Review (5/5): This sponge set achieves a natural looking skin! Quality product. great value.
I spent a few days before purchasing this particular silicone sponge set or any kind of silicone sponge set for that matter, but, I am very glad that I decided to give it a try! With few reviews and real life photos of the items from the customers, I hesitated to decide on ScionBeauty's sponge, but, I am a satisfied customer for the following reasons.
First of all, this is a great value for a set of 5 sponges (2 beauty blender and 3 silicone sponges). The size is not too small nor big and is perfect. Upon opening the package, I recommend washing all sponges. At least the silicone sponges. I used a very very small amount of nice hand soap and very gently washed and rinsed them well. Here are what I noticed about and did with each sponge.
** BEAUTY BLENDER:
The beauty blender indeed expand in size! I would say about 2.5 times the original size. I washed it yesterday and squeezed out excess water with a towel to make sure it doesn't build up mold inside. It did shrink, but, is still bigger than the unwashed one. And, it certainly did NOT become stiff or rip, which I was initially worried about. It became very slightly harder than the unwashed one, but, the washed one is still MUCH bouncier compared to the unwashed one. I actually like this medium level of softness/stiffness. Another reason why I hesitated to wash the blender is because I read some reviews about an inexpensive blender bleeding out pink dye. That is not the case at all about this ScionBeauty blender. At that point, I felt very comfortable using this product. When you wash it, you do need to rinse thoroughly to remove soap bubbles. If soap residue remains in the blender, the blender probably will disintegrate over time and it won't be good for your skin either. Upon arrival, the blender has a very faint smell to it. But, it does go away next day if you keep it out of a plastic bag that it comes in. Also, once you wash it, the smell completely goes away.
** SILICONE SPONGE:
It feels good against the skin! It curves well when I try to bend to fit the curves of my face, so, I can say this particular sponge is flexible. It curves but bounces back is a good way to describe it, I think. On the back side of the plastic bag this sponge set comes in, there is a sticker attached - "How to use ScionBeauty Silicone sponge." I read the instructions as well as referred to Youtube videos and online tips. You do need to dab and pat on your skin rather than glide along on your skin as they say. Then, you can successfully apply a thin and natural looking layer of liquid foundation. I like the natural look, so, this silicone sponge works well for me. Do not remove the sealing (a thin layer of silicone on the edge of the sponge). You need to use the raised side of the sponge to put foundation or any other makeup item on. I used the liquid foundation, but, all I needed was about the size (amount) of a rice grain or two and it covered about a half of my face. It did not smear (Again, dab and tap!). After I finished applying liquid foundation on my face, I again washed the silicone sponge with a very small amount of hand soap and dried with a towel. I also used the silicone sponge to apply serum and it did work extremely well. I always wasted too much with my hands soaking up the serum more than my facial skin did.
This may be a makeup fad that goes away before too long, but, I'm sure I will be using this sponge set for a long time. It was a bit disappointing that I did not receive a reply from the seller when I contacted about the warranty they mention on the Amazon product page, but, I'm sure this product will last long enough to worth the price, so, I'm ok with that in this case and decided not to deduct a star from my review. The product itself and its value still deserve 5 stars in my mind. I highly recommend this sponge set for those who are hesitating to try. It may not be your kind of item, but, if used right and if you happen to like the texture of the sponges, you will understand what I'm talking about.
I'm posting real life photos (not photoshopped, I mean) of the product, so that you can see how the sponges actually look like and how big/small they are. The sponge set does not come in a cute bag or case as you can see, but, it is good enough for yourself and casual gifting.
It is sort of a cliche, but, I DO read customer reviews very carefully before purchasing items, so, I know it is worrisome to buy an item with few reviews or from a company you have never heard of. I care about the quality over the price, but, I do care about the value, too (Is the product cost effective?). You don't have to have this sponge set, but, it really helped me and I decided to take the time to write a review here. Hopefully, my review was helpful for some of you :)