I recently visited Claire’s, originally because I wanted to check out their rings, and ended coming home with this small beauty accessories haul.

This review is about the Mini Blending Sponges that I bought. When I saw them, they immediately reminded me of the new mini Beauty Blenders that were launched not that long ago, so as they were very affordable I decided to give them a try. What if I was about to find a good dupe? I simply could not not pick them up!

I was very excited to try them out when I got home.

Each clear box (5,95€) contains 3 of these mini pink sponges which could mean that I could use one or two for concealer and carry one in my make up bag for touch ups.

However, it is not gold all that glitters! Above you can see the comparison of a dry and wet mini sponge versus a dry and wet Beauty Blender (excuse the make up on them!).

One of the best features of the Beauty Blender is how it expands when wet, becoming a very squishy sponge and giving a very gentle application and diffusion of make up.

On the other hand, Claire’s mini sponges do not change size when dampened. If you try to apply make up with them (yes, I did!) you will find yourself in a very uncomfortable situation. The sponge is hard, very dense and does not have any of the nice characteristics of the Beauty Blender. Try “bouncing” foundation with a ping pong ball and you will get a similar feeling. There is no blending, it applies the product in a patchy way, it is uncomfortable to use and odd to manipulate.

I have seen better and worse dupes of the Beauty Blender, but these are by far the worst! Not even in the realm of a similar product. I don’t recommend them.