Product Review: The Beauty Blender Sponge

Readers - I know a lot of you read this blog for the travel content, but when I first started this blog it also had a beauty element to it as well - product reviews and things of that nature. Due to being in China, I haven't had the chance to try too many new products (until I started shopping online for some much needed retail therapy!) and alas, my products have arrived, and I have new reviews for all the people who were originally attracted to the beauty element of this blog.

This review is about the makeup sponge applicator called The Beauty Blender. I went back and forth over whether or not I should purchase this sponge - I mean, $19 for a sponge? Really? But, I don't like applying my foundation with brushes, and the more I used crappy CVS sponges the more I realized that I was in serious need of finding another application method!


After reading a ton of reviews on the product, I learned that many people only replace their Beauty Blender Sponge once every 6 months or even once a year, and with that in mind, I figured if I liked the product, I could deal with that sort of monetary investment.

The outcome: pure awesomeness.

My foundation has never looked so smooth or flawlessly applied. You can also use it to apply concealer, as well as creme blush.

The BB sponge is also simple to use. You first wet the sponge, then towel dry it (takes less than 1 minute to do this). Then you dip it in foundation or put the foundation directly on the sponge, and begin to stipple (or bounce the sponge up and down) in order to apply the makeup. Then you just watch in amazement at how smooth your foundation goes on! Awesome! I also used it with concealer to cover any blemishes, and it was simple to do and covered them perfectly, much better than a finger or a brush ever did (in my experience). The shape of the sponge allows you to easily cover hard to reach areas and corners.

This sponge in my opinion does NOT suck up the foundation, which makes me happy because those garbage little suckers from CVS used to waste so much of my $38 foundation.

I chose not to buy the cleaning solution that comes with it - after reading many reviews, I saw that many ladies believed Johnson's Baby Shampoo worked just as well as the Beauty Blender Cleaning Solution, so I opted to stick with that, and have had absolutely no problems - it cleans it great!

At Beauty Blender's own website, you can purchase 1 beauty blender sponge plus 5 packets of cleansers for $15.95. Click here.

My grade for the product: A

(BTW Sonia Kashuk at Target makes a $10 version of this sponge. I also read reviews on that and while most people like it, many said it didn't apply makeup as well as the Beauty Blender Sponge, possibly due to different construction material?... that plus the need to only replace the sponge once or twice a year convinced me to just go ahead and take my chance with the Beauty Blender - and I am so happy I did!)

Steph

Beauty! Product reviews & new purchase

Recently, I've hardly written any beauty related posts, because, lets face it, I am in China, life is a little different right now, and, really, I haven't really tried anything new product-wise since I've been living here! Actually, I am still living out of the same suitcase I was living out of since the end of March! Still haven't received my household goods... I'm quickly running out of must-haves and am crossing my fingers we will get our shipment any day now!

As far as fashion goes, I keep meaning to make sure to have my camera with me, that way you can see why I haven't felt the need to run out and go shopping.. LOL! China has been good on the wallet in that respect.;) The 80s is alive & well here! Full body denim jumpsuits, crazy pattern matching, short jean shorts with thigh high socks and stilettos, shirts with English sayings that we can't quite figure out the meaning of (Chinglish at its best perhaps!). Its interesting to say the least. But, don't get me wrong, you still have Chinese girls that step out of cars and you can't help but look because they are dressed so well and look so glamorous! And then you have the 60 year old man I pass everyday on my way home from class, wearing the same green glittered shirt everyday, with the same message "Nobody seems to know how to shine the knob." Note to self: take more pictures.

But, really, there are some seriously adorable boutiques nearby that look very promising & I can't wait to visit.

Anyway, I DO have a couple of reviews for you.

First review is about MD Skincare's Correct and Perfect Spot Treatment.


I bought this at Ulta before I left for China. I was really looking for a spot treatment for the occasional breakout/blemish that did not use salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. Salicylic acid does nothing for me, and the problem with BP is that I recently discovered I was (suddenly) by all appearances allergic to it. I decided to purchase MD Skincare's Correct and Perfect Spot Treatment because it is sulfur based and does not use SA or BP. I have discovered that sulfur treatments are much less drying and more gentle on skin than BP or SA treatments.

While I am not blown away by this product, I do feel that it does something - reduces blemishes as well as the amount of time a breakout will last. Compared to DDF's Benzoyl Peroxide Gel with Tea Tree Oil (which as far as I am concerned is completely amazing even though I am now allergic to it and can no longer use it), I think the DDF is a much more effective treatment, but believe that the MD Skincare Perfect & Correct Spot Treatment is a viable alternative especially if you are allergic to either BP or SA or those treatments are too harsh for you or otherwise just don't work. This sulfur treatment is very gentle on my skin, has not dried me out at all, and works, albeit not as fast or as well as the DDF BP Gel.

If you are not allergic to benzoyl peroxide and have problems with breakouts, whether it is occasional or more often, I personally found DDF Benzoyl Peroxide Gel with Tea Tree Oil as well as DDF Acne Pumice Scrub (also with BP) to be extremely effective in clearing up skin & maintaining clear skin. You do have to moisturize well and make sure to wear sunscreen when using products with BP.



I think you can be more sensitive to certain things at certain times in life, so as soon as my shipment arrives from the U.S. I am definitely going to re-try the DDF products I just recommended - I loved them that much, they were definitely clear-skin holy grail products for me, and I am hoping the allergy was just a passing sensitivity because of all the stress I had going on!

Pretty early on when I had first started blogging, I made a post raving about La Roche Posay Anthelios SX Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15, available at CVS. I had started using it a couple months before I blogged about it, and I just want to come back and say that I still believe everything I said in that review, & this daily moisturizer is still what I use everyday. Also, I am still on the SAME bottle I first bought - I have yet to run out despite using it everyday since January-ish.


If you are looking for a daily moisturizer with SPF, this one is amazing. I used it on a very sunny day while hiking the Great Wall for hours, and didn't turn the slightest bit pink.

And finally, my newest purchase. Before I left for China I bought the Foley + Corinna Disco City Clutch.

I thought it would be the perfect cross-body bag for traveling. While I love the bag, after a few weeks living in China I realized its just not big enough for everyday use. Its an awesome purse, totally adorable, but much better suited to a night out than for travel. It barely holds sunglasses, a cell phone, a couple lip glosses and a very small wallet if you are lucky.


I quickly realized that it wasn't well suited for the type of travel situations I wanted it for, so I began searching for another cross-body bag. I ended up purchasing a bag made by The Sak. It was the first time I had ever purchased this brand, generally speaking, its not really my style but for what I want the bag for, I think I made the right decision!

The Sak Silverlake Leather Flap ....yes, I have shorts on, which I BTW totally love, on sale right now for $30 at J.Crew.com - the 3 inch chinos, so much cuter than chino shorts I bought from there last year!


Back to the bag... quickly: I love it. The leather is really nice, very soft, comfy & not heavy, the bag is the perfect size, roomy but not too large, is well organized inside with a zippered pocket as well as two separate areas for other items, the outside has two pockets, and the flap itself has zippered pocket. If you are looking for a cross body bag for travel, this is an awesome bag!

OK now that I got those reviews out of the way, I can get started on my post about being scammed!

Hopefully some of this info is helpful to one of you!

Steph

Benefit's "Legally Bronze" Review, New Mac Eyeshadows, & some fun J. Crew purchases!

A couple weeks ago I told you guys about how I purchased Benefit's Legally Bronze kit.

Its all sold out at Sephora now, but there are some new ones on Ebay if you are interested. Its a really great deal & I am happy I bought it, because I seriously love the Hoola Bronzer & Highbeam! The Gilded highlighter is also very pretty, the only thing I am not crazy about is the Bad Gal Lash Mascara. I think the Mascara is really sticky-feeling! I've never felt such sticky mascara - not a huge fan, not the worst mascara I've ever used, but I won't be purchasing that again.

Hoola Bronzer and Highbeam, on the other hand... I can see these becoming holy grail.



The Hoola bronzer is matte, it doesn't have any shimmer or sparkle to it, and it provides a truly natural looking bronzed look to your face. I love it! The color is perfect, not orange or muddy or dirty looking. For a comparison, I have NARS Laguna Bronzer, and I highly prefer Hoola.

As for the Highbeam - its the first time I've ever used a liquidy-sort of highlight on my face, but its surprisingly easy to apply. I just dot it where I want it and then make sure to blend it well. I feel like this stuff provides a really pretty glow that looks like it comes from within, and not just from some product sitting on top of your face. I guess they call it "supermodel in a bottle" for a reason! I read a review that said it may be too icy looking for those with yellow undertones - I have yellow undertones and it works really well on me. Like I said - its extremely pretty, and Benefit knew what they were doing when they put these products together because they work beautifully together, very natural.

Next up, some MAC Eyeshadows. I know a couple people posted their top 15 eyeshadows, so I totally took notes then FORGOT them when I went to purchase! I still really like the shadows I bought.. I think you'll notice a trend... I love browns, bronzes, and other natural shades.



The knight divine is a little outside of my box, because darker colors scare me, as in I tend to be afraid that I won't be able to work with them.. BUT... I'm really glad I bought the knight divine - its a really nice color and easy to use, blending is key of course. I like to use it with naked lunch all over from lid to brown bone, patina and/or woodwinked on the lid, and knight divine mainly on the outer corner and into the crease - and naked lunch again used on the inner corner to brighten. Wish I had a pic for you guys but I cannot get these pics to come out for the life of me! I think the hubby is going to have to help if I ever want to do it.

I've also been using naked lunch, woodwinked, amber lights and antiqued together. Amber lights is a really pretty, peachy sort of bronzey color.

I have yet to use the Indianwood paintpot but I will say it has SERIOUS staying power!! Its a very rich color and will be great base, also will help the shadow to stay longer. All I know is I put the swatch on my arm, used soap and water and it still didn't totally come off.

I know you can barely see the Vex on that swatch... but its a nice color to use with knight divine - thats the only way I've used it so far.

And finally - I took advantage of J. Crew's 20% off by purchasing two more dresses... they very appropriately said in the e-mail its their "perfect excuse to buy both colors" sale... so I did. I bought two different dresses that I already own in 2 different colors! You know what? The price was right and dresses are a must for walking around the city in the heat.

I bought this dress from my OOTD the other day, this time in a dark pewter color (the one in the picture is lighter than it looks in that picture):


And I already own this dress in navy, but bought it in this heather grey color:


That's about it! It rained and made the air quality improve a LOT so we are going out today to explore!

If you own any of these MAC Shadows - what other colors do you typically pair them with? Whats your favorite way to wear them? Any tips for using my first paintpot?

When you find something you love, do you buy it in more than one color, especially if the price is right? I try not to because I feel like its so boring, but these are really perfect for here!

Talk soon!!

Steph