhat wasteful. My foundation brushes lasted me years, while a sponge needs replacing every 3-6 months.
Also, sponges need to be carefully stored when you have a cat.
LIKE: They apply foundation really well. They’re easy to use. They’re inexpensive, for the most part.
DISLIKE: They stain easily and are a pain to wash. Some test easily when I’m washing them.
I do love the way my foundation looks after I use the sponge it blends everything so beautifully. I purchased one that came with a cage so that you could wash it in the washer and dry it in the dryer but that didn’t work out so well, I used it after I had washed it and dried it in the machine it had lint on it which transferred onto my face so imagine little bumps of foundation colored lint on your face! Big fail! I don’t wash it that way anymore back to squishing my face cleaner through it again.
I like the pointy end of a dry teardrop shaped sponge for under eye powder and also for setting concealer with the setting spray ‘trick’ and I simply clean mine with either goat milk soap or BBW’s foaming hand soap.
What is the setting spray trick? I’ve not heard of it.
You use setting spray on your under eye to keep it fro
Looking too crepey (is that a word?) or too cakes with powder.
I had only heard of spraying it on the back of the hand and tapping a bit with your finger under the eye. I heard Risa does makeup talking about it.
Thanks! I’m going to try that and see if it helps.
Sorry for the typos above. I think it helps but no fantastic thing IMO. But at 64 I don’t think I can get away from under eye creases. Lol. Unless I inject a bunch of filler but then I’d look like a blow up doll! Lol
I agree. There are some things we just have to accept or embrace with aging. Blow up doll – LOL!!
I dislike cleaning sponges so much that I basically never use them! They can create a nice light look with certain products… but the cleaning process makes them not really worth it for me. I also feel like they’re inherently less sanitary than other application methods. I don’t like worrying about whether I cleaned and dried the sponge well enough, or about what may be growing inside the sponge if I didn’t. It’s all just too high maintenance.
I definitely like the look using them. I especially like it with my fuller coverage foundation or drier concealers. Lately I’ve taken to cleaning them with cleansing oil or balm which makes it so fast and easy in comparison to any other method.
Applying foundation with a sponge always looks patchy to me but it’s a must for concealer imo.
I use it to even out foundation after applying it with a brush. And I use it to get the makeup out of my hair when done at the hairline.
I prefer the ones at target.
Sorry what I don’t like about them besides applying foundation is also cleaning them. I try to clean my brushes and sponges on Sunday. I bought about $30 worth of the target ones on sale once. I use that Dr bonners conc. Soap from target too the purple label.
I use them almost entirely.
I’ve jumped between brush and sponge in the past but find I still need to use a sponge to really press product in–esp under eyes, around mouth and sides of nose.
I solely use the Super Sponge, which are pricier, but I buy on sale and I have a year’s supply now.
They are coated in silicone (except the sponge bottom) and not only last longer but they don’t absorb nearly as much product.
I clean after each use so I always have one ready to go.
If you clean after each use, for the most part they don’t stain. If I use the end with no silicone to pounce cream or liquid blush, that end can stain a bit unless you clean immediately.
I used to use DR. Bronner’s Olive Oil soap to clean mine but I saw Huda using a brick of pink ZOTE soap to clean her sponges and I immediately bought one, very inexpensive and they clean up sponges in a snap.
I love how a sponge blends my makeup and I prefer them for my foundation or CC cream, and to blend out bronzer and contour. I HATE how wasteful they are, though. I can get at least a few years out of a brush, but with sponges I can get- at best- a couple months. I’m currently trying EcoTools sponges that are meant to be compostable, and hoping they do, but the fact is it’s the only reason I’d try composting again and I know most people don’t. There needs to be a better way to use sponges without them adding even more waste to our overwhelming waste problem.
I used to clean sponges by hand but they were never completely clean, until I found a very good advise for cleaning sponges.
You put the dirty sponges inside a sock, wash them normally with your other clothes and they come out perfectly clean!
I wish I could do the same with brushes.