Makeup Madness: Post #13 Brushes & Sponges

Brush V.S. sponge has been huge debate over time. I'm going to tell you my preference on what I think of both. Lets start with brushes. First of all, there are many different types of brushes. There are brushes for contouring, powder, highlight, liner, brows, blush, foundation, concealer, eyeshadow. The list could go on forever. There is literally a brush for every aspect of your makeup. I like using brushes for majority of my makeup. This includes my eyebrows, blush, eyeshadow, highlight, and face powder. Now lets talk about sponges. There are also many different types of sponges. There are wedged sponges, circle sponges, and sponges shaped like eggs. The sponge that I personally like to use is a beauty blender. Its appearance is similar to an egg. Before I got introduced to using a beauty blender for my makeup, I used brushes. I feel though my beauty blender blends my makeup better than any brush ever has. I would always get brush streaks on my face after blending, and I never seemed to get the coverage I wanted. I was able to achieve this with a beauty blender. It also helps blend my concealer better because of the point on it. The texture of the sponge actually simulates the appearance of the skin, so this is why it appears to look more natural when foundation is blended because of this. You can use the beauty blender dry or wet. When it is wet, it expands to almost twice its size when it's dry. I prefer to use my beauty blender when wet because to me it blends better. You also knock out a handful of brushes by using this single sponge. Now I still do use brushes, and I still like them despite my love for my beauty blender. I use my brushes for things my beauty blender cannot achieve such as eyeshadow and sweeping away powder. Some of my favorite brushes are the Real Technique brushes. They have an array of brushes to choose from and they are under $10. They are great quality and affordable. I also like the brushes from Morphe Cosmetics. They are also pretty reasonable in price and have several different selections in collections of brushes they carry. They also sell complete professional brush kits. Real Techniques also sells a sponge that is similar to a beauty blender. It is very similar in size, the only difference is that the RT sponge has a slanted point on the bottom of the sponge, unlike the beauty blender that is rounded. It is also slightly stiffer than the BB. The RT sponge retails at around $4-$6 while the Beauty Blender retails at about $20. I like both brushes and sponges. However, when it comes to foundation and concealer, a Beauty Blender is a MUST for me. You can find Real Techniques at any Walmart, Walgreens, or CVS. You can find the Beauty Blender at Ulta, Sephora, or Beauty Brands. You can only get Morphe brushes online from their online website.