A few months ago, you could hardly go anywhere without hearing about the Beauty Blender makeup sponge. Beauty gurus on YouTube hailed it as the best and only way to apply your liquid and cream foundation. Now that the hype has died down, my question remains: is the Beauty Blender all it’s cracked up to be?

For those of you who don’t know, the Beauty Blender is a pink, egg-shaped, non-latex sponge. It also costs upwards of $30 at places like Sephora. It claims to blend your liquid or cream foundation into an airbrushed finish to leave you with flawless, glowing skin. But I’m sure I am not the only girl who did a little bit of research before running out to Sephora to spend 30 hard-earned dollars on a sponge. I’m here to give you the facts so that you can make an informed decision for yourself.

The thing about makeup companies is this: there are really great, high-end products out there that really are worth the money. There are also many, many wonderful dupes to high-end products that are virtually the same product without the brand name. Many times, one company will make a product and a different company will put their brand on it. This is called private labeling. Private labeling only becomes a problem when makeup companies jack up the price of their product simply due to their brand name. So here’s the scoop: you can buy the exact same product without a brand name for a fraction of the price.

I found a Beauty Blender dupe at Walgreens for $6. It is a fantastic product. This was an absolute no-brainer for me. Gals, run as fast as you can to Walgreens and pick one up! You won’t regret it, I promise.

XO, J

P.S. To use the sponge properly, hold under running water and squeeze 10 times (it expands). Then, wrap in a towel and squeeze out the excess water. Apply your liquid or cream foundation with the sponge in a buffing motion and you’ll look flawless!