An applicator for a cosmetic product to keratinous materials, particularly to keratinous fibers, notably to the eyelashes, the eyebrows and/or the capillary fibers, includes a core that extends along a longitudinal axis, a cosmetic product application element having at least one block of a foam attached to the core, the foam being an open-cell polymer foam which on its outer surface has free strands formed by all or part of the edge corners of cells that have been cut through by the machining of the foam.