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Etude House - Sugar Silicon Puff



When I first saw silicon make up puffs through my Facebook feed I was really skeptical about whether or not it was actually any good. There were already so many labels trying to push 'innovative' 'creative' ways to apply and wear your make up which seemed cool but never at all necessary. I kinda just shrugged this off as another attempt to be a new beauty blender alternative...I thought to myself that its probably nothing but a hype until people try it only to realise that it is actually just a hype.

Honestly speaking, I've never tried the beauty blender either, but I won't doubt the hundreds of thousands shining reviews it has. After-all I'm not that much of a skeptical moron.
My first make up sponge was actually the Shu Uemura light bulb. At the time, still new to make up, after watching my favourite beauty guru I ended up buying one of Shu Uemura's foundation and the sponge to match. The foundation ended up being too moist for my skin type and so I stopped using it since, without fail, it left me with a wet greasy look within about an hour of wear! I remember I would try primers and finishing powders and setting sprays but nothing could save this foundation from the greasy mess that it would leave me with.
I would then try to save the light-bulb sponge by trying it with my other foundations but eventually I found that just didn't have the time to clean the sponge all the way through perfectly to my liking over and over after only a couple of uses and then needing to leave it long enough to dry thoroughly so I just stopped using it. Reusable sponges from there on has just become a no-go.

Nowadays instead I use make up sponges (mainly from the Japanese brand Rosy Rosa) where I'll use the sponge twice or so and throw it out or I would use a cushion pad that comes in my BB Cushion pact where I can carry with me (which to me is easier to wash and dry because of its thinness) and every not so often I'd like to use my foundation brush depending on the occasion.

Convinced that the silicon sponge was just a phase I was surprised when I still kept seeing them being sold here and there even from a few well known Korean brands. When I saw that Etude House had begun selling ones in the shape of a cat I thought "Fine I'll give it a go". It seemed easy enough to clean and dry. And well...the shape looks adorable.



Before Use
I usually use a primer of some sort before my BB cream to help it last longer through the day and for my skin to look smoother despite the sheerness of BBs. This usually just gets applied with my hands. For the BB cream I'm using the Skin Food Grape Cell Essential BB Cream (which smells amazing!) because I felt like my skin has been needing that extra bit of moisture which I find this BB gives me.

First Impressiosns
It comes in your usual plastic packaging in the shape of a cat with lashes and is flexible and soft to the touch. It actually feels satisfying to the touch which is making me consider whether or not I want to buy two more as cooling eye packs. The sponge slightly smells like plastic but you won't notice unless you actually stick your nose to smell it like I did.

Testing
According to the instructions Silicon Puff can be used to dab skin care products onto your skin, to place on your eyes as an ice pack as well as being used for foundations, BB creams and CC creams. I missed the part where it tells you to use 1/3 of the BB cream you normally would and so I ended up with a lot left over...
I tested the puff by first putting BB onto the back of my hand and then applying some to my face. At first I grabbed too much onto the puff which made it difficult to apply evenly and left me with a consistency that was hard to work with, kind of like when you grab too much paint on a paint roller. Once I got the hang of it the puff actually applied the make up nicely and the cat's ears worked nicely to apply to areas near my eyes and around my nose.

My make up throughout the day wore fine as usual. It didn't affect the way my blush or contour was applied and didn't affect the way other products sat on my skin either.
This method does end up taking longer than usual at first but was definitely easier to clean and fast to wash and dry.


Washing
I included this part because when I went to wash it immediately afterwards the cat's face had half faded! Which explains why I found a couple of specks on my nose which I originally assumed was from my eye make up. It was a bit frustrating to find since it was brand new but it was easily washed with my foaming face wash and then dried with a clean cloth.

Final
Overall I am glad I tried one of these out. I am a bit sad that the cat's face will fade so quickly but I do think I will end up buying a couple more to use as an ice pack on my eyes because the silicon is actually so soft to play with. It did take a little longer to blend than usual but I do think it's worth it because it'll get me more use out of the amount of make up I use than any sponge packs. I don't know if other silicon puffs are the same as this one as I have yet to try but this was 5.42 USD which I do say is a reasonable price...and its super cute.

EDIT
So I've used this for a bit longer now and I've brought it here and there with me. I've started to notice the back layer of the puff has stretched a tiny bit from the silicon but the front part is still fine. Since it's the back part only the application of make up using the front is still normal. I will keep this post updated with pictures later on until no further changes occur.

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