A battle between the sponges

Recently I wrote a review on the fool proof Beauty Blender and in that post I mentioned that I wanted to try out the much discussed dupe, the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge, to see if it compared. I've had my battered Beauty Blender for a while now and it was definitely time to buy a replacement so I thought it would be the perfect time to make a purchase. I went on a shopping trip to Boots to stack up on some makeup items that I was running low on and thought I could pick up the Real Techniques sponge then, but the stores near me were all out of stock of the sponge. The great thing about Boots is that if you order before 6pm you can collect your item from in store the very next day. I was on a budget buying spree so was glad that this was a fraction of the price of the Beauty Blender.

The Beauty Blender is slightly bigger in size in comparison to the Real Techniques sponge. However, the size isn't of a big issue and I don't find it to make any difference to the application. The Beauty Blender is moulded to a dome shape whereas the RT sponge has a similar shape but with a flat edge at the bottom which claims to be designed to target the contours of the face. In my opinion, I think this was done to differentiate it in design and isn't of much use. The bottom half of my RT sponge is pretty much squeaky clean and the pointed tip is effective in targeting hard to reach areas such as around the eyes and nose.

What I found with most of the drugstore dupes is that they can tend to bit a bit too stiff and the RT one is no exception. Once the water has been squeezed out of the Beauty Bledner after it has been dampened, it doubles in size whereas possibly due to the stiffness of the RT sponge, it retains a lot of water and isn't as easy to squeeze out. For this reason, The Beauty Blender is much softer and bouncier which I find makes a difference to the application process. It makes applying products almost satisfying and easy (is that weird? Probably.). This advantage also allows cream products to be blended seamlessly. I've only used the RT ones for foundation and concealer and I find that it can look a little drying, blotchy and not just as well blended as it does when I use the Beauty Blender.

The RT sponge tends to eat up all of my foundation. Luckily I've been using the L'oreal True Match Foundation which has a lightweight buildable consistensy - this avoids it looking cakey. Nevertheless, by saving on a sponge, you're using up more product? Makes no sense right.

Splurge or Save?
If you have the money to spend, then definitely splurge. I know there's a huge price difference to be able to justify it but the downsides of the RT sponge defeat the purpose of using a sponge and you may as well just use a brush. By saving some money on a sponge that soaks up water and foundation and the end result isn't as flawless as the Beauty Blender just isn't convincing me to repurchase so I'll be sticking with the original.

I've heard a lot about the OPV Blending Sponge and people swear by it. It's the same price as the RT dupe so check it out if you are trying to save the pennies!