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The Beautyblender is a holy grail tool for many makeup fanciers and artists, thanks to its versatility, ease of use, and ease of care. That said, at a regular retail price of $20 (but less online), it is no wonder why people are looking into more cost-effective alternatives. Some might spend $20 on a brush and not think anything of it, but a sponge does have a limited lifespan and would need to be replaced far more frequently, even when well-cared-for, than a brush.

Several companies have similar products – there’s a Sephora branded one, a Real Techniques introduced one, and there are several others from various companies, including some, generic ones. Bundle Monster actually has a set of four sponges for around $10-15 online. I’ve seen participants in various communities say that there is no difference when it comes to the Beautyblender vs Bundle Monster sponges and that you should save your money. I also have a friend who exclusively buys the less costly variants, swearing  up and down that they are identical.

I endeavored to do a Beautyblender vs Bundle Monster Sponge comparison for a while. Then, a friend bought the 4pc Bundle Monster pack and decided she wouldn’t need all four, and was sweet enough to give me two on Friday, so I was equipped…for science!

I unboxed my two sponges and immediately noticed that they were a denser foam, former to the touch. The base of the teardrop Bundle Monster sponge (mine is purple), which is what I will be comparing to the Beautyblender, was wider and slightly flatter so that it sits up on its own if you set it down that way. It is also ever-so-slightly larger, as you can see here:

beautyblender vs bundle monster sponges

Please pardon my slightly less-than-pristine Beautyblender, as she is well-loved. I then wet them simultaneously. It did take a little bit more effort to dampen the sponge, and required more squeezing. When I squeezed it after its initial saturation, some suds oozed out – err, what? I continued to saturate and ring it out until that stopped, about five times. At its largest, it is also larger than the original Beautyblender. This is not always a good thing, though, as it can be more difficult to blend in narrower areas like around your nose, eyes, etc. Here they are dampened (enlarged) and wrung out – I realized after the fact that I am a damn fool and should have included something for scale so you could get an idea of size before and after, but gimme a break. (If you’d like to see the wet vs dry Beautyblender vs Bundle Monster Sponge comparison I’m happy to oblige – just let me know in the comments!)

I was considering doing a Beautyblender vs Bundle Monster Sponge side by side application comparison, but decided against it for now – let me know in the comments if that is relevant to your interests. Instead, I slapped on my foundation with the Bundle Monster Sponge. As I always do when using a sponge like this, I pumped one pump of foundation to the back of my hand, picked up some of the product with the sponge, and began to stipple it onto my face. Two things I noticed immediately: 1) it feels very rubbery and bouncy on your face – it actually bounces and 2) it absorbed more product than the Beautyblender, and did not allow me to deposit all of the absorbed foundation onto my face.

With the Beautyblender, I use about 1.5 pumps of my foundation (which is currently MUFE HD Invisible Cover). The Bundle Monster Sponge had me use about 2.25 pumps to achieve similar coverage. I definitely did not expect this, since the BM sponge is a denser foam – if anything, I’d have thought it would absorb less. After a couple minutes, I was able to blend out my foundation to my desired coverage (medium-ish, I wasn’t doing anything special except guinea pigging). It did the job, but it took a little longer.

It is also important to note how they wash and how easy they are to care for. The BM sponge took more elbow grease to thoroughly clean both with baby shampoo and a Blendercleanser Solid, but did eventually come completely clean without staining. It took slightly longer to fully dry, but that can also be attributed to the density of the sponge.

In all, the Bundle Monster Sponges are an acceptable alternative to Beautyblenders, but it is important they are not identical in form or performance. It takes longer to achieve the same result with the Bundle Monster Sponges, they do not clean quite as quickly. At this point, it is difficult to tell how long they will last, longevity-wise –  but even if they last only 1/4 as long each, the savings are still there at only $10-15 for a pack of four. That said, it is also possible to find Beautyblenders for less than regular retail (Amazon.com, etc).

Disclosure: Neither Beautyblender or Bundle Monster know who I am, as far as I know. I just tried this on my own and wanted to share – I recommend both products, but only you can know your needs. That said, some of the links here are affiliate links – this means I may get a very small percentage of the sale if you decide to buy something. I’ll only tell you that something is awesome if I have verified it myself!