Is the silicone sponge just silly?

When it comes to base applicators, I've always preferred a blending sponge over everything else. Back in makeup school, sponges were our main applicators and blenders so using something else other than good ole blending sponge is very weird for me. Oh, and by blending sponge, I mean the damp, doubles in size when wet, sponge. I just love how it just makes blending any base easy, fast, and oh so seamless. Brush strokes? I don't know her.

As much as I love said sponges, I gotta admit that they come with a few minor-ish problems. One: you always have to have water on hand anytime, anywhere. I remember doing makeup on a location shoot once I had a bit of a panic-y fit because I didn't have any water to dampen my sponge! Thankfully, my sister saved the day and was able to find a water source while I finished setting up. Whew! I remember another instance when I had to use a face mist (an Avene spray!) to dampen my sponge. Ahh, the number of mists I had to do to fully soak my sponge!

Second: it's a bit of a bugger to clean. I find cleaning sponges harder and more time consuming than washing brushes because products just cling to the sponge like no other and stain them, especially thick cream bases like! I really have to get in there with my fingers and rub it all off with a healthy amount of sponge soap. Oh, and under this lies another problem: if you have quite long fingernails, chances are, you're gonna accidentally create some tears in the sponge. I know I have and it hurts my soul (and sponge, I guess) every time I do that. Ugh, so annoying! 

And last problem I have with sponges: you can't just throw them in your kit and hope for the best. These sponges need their own container or else you'll find a very deformed sponge. Not all blenders come with a container so you'll have to get creative on how to store them. 

Despite all that rambling, I sponges are still my go-to. Honestly, using them is a hard habit for me to break like my nail-biting. So imagine my confusion when silicone sponges came out years ago. I remember seeing all beauty bloggers and vloggers either trying it out or promoting it in their respective platforms. The concept of a silicone sponge (can we even call them a sponge when it can't absorb anything at all??) was just a weird and wild, not to mention bad, idea to me so it was one of the makeup trends I didn't get on board with at all. Like, I'm not gonna spend money on something I know I won't swear by and I might as well buy another blending sponge with that money instead.

 Back in 2018, I did a collab with ToSave through that I was able to get myself a silicone sponge. It's not the pricey and popular SiliSponge but I guess it's the same concept. A silicone that's a "sponge". Not gonna lie, it took me a year(!) to test this sponge out so here are my thoughts about it, pros and cons style.

PROS:

1. It's very sleek, compact, and lightweight that carrying it around won't be a bother at all.

2. It comes with its own pouch container.

3. The silicone sponge doesn't create brush strokes.

4. It's a great tool for smaller areas and for spot blending.

5. Way easier to clean than beauty sponges and brushes.

CONS:

(I'm gonna spill the tea now.)

1. Since the silicone sponge isn't porous, it doesn't absorb any excess product, leaving you to work with the same amount of product you dispensed. The beauty of a beauty blender is that it absorbs excess makeup which in turn leaves you with a more natural, even, and lightweight base. The silicone sponge works pretty similarly to a paddle foundation brush- both spread and move the foundation around without sheering it out, making the base look like, well, a base, and not at all skin-like. 

2. Because it's quite a small tool, blending and buffing any base all over your face will take some time. 

3. I find that this product causes quite an uneven blending. After quite some time blending my base, I still found some spots in my face where there are no product at all and some spots where my base just settled. 

4. My skin feels dry after application. Granted, I used a semi-matte base with the sponge, but honestly, with beauty blenders, I never have a feeling of dryness because the dampness of the sponge helps the skin stay moisturized, whether I'm using a really matte base or a dewy one.

5. If you're in a hurry, using this isn't a good idea. Using this to blend your base will take ages and frankly, using a stippling or buffing brush does the job faster.

6. Using this with thick products and with creams is just a disaster. Don't even try.

Overall, I was right- this one's a bust. When I was first trying it out, I thought that hey, maybe this'll work! But the more I used it to blend out and buff my base, the more it became a big no for me. With a damp sponge, I can achieve an even and skin-like base for a minute or two. With this one? Oh honey, I think I spent around 10 minutes trying to even out my base. Eeek!

While I do admit that this product sucks in overall blending, it's a good one for spot applications because it will really push the product onto your skin and pretty much set it there without sheering it out. But should you buy one for that sole purpose? Nah. Your fingers are free and pretty much do the same thing. 

If you're one of the few who loves this, then great, you do you. Personally, silicone sponges are still a big nope for me. 

One interesting article about it is this one from Allure and I pretty much agree on everything. Go give it a read!

So that's it for now. Thanks for reading all that rambling and I'll see you on my next also probably rambly post! Ciao!