I purchased the AliExpress dupe to the real techniques miracle complexion Sponge back in January last year, and it only cost me $0.70. But in purchase for me to really compare how it looks and feels against the real thing… I had to get the real thing:
The price for the real techniques sponge ranges from $7.69 online from the RT store to $11.99 from Rexall (drugstore). I purchased mine for $9.99 off NailPolishCanada.com
EDIT: check out the follow up post here (exceptional customer service!)
A bit of a history my experience with the real techniques sponge; I briefly discussed it in my charm Blender Battle, that I did own it once upon a time. But I didn’t love it because of the shape and how rapidly the sponge fell apart. I was prepared to give it a try again because it’s possible that I got a bad batch, and I know that lots of people choose it over the charm Blender.
Fatto in Cina. Fabriqué en Chine. Hecho en China. Hergestalt in China. Prodotto in Cina. Fabricado na China. Validade Indeterminada…
The RT Sponge is made in China so it’s possible that I could get a sensible dupe from AliExpress – I mean… things fall off trucks, right?
Once I took the RT sponge out of the package, I couldn’t tell it aside from the AliExpress one, at first.
Quale è quale?
Then I started to see the minute differences:
In certain light, the AliExpress one is slightly much more yellow in colour and RT is much more coral.
RT on the left, AliExpress on the best – all photos of the 2 sponges in this post are in that order.
The texture of the RT is is much more textured and has much more porous holes whereas the AliExpress is smoother.
I wasn’t the only one who saw boobs. My SO walked by and asked me what kind of blogging I was doing…
Shape- and size- wise, they’re identical when dry:
However, when wet, I was really amazed how large the AliExpress one expanded compared to the RT:
As for performance, I found the AliExpress to be just ok – it’s not as bouncy as the RT and has a much more rubbery texture. I was concerned that it would pull foundation off my skin when blending but it didn’t do that. I found it gave a much more sheer finish compared to the RT.
The performance of the RT was terrific – very airy and bouncy. I found it excelled at blending out my concealer using the pointed end. However, I am still not a substantial fan of its shape – I have absolutely no use for the flat side of the sponge. The whole idea of the egg shape with the charm Blender is to eliminate severe edges when bouncing the sponge. With this shape, I end up mainly using the rounded sides of the sponge so I always have to hold it on an odd angle.
But, the worse part of the trial? The damn RT sponge started to tear just after using it TWICE! I’m not kidding, look at it:
This is completely unacceptable! I treat all of my sponges the same – I wear dish washing gloves when I wash them so I don’t dig my nails into them.
Well, at least now I can tell them apart easily.
There are also pit marks all over – see how the RT looks on the left compared to the AliExpress one on the right. The AliExpress sponge has no tears at all. I’ve used these sponges about 6 times each now and the holes in the RT sponge are getting deeper. My other sponges last way longer than this. So it wasn’t a fluke that my other RT also fell apart like this. What the heck, RT.
So I’d likely not repurchase either of these sponges. The AliExpress sponge is just an ok dupe to the RT, but the underlying issue I have with this sponge shape is the essential reason I’d not purchase another. and the poor quality of the sponge material prevents me from wasting much more money on the real Real techniques sponge!
Here’s what the real techniques and the AliExpress version look like next to the charm Blender and the H&M precision makeup Sponge. Out of the 4, my preferred is the H&M one – it has a terrific squishy texture and good egg shape – and it only costs $5! (hence why I named it one of my preferred discoveries of 2016!) And, say what you will about the charm Blender, but that sucker lasted me 3 years, I only recently retired it due to the holes that it was developing.
Are you a fan of the real techniques sponge? Besides the charm Blender, which sponge do you recommend?
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