By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | September 22, 2022 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | September 22, 2022 |

Eva Mendes doesn’t act anymore. She quietly retired from the big screen, with her last film appearance being 2014’s Lost River, directed by her hot partner Ryan Gosling (she does have a recent voice credit on Bluey, which makes her a Rockstar among the under-6 crowd.) She’s talked about not missing acting, preferring to be at home with her kids and trying out new ventures. And she has kept busy. She’s been an ambassador for multiple major brands. She had a make-up line at Walgreens. She had a home decor line at Macy’s. And she spends a lot of time on Instagram showing off about the fact that Baby Goose Ryan is her plus-one. Respect.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eva Mendes (@evamendes)

A post shared by Eva Mendes (@evamendes)

Really, she’s doing what most celebrities do nowadays: holding down a few side-hustles to keep your name out there are make some extra money. Consider how so many people — too many, really — have make-up and skincare lines now, or how many bro-ish actors shill for their own booze brand. Like the cleaning of a house, it never ends.

But Mendes has another business, one that seems kind-of unexpected for a former actress and international sex symbol: a sponge line.

Mendes is the official business partner and co-owner of Skura Style, a company that creates antimicrobial sponges! The sponges are designed to be efficient, easy-to-clean, and look pretty in your kitchen. Per the website: ‘Why can’t a sponge be as well designed as the kitchen it lives in? Clean Scandinavian design, bold colors and pretty packaging—Skura takes innovative cleaning technology and makes it pretty.’

And Mendes isn’t half-arsing her involvement with the company. She’s all over the marketing, being mega-glamorous as well as a fun domestic goddess.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Eva Mendes (@evamendes)

A post shared by Eva Mendes (@evamendes)

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Skura Style (@skurastyle)

A post shared by Skura Style (@skurastyle)

Honestly, I kind of want one of these sponges now.

At first glance, it seems rather random for any celebrity to get into this kind of business, but it’s actually grown in popularity. Homeware and domestic bliss is a major selling point for many people and cleaning has become oddly viral on social media. Mrs. Hinch, a British influencer, became a huge deal thanks to videos of her offering cleaning tips. She’s now a best-selling author whose face can be found promoting many major cleaning products. Kris Jenner, of all people, has a cleaning and laundry brand called Safely that is surprisingly well-reviewed. We may not all get super-smooth skin from our JLo moisturizer or achieve Gaga-esque lips from Haus Laboratories but there is something pretty attainable and comforting about having a nice clean home. I can certainly attest to that, especially when lockdown hit and I couldn’t exactly leave my flat that often. Mendes may not be a traditional stay-at-home mother but I bet she’s had more than a few moments of irritation when she couldn’t clean up after a child-caused spillage.

Besides, this isn’t as oversaturated a market as celebrity skincare/make-up. Seriously, why the f**k does Brad Pitt now have a skincare line? Or Scarlett Johansson? I’m sure Mendes has had many opportunities to get back into the beauty business but her make-up line didn’t set the world on fire and now only seems available in small batches online. Cleaning and domestic work may not be glamorous but it’s probably a hell of a lot more profitable than any of these other vanity hustles.

So, clean on, Eva Mendes! And look damn fine doing it.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Skura Style (@skurastyle)

A post shared by Skura Style (@skurastyle)

Kayleigh is a features writer and editor for Pajiba. You can follow her on Twitter or listen to her podcast, The Hollywood Read.

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