Makeup Brushes & Tools & Face Reviews

This retractable angled kabuki from Laura Geller sits at the intersection of practicality and quiet luxury. In our testing, it turned baked and loose powders into a soft-focus veil that looked polished but never heavy, with bristles so pillowy we found ourselves absentmindedly sweeping it across bare skin. The angled cut and adjustable sleeve make it a surprisingly nimble multi-tasker — one moment it’s a broad, airy blender, the next it’s tightened up for more sculpted bronzer or blush.

But prestige has its trade-offs: the retractable mechanism demands a gentle, deliberate hand, and durability isn’t perfectly consistent across the board. For the right person — the traveler, the powder devotee, the sensitive-skin wearer who wants vegan softness — it’s a chic, hard-working companion. For those who crave dense, unyielding kabukis or toss brushes into bags without a second thought, it may feel more fussy than fabulous.

This is the rare viral sponge set that lives up to the whispers. In our hands, the AOA Studio Collection Makeup Sponge Set behaved less like a bargain bundle and more like a drawer full of prestige blenders we didn’t have to baby. The latex-free, teardrop design gave us that soft-focus, airbrushed base we usually associate with far pricier tools, and the cloud-soft bounce turned everyday foundation and concealer into a small ritual of pleasure. The trade-off is real: that pillowy texture can sip more product than denser sponges, and you do need to be diligent about cleansing and drying to keep them pristine. But if you’ve ever rationed your Beauty Blender out of guilt, this six-pack feels like liberation—luxury-level application without the anxiety of wearing a $20 sponge into the ground.