Beautyblender Has a New Makeup Sponge—and It’s Way Better for the Earth

It’s 2021, and there’s a plant-based alternative for pretty much anything you desire—from “chicken” nuggets to leather made from pineapples. Even your favorite beauty tool just got a green makeover.

The new Beautyblender Bio Pure sponge is made of 60% renewable sugarcane, making it the brand’s most sustainable innovation yet. While all Beautyblenders are actually totally recyclable, this sponge takes things a step further by using more eco-friendly materials from the jump. This essentially translates to a manufacturing process that’s lower in CO2 emissions and creates less water waste.

The sponges are also made in the U.S., which reduces carbon emissions from international transportation, and the outer packaging the sponge comes in is made of post-consumer recycled material (meaning no brand-new plastics are used). Beautyblender plans on transitioning all of it’s packaging to this PCR plastic over the next four years, as well.

The Beautyblender Bio Pure sponge isn’t biodegradable, but like all the brand’s sponges it can be tossed in the recycling along with its outer packaging when you’re done with it (this is news to me!). While the manufacturing process is a little more expensive, the Bio Pure blender retails for $20, the same as the original, in an effort to encourage shoppers to be more sustainable.

This is all well and good, but if it doesn’t work as well as the original, it’s just going to be another sponge headed to the recycling bin. I’m extremely picky when it comes to makeup sponges—I’ve never found a Beautyblender dupe I actually like—so I was nervous this new material wouldn’t hold up.

However, I’m happy to share that I actually prefer it to the O.G. I found the BioPlush material was slightly fluffier and squishier than the regular sponge, which I typically find performs best after I’ve “broken it in” for a week or two. The application was as quick and easy as the classic sponge—just remember to wet it first, then stipple (i.e. bounce) it onto your skin—and I got the same seamless, airbrush finish out of foundation, concealer, and blush as usual.

It’s really encouraging to see brands take real steps to become more sustainable. (In addition to Bio Pure, the brand has pledged to bring more sustainable processes to all its products.) And if my makeup looks all the better for it, it’s truly the best of both worlds.