All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
I'm holding tightly onto my beauty-editor card as I write this, but here's the truth: It took me a long time to love foundation sponges. As in, at least five years. On top of my general morning struggles, they always felt like such an exaggerated inconvenience.
Picture Paul Rudd in the cafeteria scene from Wet Hot American Summer. That level of angst is how I feel about ducking roommates to get into the bathroom for a sponge-wetting trip mid-makeup-routine, only to stand for what feels like many minutes waiting for the sponge to puff up enough. Add in the "Wait, is that mold?" issue—because who has the wealth to replace a $20 sponge as often as you're supposed to?—and brushes are just fine, TYSM.
But then I met L'Oréal's Infallible Blend Artist Foundation Blender, at the "Yeah, I'll replace it often" price of $6.99. Technically, a sponge is a sponge is a sponge, but this version has enough tweaks that the experience is somehow so, so much better for me than its luxury counterparts.
I think it's because it sucks up water at NASA-level speed, and my sink time now clocks in at about 30 seconds—in sponge talk, that's two to three squeezes, yet it doesn't absorb an excess of product, which is a common complaint that applies to most porous beauty applicators. Plus, the indentation makes it easy to hold, and the gently pointed tip gets it where it needs to go.
Real Techniques' flat surface makes sense, and the beautyblender's bounce is iconic, but the Artist Blender can't be beat for covering ground with a natural finish.
There's been a lot of sponge innovation recently, between the silicone blenders brought to life by the Internet and the household objects also co-opted by enterprising vloggers, but it's the same as sunscreen—you want something good enough that you enjoy it and cheap enough that you're happy to replace it. Without those two boxes checked, nothing's gonna stick.
The Artist Blender, I'm happy to report, gets it done.
Related:
-This $9 Makeup Sponge Looks Like a Happy Breast Implant
-Why This Viral Acne Makeup Tutorial Is Sparking a Ton of Debate
-6 Reasons You're Always Returning Your Foundation
