If you have not heard the new way to apply makeup, then where have you been? Forget foundation brushes, the regular sponge, and even the oh-so-perfect Kabuki brush, let me introduce you to the blending sponge. You must have heard about the Beauty Blender. How could you not have? Pretty much every beauty blogger has been talking about it. Why wouldn’t they? The sponge can seriously blend away everything. Now for those of you who are on a budget, and don’t particularly want to spend £15 on the Beauty Blender, fear not as Nanshy’s Marvel Makeup Sponge* has come to the rescue.
Nanshy boast that their blending sponge is a 4 in 1 Marvel Makeup sponge, which is not only easy to use, but also good value, and does not compromise the quality of application. The one thing I look for when I am trying out different techniques for applying foundation is how much usage I can get out of one pump of foundation. I don’t know about you, but a lot of the time I find I have not got much usage out of some foundations as I would have hoped. I’ve forever thought I’m doing something wrong!
Let me just give you the low down on what Nanshy claim makes their sponge different from others on the market:
a) it is a 4 in 1 sponge, usually with blending sponges there are only really 3 ergonomic uses for them. The Nanshy sponge has a flat top coming together with a fine tip, this means that smaller areas such as the corners of your eye can easily be covered without needing to rotate the sponge in different directions.
b) The sponge will not roll around on surfaces due to the nature of it’s shape. I am always getting interrupted when I am applying my make-up. What can I say, my cat’s are very vocal characters! The last thing you want is your beauty sponge rolling onto the floor, and it either getting foundation on surfaces or you have to clean the sponge again as it’s attracted dirt.
c) the flat side of it is perfect for achieving the oh-so-envious Kim Kardashian contour.
d) then you have the base, which is used for stippling onto the face as a canvas for your foundation.
When I first received the Nanshy sponge, I did think it was quite small to be a beauty sponge, and thought it was a mini version. Boy was I wrong! Beauty sponges like this one and the Beauty Blender are made to be used when they are damp, so you would just run it under water for a few minutes and squeeze out any excess. The sponge will them almost double in size, making it usable for makeup application. The sponge is used when damp in order for it to not absorb as much foundation as a dry sponge would. It is also SO much easier to blend things out with a damp sponge.
Now I have both, the Beauty Blender and Nanshy’s Marvel Makeup Sponge, and I decided to put both of them to the test. In terms of quality of foundation after use, in all honesty, I didn’t find much of a difference between the Nanshy sponge and the Beauty Blender.That in itself, goes to show that you don’t really need to spend a huge amount to get a quality beauty sponge. If I had known about the Nanshy sponge before purchasing the Beauty Blender I would have definitely gone with the Nanshy sponge, because it is much more justifiable in terms of the price . To clean the sponge, Nanshy recommend using baby shampoo, whereas with the Beauty Blender it is recommended that you use their sponge cleanser, which in the long run can be quite costly.
I think it’s fairly obvious that my Beauty Blender is going to retire back to my makeup storage, and the Nanshy Makeup Sponge is a new addition that now has a firm place within my makeup bag.
You can look at all the products by Nanshy via their website, however, the Blending Sponge can be purchased for £5.95 HERE
Have you tried beauty blending sponges? What are your thoughts on Nanshy’s new sponge?
