Review: Tropical Paradise by Free Spirits Cosmetics

Tropical Sunrise by Free Spirits

I promised I'd do a review once I found the perfect orange lipstick and now that I have, here it is!

Some background: Free Spirits Cosmetics is a new but expanding make up line created by Leandra Goodridge, a Barbadian entrepreneur who is also a make up artist.

Now to the review!

Orange Lipstick Lessons

Recently I've been very interested in orange lipstick. But I worried about how I could pull it off because I know it can be a tough colour for dark skin tones to pull off. However, I believed there must be a way. So I went hunting for tutorials on orange lipstick for dark skin tones and I found this gem by Emmy Vargas!

I just wanted to share it because it was a great help to me. I especially liked the lip liners she recc'ed. I'm definitely gonna purchase nutmeg from my local NYX store.
After I try a few orange lipsticks myself and determine for myself the best way to wear them, I'll do a post about it! Please anticipate.

Fashion and Makeup Moodboard: September edition

Lately I've been thinking about see-through stretchy tops, high waist pencil skirts, too much gold jewellery, and late 80's/early 90's hairstyles.

Makeup-wise I've been thinking a lot about pasting on thick eyeliner in crazy colours-but only on the top lid!-,wearing fuchsia lipstick, and piling on excess blush. 

Deciphering MUA Speak at the Make Up Counter

Disclaimer: cr: Phil Hilkifer according to Creative Commons terms of use

"It's buildable"

 What it means:
It's not very rich or pigmented and you need a lot of it to actually cover imperfections.

"After the demonstration, you can purchase a product" 

What it means:
You are not getting any products free after your makeover. We are not the MAC counter.

"Just... keep blending till it matches your face" 

What it means:
That product does not match your face. Do not buy it.

"Take a sample and try it for yourself" 

What it means:
The product sells itself. (This is a good sign.)

Top 5 Make up Mistakes to Avoid

photo credit: nikisgroove

5. Not understanding what eyebrow shape best suits your face.

I'll confess that I'm still figuring out how to shape my eyebrows to compliment my face best. But I've found that it's foolproof to follow your eyebrows' natural shape and just keep the area around it clean and well-tweezed. Pro-tip: use concealer around your brows in order to hide any stray hairs that are growing out again!

4. Choosing the wrong foundation

This goes a lot further than choosing the wrong shade (though that can also be a nightmare). If you have oily skin, its wise to avoid stick foundations as they tend to be quite waxy after a few hours. Try a powder foundation instead.
If you have very dry skin, avoid powder foundations and try a stick foundation or a liquid foundation.
    Also, remember that you ideally want to have at least two foundation options. One with SPF, for outdoors (trips to town, picnics, etc.) when you know you will be in the sun. And one without SPF, which can be worn for indoor night time events, when you know you will be taking pictures. This is advisable because SPF can give an awful flashback in photos, and you will look grey!

3. Not blending out concealer, and ending up with a white halo from under eye to cheek to ear.

I've spoken on my dislike of concealer before here, and while I maintain that it should be avoided if possible, its necessary if you want to achieve that perfect flawless complexion. Even when I layer on my foundation, my strong under eye circles are still apparent, and if I'm going out on a date or out with the girls, I don't want to look like a raccoon!
  Enter concealer. Choose a concealer only one to two shades lighter than your skin tone. Concealers with an orange-y base tend to look more natural. Concealer is one product that can't be blended enough. Just blend, blend, blend and keep blending, till it matches the rest of your face. And then make sure you set it with a powder that is the same complexion as the rest of your face!

2. Not matching your neck with your made-up face

Remember to bring the foundation and powder down to your neck so you look like one even complexion.
And don't neglect your ears, and chest if you are wearing something low-cut!

1. Falling asleep in Make-up

Basically, you should only do this if you want to wake up looking ten years older. The make-up seeps into the creases of your face, giving you harsher fine lines around your eyes and mouth.
  However, I've found that falling asleep with eyeliner and eyeshadow still on is truly to best way to get the perfect smoky eye. However, the accentuated fine lines just weren't worth it!

Make up Tip for Cakey Foundation

Finally, a solution to cakey make-up! Previously I had complained that one of my biggest issues with foundation is that it is too heavy for our climate, and that it also gives the face an undesirable cake effect. Well now, I've found the answer to this problem in a video by one of my favourite youtubers, Wayne Goss!

To summarise the video below, Wayne Goss basically advises us that after priming, use a mineral foundation and then a liquid foundation, blend, and voila! no cakey face! I had no idea it could be that simple!

Maybe I'll retire my trusty BB cream and try this instead! At least for a night out with friends, because neither my e.l.f mineral foundation nor my Estee Lauder liquid foundation have enough SPF in them for me to risk this look during the day.

Who are some of your favourite make up youtubers?

Make Up Confessions

Disclaimer: cr. Hina according to Creative Commons terms of use

1. I can't pull off black lipstick but I'm forever liking pics of girls who can.

2. I dislike concealer so I usually just use more foundation on my problem areas and blend, blend, blend!

3. I'm so over matte red lipstick. I'm all about shiny fuchsia in 2014.

4. I always put on too much powder but I can't seem to help myself

5. I apply blush on my cheekbones and not the apples of my cheeks because if I put in on my cheeks it drags my face down and makes me look wayyy older.

New Products

Hi! I'm back with a new post of some make-up products I've tried recently.

Over the first quarter of the year I purchased some new make-up products. The following is divided into the products I recommend and products that were horrid.

BB Cream and the Problem of Foundation in the Caribbean

Foundation was not created with tropical climates in mind. I have Black Opal's Foundation stick and let me tell you, it all starts out just peachy in the morning when it is not so hot yet. Plus I usually wake and get ready super early, so by 7:30 I'm finished my make-up and my face looks so polished, settled and happy. By nine o'clock you start sweating because of the heat but at first it looks really healthy and dewy under the foundation. You just look a little shiny but that's ok. By 11 you can feel it sinking into your pores. The worst case scenario is that you can feel it slowly sliding down your face. This has never happened to me, but I have heard horror stories. What always happens though is that by noon its practically non-existent. I might as well have never put it on. By the time I get home, usually around 7 pm (yes, I'm out all day from 8 am till nightfall), it literally looks like I never put on any make up at all. And it does not matter if I set it with powder or used primer. I just look super shiny and greasy and like I ran a marathon. This is why I rarely wear foundation. Nowadays I've just been using concealer, then setting it with powder, and calling it a day. Plus foundation looks really cakey to me and to be honest its not that great a product in general. I finally understand why so many make up gurus just go without it.

However, lately I've been having some trouble with hyper-pigmentation (this tropical sun can be cruel to black skin, let me tell you), and I've also been having some unexpected pimples (early 20's adult acne has been mainly confined to my back and shoulders though, thank you Jesus). Plus some freckles because of the summer sun. All those things means that I really need a product to even out my complexion. I just need something that will blur out the imperfections. But won't be cakey or sink into my pores halfway through the day. I also wanted something that wouldn't make me feel like I have make-up on.

Enter BB cream.

My Make-Up Routine

Disclaimer: cr. slimmer_jimmer according to Creative Commons terms of use

So my make-up routine has changed significantly for two very particular reasons: 

I Want! I Want! I Want! (But that's Crazy)

So, I am not rich. And now I'm trying to finish up my education, I haven't been working for most of this year, in order to finish my studies as quickly and cleanly as humanly possible. So actually, I am not just not-rich, I'm pretty close to poverty as I haven't been working since March. Anyway, the problem with this is that I have very expensive taste, especially when it comes to skin products and cosmetics. My wishlist is very extensive and includes correcting serums, night creams and a mud mask, but my immediate concern is mascara.

My L'Oreal Lash Architect is on its last legs. Because I am not the sort to dutifully change mascara every three months, I just wait till all the product is definitely gone. I have been using this mascara for so long that the Lash Architect has since been discontinued (and replaced by Lash Architect 4D.) Anyway, a new mascara is long overdue for me. And I have had my eye on Chanel Inimitable for YEARS!!Here's proof:

My old twitter

So yeah, that tweet is from 2010. I wasn't joking when I said I've wanted it for years. I could have saved for it and bought it ten times over in the past 3 years but I haven't for the following reasons:

1. I can't find Chanel cosmetic products for sale anywhere on my island.

2. Online shopping is a no-no for me as I'm a former shopaholic and I still don't trust myself with a credit card.

3. Mascaras that cost US $30 or more give me anxiety. In my currency, that's double, $60! I have real trouble justifying that price for mascara.

Anyway, because of my expensive mascara lust, coupled by my lack of dinero, I will probably sadly compromise by buying a drugstore mascara, but a nice drugstore mascara! L'Oreal makes really good, reasonably priced mascaras, and I see one with my name on it! Their original Lash Architect was really good to me, so now its my favourite drugstore brand.

Now I've got my eye on their L'Oreal Voluminous line, but they have so many products with such confusing and eerily similar names that its hard to choose! I think I've narrowed it down to Voluminous False Fiber Lashes and Voluminous Million Lashes Volume Excess (what a mouthful!).

I also think Maybelline might do the job, but I am scarred by their Lash Stiletto Voluptuous that I bought years ago by them which I hated. To date the worst mascara I've ever used was by Revlon, but I don't even remember what the exact name of it was. I probably blotted it out of my memory because it was so bad. Anyway, Maybelline's Lash Stiletto Voluptuous wasn't much better.

I realize I am talking about mascaras as though you guys even know what the needs of my lashes are, shame on me! Everyone's lashes are different. I haven't even said if my lashes need a mascara for volume, or one for length! Well, my lashes are naturally curly and quite long, but they are extremely thin and rather sparse, so I definitely need a thickening, volumizing mascara. However, many volumizing mascaras seem to clump a lot, and there is nothing more I hate than clumpy lashes; they look so fake!  I think the problem with volumizing mascaras is that they tend to have very thick wand bristles, in order to deposit as much product as possible on to the lashes for super thickness. What I liked about the Lash Architect was that even though it's mainly for length, it also made my lashes look much thicker, and even better that hat, it really separated and organized them really cleanly and beautifully.

Honestly, though I need volume, I'd give up volume for length if length meant better separation and no clumps. For that reason I might go ahead and get the Lash Architect 4D, even though its for length and not volume, in hopes that it is as good at separation as the original Lash Architect was (my old HG, I am devastated it was discontinued).

Anyway, enough about me! What is your HG (Holy Grail) mascara and why do you like it so much?

Ebony and Ivory

There is so much bad make up advice out there, floating around in the world. Sometimes I think about all of the bad advice that I've heard novices and professionals alike give (no offense, but I sometimes wonder what the requirements to work at these make-up counters are). And the make up advice tends to get especially sketchy when dealing with people of dark skin tones. I have some sympathy with the make up industry because black skin is so varied and just so complex that it is always going to be difficult to give advice and provide make-up for every shade of black. To complicate things even more, many black girls are one complexion on their neck, another on their face, and then their chest is a different shade too. Or even more confusing, the outer perimeters of their face is darker, like the forehead and beneath the cheekbones, but the inner portion like nose and cheeks, is a lighter shade. Using two foundations or mixing foundations to find the right shade is a part of life for many of us.

Especially for those of the African diaspora, who are often mostly of African-descent but have such a confusing genetic make up of African, European or Native American/Amerindian influences, finding appropriate make-up becomes near to impossible. For example, my sister is very dark, but some far-removed South Asian ancestor of ours has given her a yellow undertone instead of the standard dark-girl-red-undertone stereotype. Or like for me, who's got freckles even though I am very dark-skinned from some Irish ancestor. I am yet to find a foundation that hides freckles adequately. Finding make up has been an uphill battle for the both of us. Both of us are dark, but we are different shades of dark, yet we ended up using the same powder Clinique's Almost Powder Matte in the shade Sienna for YEARS before we discovered Black|Up, which makes make-up with specifically black women in mind. Looking back now, its funny to me that we ever used the same powder because our skin is nothing alike. Her undertone is yellower than mine which is actually neutral (there is no red undertone in our family, so the make-up industry with its racial stereotypes for black people were wrong again).

Anyway, because there is so much bad advice, I decided to share some tips and make up brands that I've had to find through trial and error on my own.

Some good make-up lines for us dark girls are:

Black|Up -- their two-way cake is a classic, but when I bought it I thought I had a red undertone (cuz I'm black and thats what the make-up industry said all black girls were back then) but not ALL dark girls have red undertones so if you have a neutral undertone like me, don't get it in TW05 like I did! I had a red face like a mask after two hours. It was terrible! But it was all I had so I used it for two years! Luckily I was at university then and only wore make-up occasionally on the week-ends.
Looking back now, TW03, which has golden/yellow undertones would have been better.
Anyway, its not a drugstore brand, so it's kinda pricey.
But I feel like that brand really understands black women's skin. No one beats them for shade, not even Mac. But honestly, apart from shade its just meh! The two way cake can be a bit drying after awhile because its matte. The matte-ness would probably appeal to you more if you have oily skin, as you'd have to blot less through out the day. But I have non-oily, sensitive skin, so maybe I should have purchased another foundation instead, maybe their fluid fountation. I have yet to try their Sublime Powder which I hear is the piéce de resistance of all their cosmetics. I love bright finishing powders that give you a gold glow, so I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Black Opal -- good, solid drugstore brand. You cannot go wrong with that price. Its not gonna work miracles, but all their products do exactly what they say will. Nothing less, nothing more. The foundation will do what a foundation is supposed to do - give you an even skin tone. It will not illuminate or heal your skin or any of that fancy stuff pricier cosmetics promise to do. Its a great bargain brand if you're going through a rough spot (like me). Though I have found that their stick foundation is kinda waxy and may not be so great if you have very oily skin, or live in the tropics, like me. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect foundation to be honest. But right now I am trying their stick foundation and it's doing the job.

Milani -- I had a bronzing powder by them that I really liked but I haven't tried anything else by them but I am told its another solid for dark girls. I really want to try their lipsticks but all the reviews I see reveal the sheerness of all their lipsticks, and I prefer highly pigmented lipstick. (Ruby Woo has spoiled me forever).

Iman -- I've noticed their powders tend to have a very yellow undertone, so if you have a VERY red undertone, reconsider, though I have a crazy idea that sometimes a yellow under-tone powder can look great on someone with a red undertone if used sparingly (like powder is supposed to be used) because it brightens the skin immediately, especially bronzing powders or illuminating powders which tend to have lovely little gold flecks in them.

Mac -- You know, I don't think Mac quite knows what it has done for women of colour. By expanding their shade range to include darker shades, they opened a whole new world to us. I actually get kind of emotional when I discuss Mac. All I can say is thank you to them.
Anyway, their Studio Fix foundation is so amazing. I have a friend who is NW45 and she looks so amazing in it. It's like her skin; it matches that perfectly. Sad to say but I have never purchased any of their foundations myself. I tried one once and I didn't like it very much. I suspect my search for the perfect foundation will never end. Its so hard to find one not just because of these darned freckles, but also because I have highly reactive, sensitive skin and fine lines around my mouth. Foundation gets into those creases, and stays there. And yes, I've tried face primers. I've tried everything.

Anyway, I've found that girls at the other end of the colour spectrum have the same problem us dark girls have. Very pale girls find the foundations that make up brands make for them have the wrong undertones. I've noticed that lots of dark girls and fair girls actually have yellow or even neutral undertones, and far fewer people have pink or red undertones than you'd think. There are even people out there who swear they have no undertone at all; I read a comment from a pale woman who swore her undertone was white.
If I, a lowly, infrequent blogger, can find all these complaints by just browsing the interwebs, then why can't these major companies find about about all these concerns the very dark ladies and very pale ladies have??

Anyway, I can't pretend to have any great expertise on pale skin but from what I'm hearing from other fair shaded people, some good make-up lines for very pale girls are:

Estee Lauder (so I'm told; all I know is that their blushes are divine)
Laura Mercier (I have yet to find this brand on my island so I haven't tried any of their products) 
Illamasqua (UK brand)
Hourglass
GOSH is supposed to be really good too if you can get it (I believe its based in Denmark)
Lumene -- actually a Finnish company so they should have shades for very Nordic complexions. However, they are more into Skin Care than Make-Up but their BB cream is supposed to be very good.


And here are some random bits of make-up advice I have:

• Here's a tip I have had to learn the hard way (red face like a mask), dark girls: always, ALWAYS! get a finishing powder with yellow or gold highlights if you are dark-skinned, it will brighten you up immediately. And its a good balancing act if your foundation had a red undertone. It will kind of neutralize it a bit. MAC Mineralize Skinfinish seems to work with this idea. Its gold highlights brightens everything.

• And for the pale girls: If you find that powders are too yellow-y or orange-y, translucent powder is your best bet because it does not have colour and will just blend in with your skin tone.

• Another tip for pale ladies: Splurge on a good foundation adjuster. I read that many foundations are always too orange-y or too yellow-y for them. A good alternative to just throwing out the foundation is to buy a pure white foundation adjuster, mix it with your existing too yellow/orange foundation, and keep mixing until you create the shade that is closest to your complexion. This one is supposed to be pretty good: http://www.cocobeau.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=80_143_83&products_id=472

• AND to all girls: HIGHLIGHTER IS OUR FRIEND!! It will add dimension and give you that healthy, glowing look.

 I use bronzer as highlighter btw. That's another tip for dark girls. Pale girls can use it for contouring but I advice against it because... (see following rant)

• Another great tip for both ebony and ivory girls is to forget about contouring. Just forget about it. No, hear me out. On pale girls it just looks muddy and too dark if not done by a professional. Everyone across the board is too heavy-handed with contour, even some professionals. It's supposed to look natural. No one seems to understand that you have to BLEND the stripe out. To be honest, its more hassle than it is worth. On dark girls you can barely even pick it up because a lot of us are naturally darker under the cheekbones. So instead, REVERSE contour! As in highlight in order to create contour. The highlighted area will make the underside of cheek look darker in comparison to it. I don't know if that sentence made sense. Lemme try again. When you brighten the high points of the cheeks, the un-brightened area will naturally seem darker because you left it alone. I hope yall understood that.

Thats all for now folks. The struggle of being dark-skinned in an industry that can't figure your people's skin out and isn't interested in doing so continues. We just have to do everything ourselves, and learn from trial and error. Learning the art of mixing foundations and learning to disregard the wrong information you get at the make-up counters is a big part of life for us. But I press on.