Beauty tips: 3 alternative uses for sponge eye shadow applicators

Love them or hate them, those little sponge applicators you often find in eye shadow palettes can certainly come in pretty useful. I have to admit, I no longer use mine for applying eye shadow – they just don’t work as well as a makeup brush. I had been throwing these away for a few years when I realised that they were great for a lot of things – just not eye shadow application! Here are my top three tips for what you can do with those unwanted sponge applicators:

1. Nail Art – the sponge tip is great for a quick and easy ombre nail art look. Apply your base colour and wait for it to dry. Grab your sponge applicator and dab a contrasting colour nail polish on, starting from about a third of the way up your nail (lighter initially, building up colour depth toward the fingertip).

2. Makeup clean up – so you’ve just done a smokey eye, but now need to get rid of the excess shadow that’s currently making you look slightly raccoon-like. Get your sponge applicator and add a few drops of micellar water, before sweeping around the eye area. This should remove any fall out or excess product without needing to rub or smudge the rest of your makeup.

3. Turn lipstick into a lip stain – I’ve often used my fingers to pat just a hint of lipstick onto my lips to create a soft, stained effect, but this can get a bit messy and to be honest be a bit unhygienic. The sponge applicators work just as well as your finger for a soft, stained effect, but do it minus the mess. Bonus!

Are you a fan of sponge applicators? What do you use yours for?