TikTok’s Latest Viral Beauty Hack: Freezing Your Makeup Sponge
February 15, 2022
.jpg?cx=0.5&cy=0.5&cw=400&ch=300&blr=False&hash=AAC0C42858F8EF0BD3664479AE49E5DE)
I’m a sucker for cold beauty. What do I mean by that? Well, I store all of my skincare products in a mini fridge so they feel extra refreshing on my skin, and I depuff daily with an ice cold jade roller. I love how the cooling sensations simultaneously awaken and soothe my complexion, but I never considered adding a cooling technique to my makeup routine until I came across a now-viral TikTok from Briana Pelaez.
In the clip, Pelaez blends her foundation with a frozen makeup sponge. Which she says allows her makeup to blend in smoothly, minimizes pores and simply feels incredible. Though many of the viral TikTok beauty trends I’ve tried have been a flop, I had high hopes for this one given my love of all things frozen. Keep reading to find out if this trick is actually worth the hype and if it gives me a flawless foundation application.
Does Freezing Your Makeup Sponge Do Anything?
While most of the frozen makeup sponge videos I found recommended freezing the sponge for only one hour, I decided to go all in and freeze it overnight after cleaning it. The next morning when I pulled it out of the freezer I was surprised to find that it wasn’t totally solid — the outside was still bouncy while the core felt pretty firm. The sponge felt cold to the touch, though, so I figured it was frozen enough.
Once I primed my skin, I dispensed a bit of the Valentino Beauty Very Valentino 24 Hour Wear Liquid Foundation onto the back of my hand and dabbed it onto my face with the sponge.
I absolutely loved the cold feeling on my skin — it made applying my foundation feel like an invigorating experience rather than a chore.
Also, I'm prone to redness on my cheeks — usually I’m able to mask any redness with my foundation but that wasn’t the case with the frozen sponge. No matter how much I tried to blend, a slight red tinge peaked through on the apples of my cheeks. This mishap made me look like a child who just came inside after playing in the snow (in reality the redness wasn’t that exaggerated, but the fact that it was there annoyed me nonetheless).
Once I completed the rest of my makeup the redness wasn’t noticeable, though. In fact my finished look was better than usual. Although, I don’t attribute it to the sponge — my complexion looked pretty normal, so I think it was just a good makeup day.
Aside from the nice cooling sensation though, I can’t say that it did much else. I didn’t get the smooth blending experience and my makeup glided on like normal. Personally, I think this is a cool hack to try once, but I won’t add it to my regular skincare routine. But, to be very clear: I’m still an unapologetic sucker for cold beauty; I'll just stick with my frozen jade roller for a burst of icy goodness instead.
Read more
