Never take a Beauty Blender sponge, $20, away from a makeup artist. The iconic pink egg has fast become a powerhouse staple in every artist's makeup kit. Ahead, you'll learn how pros use the Beauty blender sponge in both expected and unexpected ways and learn about wallet-friendly dupes.

Wet to Activate
Saturate your adorable little egg before use. The most common user mistake is using it dry. The Beauty Blender boasts an open cell structure that fills with water when wet, allowing makeup to sit on the sponge rather than getting absorbed into it. Wet the Beauty Blender, then squeeze or blot out excess water.

Bounce, Bounce, Bounce
To get that dewy, natural finish, you need to take a wet Beauty Blender and go to work using the stippling technique. This unusual technique involves lightly bouncing the Beauty Blender on your face. For foundation, start stippling from the center of your face and move outwards. You can use it to apply other products such as highlighter, contour cream, and even moisturizer. Use the pointy tip around the eyes and nose and apply the round end to the forehead, cheeks, and chin.

Correct Mistakes
To erase makeup color mistakes, sweep the Beauty Blender in the problem area to minimize the color.

Add Some Color to Lips and Cheeks
Color in your lips with a lip pencil and then use the pointy tip of the sponge to soften edges for a muted pout. Apply a cream blush or even lipstick to the apples of your cheeks and use the sponge to blend the color outwards and downwards for a diffused, romantic look.

Bathe It Regularly
Make sure that your little egg gets regular soap baths, preferably after each use. Save the packaging and, between uses, let the Beauty Blender air dry on top of the plastic cylinder. Replace every three months.

Make It Your Travel Buddy
The extremely packable Beauty blender sponge can do the work of a complete set of makeup brushes, freeing up your luggage space.

Wallet-Friendly Dupes
You do not need to shell out big bucks to get your hands on a Beauty Blender or four. There are some Beauty Blender dupes that pros claim work as well as the original Beauty Blender. Some Beauty Blender Target dupes include the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge, $6, which can do all the things that the Beauty Blender can do for less than half the price, the Real Techniques Diamond Sponge, which has even more surfaces dedicated to different uses at half the price of the Beauty Blender sponge, and the L'Oreal Paris Infallible Beauty Blender, $7.99, which comes in a similar hot pink color as the original Beauty Blender sponge and promises results that wow.