How Beauty Blender Became a Makeup Bag Staple

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email invitation to beautyblender’s 15th anniversary party. I read and reread the email to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Of course, beautyblender today is a part of many people’s daily routines, but I was truly surprised to learn that it was fifteen. Ten, I could maybe believe. But fifteen? Shocking!

I attribute this to the sponge’s massive, meteoric, lighting speed rise to fame in the past few years, thanks to bloggers, YouTubers, Instagram makeup artists, and the like. Think about how many makeup tutorial videos you’ve seen with the now-iconic pink sponge perched atop a vanity table. When I start watching a tutorial video, I expect to see a beautyblender cameo. When it doesn’t show up, its absence is actually noticeable!

So off I went to West Hollywood, California, for beautyblender’s 15th anniversary party. Immediately upon arrival in my hotel room, I spotted beautyblenders---everywhere. They were literally part of my room’s decor. A bowl in the living room, one in the bathroom, handfuls on the bedside tables. There were enough BBs in my room alone to contour an entire village.

Below, you can find a video of the anniversary party and a complete timeline of beautyblender’s history---from conception to makeup bag staple.

2002: beautyblender is founded by makeup artist Rea Ann Silva and the first prototype goes into development. 2003: beautyblender is incorporated 2005: launches with Victoria’s Secret, itsfirst retailer 2007: earns its first Allure Best of Beauty Award 2008: wins its 2nd Allure Best of Beauty Award 2011: launches with Sephora.com and gains major recognition 2011: PURE and blendercleanser solid® launches 2012: beautyblender PRO launches at New York Fashion Week 2013: launches The Detailers makeup brush collection 2013: I’ll spare you the details but this year, beautyblender wins a ton of awards 2014: beautyblender ROYAL, micro.mini and sur.face simple launch 2014: gets its first endcap at Sephora (in marketing speak, this means it’s placed at the end of an aisle, a spot that’s said to give a brand an advantage 2014: wins way more awards 2015: launches red.carpet, body.blender and blotterazzi 2015: debuts on Home Shopping Network 2015: receives five major beauty awards from Allure, Elle, Latina, Nylon and Refinery29
2016: launches nude, micro.mini, liner.designer, the pro collection 2016: awards, awards and more awards!