We are having a piece of furniture delivered today so I decided that I had better “put my best face on”—naturally I didn’t want to scare the delivery men because there could be a chance of their dropping this nice TV cabinet down three flights of stairs.
This would be a great time to try my new purchase. The Revive Beauty Blending applicator. This little blending sponge is a much less expensive dupe for the iconic “Beauty Blender” sponge Beauty Blender is the makeup sponge that every beauty blogger, You Tube beauty vlogger, and “expert” raves about.
The original Beauty Blender is on the left. The Revive brand “make up Blending Applicator” sponge is on the right.
Beauty Blender has been around for a while and I’ve always been on the fence about purchasing it. My fingers and foundation brushes seemed to be working fine—until my skin started to age on the fast track and become all wrinkly, blotchy and creped! Yuck! And let me tell you something—it seemed to happen overnight!
It wasn’t until I had a free make up application at Sephora that I found out how really great the Beauty Blender really is! The foundation blended in really well and did not appear cakey nor did my skin look dry either. If you are over 50 years, you know what I’m talking about.
Anyway, I purchased the Beauty Blender and the special cake of soap that is recommended for cleaning this sponge. At $20.00 for the sponge and $16.00 for the soap, this was not an inexpensive purchase.
One ounce of this solid cleanser soap bar is $16.00. It works but only gets 95% of the makeup off. Look at the little photo on the right. That’s the actual soap and it has pink marks from the Beauty Blender’s dye and foundation markings as well. Also, it’s scented with lavender. So if you are allergic..beware!
But let’s “face” it old lady friends. Our old skin isn’t as supple nor is it as luminous or even as when we were young. We get redness and age spots along with those lines. And there is nothing worse than caked up foundation on an old face!
My naked old-lady face with no foundation. See how red and blotchy and freckled my face is? I have wrinkles and fine lines. My face is also creped the the mouth. Hey. It is what it is. At our age, we have to work with what we have. Especially if we cannot afford fillers or a face lift!
Believe me; I cannot count the times when Bonaparte has said:
“Cassee. Ou ‘ev too much mek-up on ou fez” “Eezzz all ceked up”. (Translation: “Cathe. You have too much makeup on your face. It’s all caked up”
So after taking my pricey Beauty Blender home and placing it under running water to expand and get nice and wet, I discovered the following:
- It does blend well.
- You don’t need a ton of product, but it is easy to build up layers
- Provided you have the special BB soap, it is relatively easy to clean
- The sponge doesn’t last a long time. I’ve had mine for over two months and there are tears in it.
- When you first clean the sponge, a ton of pink dye will wash out. A ton!!
- As much as you take great care of this sponge, black moldy spots can appear.
- If you do NOT use the BB soap, this thing is a bitch-and-a-half to clean
- It really needs to be cleaned after every use (that is if you are cosmetic OCD as I am)
- The price for the sponge—at $20 per, is expensive—especially when you need to replace. Add the price of the soap at $16.00 and it’s really pricey!
Listen. I’ve followed care instructions faithfully..and still managed to get a bit of moldy black spots on this expensive little sponge!
I did an online search for possible dupes and discovered there were multiple dupes for Beauty Blender but all the dupes had mixed reviews. I decided to find out for myself.
I picked up a dupe at TJ Maxx. At the price of $3.99 it definitely was worth the buy! The brand is Revive and the blender, in the box, looked very much like Beauty Blender. Outside of the box and comparing the two (after getting the sponge wet), the Revive expands more in size, but is incredibly dense—almost like a rubber ball.
Wow. From this view point, my little sponges look like little pink titties!
Closer view and you can see that the actual Beauty Blender is lighter in color, more porous and less dense in texture. There are a couple of rips and the tip–or nipple, just cannot get 100% cleaned of foundation.
The Beauty Blender is softer to the touch and more pliable too. But I was still eager to try the dupe out.
I primed my face and applied some eye makeup. Then decided to use Elf brand Flawless Foundation in Porcelain.
Elf brand Flawless Finish Foundation is a fantastic value for $6.00. And for more “mature” women who may be on a fixed income and want to look like a million bucks, may I recommend this?
One pump of the foundation. You can see the texture is very creamy and not liquidy–but that’s surprisingly a very good thing!
As a foundation junkie, I think I’ve tried just about every brand out there. Presently, I’m in love with my Marc Jacobs and Givenchy foundations. But when I’m just hanging around idly, I love to use the $6.00 Elf foundation. I’m telling you, this foundation is really a great value for the money. Medium coverage. Doesn’t oxidize. It is actually better than some of the high-end ones I’ve bought in the past.
Anyway, one pump of foundation and I was able to see how far this bit of makeup would go with the Revive applicator.
Oy, my eyes are crossing so badly–forgive me ladies, but I’m naturally cross-eyed! Anyway, although not as soft as the Beauty Blender, this Revive dupe worked just great!
Guess what? It worked like a charm. It
- Was not as pliable and soft as BB, but it still did a fantastic job of blending in the foundation
- BB may be easier to get into those little facial nooks and crannies by the nose, but with some maneuvering, the Revive worked just as well
- Revive applicator seemed to soak up less product than Beauty Blender and was pretty easy to clean!
In addition, I highlighted and contoured with the NYX highlight and contour crème stick applicator. The dupe blended everything in very nicely.
NYX Wonder Stick Highlight and Contour in “light”. This is another great highlight/contour product if you are a beginner at the fine art of contour. It blends into “old lady” skin effortlessly!
No. It isn’t dirt. It’s the NYX contour. And the Revive blender applicator sponge blended this in faultlessly!
Well, let me tell you. I had to run into the bathroom to get a tissue to blow my nose. When I got back to my makeup table, I didn’t see the Revive applicator. WTF? Where could it have gone? I was gone for a total of maybe 5 seconds.
Then I realized that Chippy was nowhere in sight. I looked out of the room and saw what appeared to be a little piece of something dark pink.
Chippy got the Revive Sponge. He must have thought it was a toy.
Oh. Chippy may LOOK innocent and he may beg forgiveness..but his little rescue pup is such a naughty rascal! He’s not interested in watching me apply makeup either. He’s just interested to see what he can put in his mouth and that Revive sponge whet his appetite!
Anyway, I found him hiding under the coffee table in the living room. The remainder of the sponge in his mouth.
Just in case you may be wondering what the dupe looks like from the inside. Surprise! I’m still using this until I get to T.J. Maxx for a replacement. I washed it. It’s fine. It will be used. Do. Not. Judge!
Let me just add another good quality about the Revive Beauty Blender dupe. AT $3.99, it is easily replaceable if your dog happens to snack on it!
Face it! The Revive dupe works! Look how nice my made up face looks after blending in the foundation, highlighter and contour. A bit of blush and a berry lippie complete the look.
Oops! My lipstick smeared. I look like Bette Davis in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane”! Seriously–the Revive Dupe did a fine job at blending all the makeup into my Grand Canyon of a face! Another thing of note. Old Lady hair rules. It’s so much drier than when I was younger but that means I don’t have to wash it as much. Day 11 hair ladies. Day 11 dirty hair. I’ll wash it this weekend.
I want to tell you about another great bargain. Primark leggings. Primark is a fast fashion clothing and home goods store that has made the way from the UK and Ireland over to the States. Well—TWO states. Pennsylvania and Mass. Lucky me—I live ten minutes away from the sole location in King of Prussia! An additional store will be opening up in New York on Staten Island soon.
Oona asked me to pick up a pair of plush lined leggings—since I’ll be visiting her in a couple of weeks, I can act as Mom’s Courier Service!
In the meantime, I found leggings that suck and tuck the old lady’s body in–Primark Shaper Leggings. I gave it a go at $6.00—what did I have to lose of Bonaparte’s hard-earned cash?
These leggings are amazing. Thick, but not too thick. Nice and firmly constructed and they do hold all those higgly-jiggly bits of my thighs and belly in so nicely! I will be going back for another pair or three! The “Large” fit me perfectly. Remember, this store goes by European sizing so it pays to jump a size!
A better look than the pajama bottoms and hoodies I’ve been living in. Looks good with a J. Crew plaid shirt. These leggings are also the perfect travel bottoms. Paired with boots and a tunic sweater–so comfy and practical!
Since a large part of today’s post is beauty and the beauty blender and its dupe. Here are the Temptations. “Beauty’s Only Skin Deep” Yeah. Yeah. Yeah! “XOXOXOXOXO
