RO: Sunt sigura ca ati auzit de laudatul Beauty Blender, buretelul in forma de ou cu un varf ascutit, eu de ceva timp imi doream unul. Si apoi am vazut un filmulet al lui Wayne Goss in care spunea de existenta reproducerilor dupa acest buretel si tare m-am bucurat. Din pacate, site-ul pe care il recomanda era din UK iar transportul de la ei pana in Romania era de 8 lire asa ca am facut urmatorul calcul: 4 lire copia + 8 lire transportul = 12 lire...nununu, originalul Beauty Blender este in jur de 20 de dolari. Trebuia sa fie o varianta mai avantajoasa: prietenii nostrii chinezii, dupa cum le spune Antonia. :D

Asa ca am intrat repede pe Ebay si am gasit foarte multi vanzatori care aveau copii dupa Beauty Blender si ofereau transport gratuit. Dar mie mi-a atras atentia o alta forma, nu cea a Beauty Blender-ului, nu cea de ou ci una de tartacuta, ca sa descopar acum cateva zile ca si aceasta forma este copiata dupa un aplicator ("normal ca si asta e o reproducere, prostuto!"), doar ca acesta este o copie dupa Sonia Kashuk Blending Sponge. Nu auzisem de ea pana de curand dar aparent este buretelul ei.

Dar de ce m-am hotarat sa-mi iau copia si nu originalul? Articolul Epuricai m-a convins, are un articol Beauty Blender vs copia (astazi am observat ca si ea are de fapt acelasi tip de buretel ca mine :) ) iar ea este mai multumita de copie decat de original iar cum eu am incredere in parerile ei copia a fost.

Dar sa revenim la micutul meu. Prima oara cand l-am incercat, m-am gandit cum de am rezistat eu pana cum fara el. Fondul de ten arata atat de natural pe fata dupa ce il aplici cu el, Revlon Colorstay nu aratase niciodata mai bine pe fata mea decat atunci cand l-am aplicat cu acest buretel, absoarbe mai putin produs decat bureteii clasici pentru aplicarea fondului de ten, am apucat sa va aspun cumva cat de natural arata fondul de ten? :) Imi place forma de tartacuta foarte mult pentru ca are acea parte mai ingusta de unde il poti tine foarte bine si, in felul asta, mi se pare foarte usor de folosit.

Stiu ca exista pensule ce pot oferi acelasi rezultat dar de ce sa folosesti un buretel si nu o pensula? Daca aveti vreodata zone mai uscate sau descuamate (iarna in special), o pensula nu va face decat sa inrautateasca situatia din cauza micro-exfolierii pe care o face atunci cand frecati pensula de fata, dar daca aplicati fondul d eten cu un burete si efectuati miscari de tapotare nu veti mai face acea micro-exfoliere si nu veti mai deranja cojitele.

Daca v-am spus de ce sa alegeti aceasta varianta, acum sa va spun si cum il folosesc eu: il bag sub jetul de apa de la robinet si il las sa absoarba apa pana isi cam dubleaza marimea, apoi il storc bine si il las putin cat imi iau eu fondul de ten si il aplic pe mana. Dupa ce am pus cantitatea de fond de ten dorita pe mana, iau cu buretelul produsul de pe mana, putin cate putin, si apoi il intind foarte bine pe fata, prin miscari de tapotare si rulare,  astfel incat sa am un strat uniform si subtire. Cam asta ar fi, nu e cine stie ce tehnica complicata. Iar pentru zonele mai dificile cum ar fi pe langa nari sau sub ochi, intorc buretelul si folosesc partea ascutita in acelasi mod. Probabil va voi face o demonstratie la recenzia pe care o voi face fondului de ten pe care il folosesc acum, Ideal Flawless de la Avon (tot o recomandare a lui Wayne Goss :D).

Eh, acum sa va spun de partea mai complicata, curatatul. Se pateaza foarte usor si e destul de greu de curatat daca folositi un fond de ten mai incapatanat cum e Colorstay-ul de exemplu (care pateaza si e nemilos). Eu v-as recomanda sa-l spalati imediat dupa ce il folositi, altfel, nu veti reusi sa-l curatati perfect. Am fost cam lenesa de vreo 2-3 ori si nu l-am spalat imediat dupa ce am terminat cu machiajul asa ca acum  e cam patat iar doar spalandu-l, nu reusesc sa-l curet perfect dar ma gandesc sa-l bag in alcool izopropilic si sa-l las putin, ma gandesc ca e singura mea sansa de a-l aduce in starea de atunci cand l-am primit.

Inafara de partea cu spalatul, alte inconveniente nu i-am mai gasit.

Asa cum va ziceam si mai sus, eu l-am cumparat de pe Ebay, nu am sa va dau vanzatorul de care l-am luat pentru ca nu vreau sa-i fac reclama, eu am fost foarte nemultumita pentru ca mi-a bagat buretelul intr-un plic foarte mic in care a stat turtit si a trbuit sa-l tin o zi intreaga in apa ca sa-si reia forma rotunda cat de cat dar a ramas cu niste cute care nu-mi plac deloc. Pe langa asta a si durat o luna jumate pana sa-mi ajunga, in cazul in care cam o luna e timpul in care vin coletele din China/Hong Kong. Deci, v-as recomanda sa vorbiti cu vanzatorul si sa-l rugati daca va poate trimite bureteluk intr-o cutie mica sau macar un plic ceva mai mare, asta ca sa nu va treziti ca mine.

Aveti un link pentru o cautare pe Ebay, ca sa va faceti o idee: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=beauty+blender+sponge&_sacat=0

Alte site-uri pe care am mai gasit acest tip de aplicator ar mai fi (daca va convine mai mult sa luati in UK si daca nu vreti sa asteptati 1 luna dupa el):

• http://www.cocktailcosmetics.co.uk/Palette-Holders-Accessories/Latex-Free-Make-Up-Blending-Sponge
• http://www.superdrug.com/face/cosmopolitan-blend-perfection-sponge/invt/219868/&bklist=
• Pearly Peach ne-a zis ca ea a vazut si la H&M unul, deci daca ajungeti prin alte tari, sau sunteti in tari unde H&M are si cosmetice il puteti cauta, am inteles ca in Anglia era 2 lire

Dar mai o varianta, si cei de la Make-up Studio au adus acest buretel, il gasitit la ei la pretul de 57 de lei: http://www.make-up-shop.ro/product/ph10030/perfect_blending_sponge

Si cam atat ar fi, cred. Ati fi curioase sa incercati acest tip de burete pentru fond de ten?

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EN: I bet you heard before about the praised Beauty Blender, you know the egg shaped sponge with one pointy end? I did and wanted one. And then I saw Wayne's Goss video for the Beauty Blender dupe and my reaction was: "awesome!". Unfortunately, the site he recommended had a shipping flat rate of 8 pounds for international deliveries so let's see...4 pounds the sponge +8 pounds shipping = 12 pounds...no no no. There had to be something better: as my friend Antonia calls them, our Chinese friends (cause they're my friends as well). :D

So, I quickly discovered a wide variety of sellers that had the Beauty Blender dupe at the same price and as they usually do for these things, free shipping *insert praising angelic voice here*. But a different shape caught my eye, not the egg shaped one but this gourd one, only to discover a few days ago that this is dupe as well ("well of course it is, silly" :)) ), only this one is the dupe for Sonia Kashuk's Blending Sponge. Never heard of her before this but apparently that's her sponge.

One more thing that made me decide to go for a dupe instead of the real deal? Epurica's Beauty Blender vs dupe review where she wrote that she actually likes the dupe more than the original thing and since I have confidence in her opinions that was it.

Now, back to my little baby. The first time I tried it, I was hooked. It gave such a flawless finish to my foundation (Revlon Colorstay at the time) like I had never achieved before using the classic sponges, it didn't absorb as much product as the classic ones do and did I mention the flawless finish?

I know there are buffing and stippling brushes and you can get the same results so maybe you're asking yourself why get a sponge instead of those? If you're ever flaky (especially during winter), using a brush will only mess the flakes and make it look worse, but dabbing and rolling the sponge in order to get the product all over the face instead of rubbing a brush won't mess anything and won't create that micro exfoliation.

How do I use it? First of all I put it under the tap and let it soak a whole lot of water you'll notice that is engorges and doubles its size, then I squeeze it real good (note to self: I've been watching too many shows/movies with people from the good'ol south, gotta cut down on those for the sake of my English :P), I let it sit for a minute or so until I get my foundation, get some on my hand and then I move on to the application: I dab the sponge into the foundation and then dab and roll it on my face in order to distribute it and I make sure to spread it real good  *giggling* evenly and in a thin layer. That's about it, no rocket science there. And for the trickier areas, like the sides of the nose or under the eyes, you just turn it and use the pointy end the same way.

Now cleaning it, this is the tricky part. It stains easily and it's hard to clean it if you have a stubborn foundation like Revlon's Colorstay. My advice would be to clean it immediately after you use it, I was lazy a few times and didn't do it right away, plus using Colorstay that stains everything it touches, so it isn't clean and pink and nice anymore but I'm thinking of soaking it in isopropyl alcohol and maybe I'll have a chance to get rid of those stains.

Other then cleaning part, I see no other problems, it's a joy to use it.

I bought mine from Ebay, as I've said, I give you the buyer because I was displeased with the packaging and I also recommend that you maybe ask the buyer to send it to you in a box instead of an envelope, or at least a bigger envelope. Mine was sent in a tiny envelope and ,the sponge had been staying squashed for 45 days, so it now has some permanent wrinkles and I also had to soak it for 24 hours in order to get it in its round shape again.


Here is a link for a search on Ebay, in order for you to get a better idea about the prices and vendors: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=beauty+blender+sponge&_sacat=0

And other sites that sell this particular type on sponge applicator:

• http://www.cocktailcosmetics.co.uk/Palette-Holders-Accessories/Latex-Free-Make-Up-Blending-Sponge
• http://www.superdrug.com/face/cosmopolitan-blend-perfection-sponge/invt/219868/&bklist=
• Pearly Peach told us that she saw a similar type of sponge at H&M, so lucky you if you have access to H&M cosmetics, she said it was 2 pounds in UK

And also a Romanian site that sells it at 57 lei: http://www.make-up-shop.ro/product/ph10030/perfect_blending_sponge


And I guess that's it. Are you tempted in using a sponge applicator?