As a black woman, I often find it hard to be able to find products that accommodate my skin tone and my undertones. I have recently experimented with more makeup and finding what actually works for my skin. A lot of the biggest brands still don’t accommodate for darker skin tones, (I don’t feel like every brand needs to accommodate every skin tone, I just support brands that make shades for me.)
Fenty Beauty, by Robyn Rihanna Fenty.
I had heard a lot about Fenty Beauty before I had tried it, but when it was first launched in 2016 it had forty shades of foundation which wasn’t a market standard at the time, and in some cases still isn’t. I had tried the mini eaze drop ‘lit all over glow enhancer in Honey Citrine, and the Cheeks out Freestyle Cream Blush in Raisin Standardz. I have a neutral undertone so anything that has a hint of orange looks flat-out orange on my skin tone, this includes red lipsticks.
I wanted to try a glow enhancer, at first, I was interested in the Drunk Elephant Bronzing Drops, but I decided I didn’t want a product with skin care in it, as well as reading the reviews from other Black women saying it had done absolutely nothing for them, and thirty plus pounds is a big gamble for something that might work, so I opted for this. I am very impressed; I usually am a ‘caramel’ shade, so I don’t go for the darkest shade if, like this product, it has a limited shade range. It sits perfectly over my Elf Primer and under my Clinique concealer, which adds a hint of dewiness and glow which is my vibe with my makeup.
The cream blush had surprised me, mainly because I thought I’d be bigger, that is me being silly and not reading the number of grams. Aside I liked this product, I usually am a purplish berry shade as it looks the most natural on my skin when blended out. I will say when I do get red naturally, I can be quite a bright red, but that doesn’t translate to the type of blush I should use. It is highly pigmented and if you’re heavy you might want to prepare before you dip your brush into the pan, I usually like to go in and use my fingers first before I use a makeup blender or a brush as it allows me to gauge the amount of product I want to put on. Fenty has a large shade range for this blush, and you can get it for almost every skin tone and undertone you could think of!
I have some honorable mentions for when I was browsing the Boots page, in their range of skin tints, they have each shade alongside the undertones that it suites, I just think that makes browsing products so much more efficient as it takes into account the differences between undertone and how that can affect how the same product can look on ones face.
UOMA Beauty, by Sharon Chuter
I have several products by Uoma and I cannot and will not get enough. I hadn’t heard about this brand until I saw it in Selfridges and was very impressed by the shade range, then I decided to do some digging. I quite like how on each foundation bottle it states, specifically formulated for brown skin (Melinated Skin) or fair skin. I currently have the Soft Matte weightless foundation, as well as the concealer, the Trippin Smooth Powder, as well the Brow-Fro baby.
The Matte foundation matches my skin beautifully, I had used to website shade matcher, and I clicked and collected, which was a risky move, but it worked out great. It doesn’t feel heavy on the skin at all and doesn’t have an orange cast, which is what I am usually avoiding, the range has fifty-one shades meaning it covers all skin types and undertones!
The concealer in the same shade is slightly lighter as it is common for black women to use concealer as a brightener under their eyes, I like concealer as a mini concentrated foundation that I can pop into my bag, all together I love it when I feel like going a bit more glam and if I mix it with my glow enhancer it creates a perfect dewy look.
The Trippin Smooth powder comes in several shades so it’s not a translucent fit for all shades, I quite like that you can choose your shade as it fits with the makeup as intended, I usually go for a dewy look but if I want to have more of a matte look during more formal events when the flash it out, the powder does keep you matte, I am not too sure about longevity as I do not wear makeup for prolonged periods… like more that 5 hours, but I do like the way it looks when on!
Last but not least the Brow-Fro, adds colour into my brows, I quite like to use it after a brow gel as an overlay product to enhance my brows natural shape, it comes in several shades for different hair shades, I feel like if you don’t like drawing in brows or want a more natural enhanced look this would be your go-to, less fuss and more done!
You can find these products on their respective websites as well as Selfridges & Co as well as Boots, Superdrug, and Sephora. None of the products mentioned were gifted or an advertisement they were all bought with my own money.