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Use a beautyblender® Like a Pro Makeup Artist

Stroll backstage at fashion shows or sneak onto a Hollywood set, and there’s one thing you’ll see in almost every makeup artist’s hand: the beautyblender® signature pink sponge. Created nine years ago by Rea Ann Silva, who’s painted the faces of Kerry Washington and Alicia Silverstone among others, the egg-shaped makeup applicator has become an industry phenomenon, spawning copycats left and right. Why? Because it’s pretty much the best tool ever for applying foundation. But that’s not all it can do. You can use your beautyblender® to apply your favorite moisturizers, serums, and primers, too  (seriously, what can’t this thing do?). If you saturate the sponge before use, it won't absorb your products—no wasting that pricey anti-aging concentrate. Plus, it couldn't be gentler on skin. Here are some useful tricks for how to use the beautyblender®:

Stipple, Don’t Rub!

Whether you’re applying foundation, tinted moisturizer, or cream blush, follow these steps: wet the sponge until it's completely saturated squeeze out the excess water, and dab it in your makeup. Then, bounce it along the skin, pressing slightly on the surface. That is called stippling. This motion blends while depositing makeup, which makes foundation look more like skin. Cream blush looks like a natural flush of color. You actually get more coverage with less product and the pointed tip allows you to get into every nook and cranny—under eyes, around the nose, along the lips.  It is amazing how flawless your face looks with this little tool.  Think about it – the older you get you need to use less product on your face so that it does not settle in your fine lines and wrinkles!  The beautyblender® allows you to do that.

Erase Your Mistakes

Everyone has a makeup mishap now and then. Don’t panic or remove all of your makeup and start over. Just use a dry beautyblender® to buff away blush overload or foundation lines. Instead of bouncing, just drag it. The texture of the dry sponge works as an eraser, lifting off excess makeup without leaving any traces behind.

How to Clean?

Your beautyblender® can be cleaned with gentle hand soap, shampoo or any other soap that is safe for use on your skin or hair.  Fill a small dish with warm water and squeeze a dollop of the above into it.  Mix lightly until suds form and keep rinsing until the tinted water turns clear.  You can squeeze all the water out and then blot dry with a paper towel.

Where to find them?

You can buy the original beautyblender® in cosmetic and most specialty pharmacies and clones in all drugstores.  Sephora has the original for $20 and yours truly (the cheapest bitch ever) bought her clone in TJ Maxx for $3.99.  So stipple your way to a flawless complexion.  Didn’t I tell you that it will be cheaper to come back as a man?????