#Black Lips Matter
Stay tuned, as this will be an on-going series of finds and comments that will take more than a couple of posts!
My first personal experience with a Black-owned cosmetic brand was about 6 years ago. I grew up noticing the Iman and Black Opal brands usually placed in Black Hair stores where there was no one to help you with makeup, but my first real experience with Black Owned make up for me was about 6 years ago.
I spent part of my summer as a camp counsellor in Ottawa and it was hot so naturally, my bronzy glow was in full reign, but my current foundation was all wrong. I went to work and on my lunch break walked into Sephora where I was met by a bunch of Esteé Lauder consultants there to promote the Double Wear Foundation. A man named Andrew(whom I’ve never forgotten and haven’t seen since…if you’re out there Andrew, I still need you to beat this face) walked up to me and helped me greatly. Then even though it wasn’t his job, he walked over to a counter that had products from a company named BlackUp. He said to me, “I just have to try these pigments on you. These colours are so rich and people like us need this”. “What’s it called?”, I replied, “It’s BlackUp from Paris”. He put their blush and a rich purple matte gloss on my very plump lips. I was sold!!!
I walked out of there in the right foundation and with confidence glowing out of all of my pores. Before my BlackUp discovery, I hadn’t really thought about the importance of Black-owned businesses in the make up industry. I’ve complained within myself or amongst friends that I had to think about certain colours because a certain colour would show up as a certain hue on me than it did on the girl they used to advertise the lip goodies. One of my coworkers shocked me shortly after my foundation-meet-Andrew-get-excited-about-BlackUp-lip-wear moment. She is a beautiful, feisty, white lady with short funky hair and always just a pop of amazing lip wear as her makeup. She asked about my colour and I told her about the brand and about going after rich pigments so they read like they do in the bottle and she completely agreed with me and then said she usually bought black-owned lipstick for that reason. Come on, Somebody! I was wonderfully encouraged.
Fast forward to 2020, the year of Didn’t See That Coming! And there is so much going on, pandemic, racial injustice, social unrest, national debt, local debt, personal debt, but there was also an opportunity to be educated about so much more than ever before. I chose to support and learn about Black-Owned Cosmetic Brands among other businesses and I was delightfully surprised. I am going to share some of my finds and their price points. Hopefully, you’ll find some of the same pigment-joy too.
- The Lip Bar- I learned about this brand through my friend Jilly (she really keeps schooling me…Love you Jilly!) whose sister had ordered a bunch of lip goodies from their site and shipped them to her house. I got to look through them and was blown away by their colour selection. Jilly and I had a wedding to attend in masks and Jilly wore Crown Me, a rich deep purple, while I had something else on and after the wedding, her face still looked great meanwhile my mask was wearing my lip choice. Online these beauties range from $6-15USD and can be shipped anywhere. I quickly went online and bought 3 matte lipglosses. I also learned that this brand is Vegan and Cruelty-free, so only good things for our lips while we slay all day. https://thelipbar.com see pics below.
- Dahnaï Beauty specializes in handmade lipglosses and body oils for women and men. YASSSSSS! When you just need a hint of healthy shine, there are lip glosses that are slightly pigmented with a hint of your perfect nude in these beauties to add to your lip colour. Or wear it without and feel moisturized without the grease. I own Mademoiselle and Mocha. Both available online for $9. https://dahnaibeauty.com/collections/all
3. ColoredRaine is a brand created by Loraine R. Dowdy who delights in making blushes, eyeshadows, highlighters, and lip wear in such rich pigments that compliment the skin and make it pop especially if you’re a woman of colour. The Matte lipsticks I own are bright and moisturizing with the staying power of a matte that might dry you out without doing so. The site frequently has sales on everyday favs and their pricing is also comparable with any of the major brands out there. I nearly lost my bank account when I went online and saw the affordability of these beautiful products and the packaging is great too. Almost as great as their product offers is their customer service. I have received personal emails from the CEO thanking me for returning and for supporting their business. It’s these small touches that make any business great. Follow this brand on Instagram where you can see many pairing their bold lip looks with amazing eye colour. I own Amazing Raine, Bodacious, and Electric Raine in their Matte lipgloss section and Implicated from their ColouredRaine X Power line. I can’t wait to bag a few more. See pictures below for just how well these almost pastel colours pop! LOVE IT ALL! https://colouredraine.com/collections/all
4. NagiCosmetics is a brand from Quebec, Canada that got me with their deep nudes that compliment my skin in any season. Their colours are hypoallergenic which I love to hear since my skin can be so finicky and sensitive and they offer a wide range of all colours to Black Women. I purchased a deep brown from their Matte Velour Liquid Lipstick collection titled 822- RUM. This colour had me looking forward to Autumn and the rich hues of the season. This lip and some highlighted cheeks have me celebrating all the good things God has given us. Who’s ready for Thanksgiving on either side of the border? My lips are! Check them out here https://nagicosmetics.com/products/matte-velours-liquid-lipstick
If you can think of Black-Owned Beauty brands that offer great lip wear, please let me know, so I can try it and swatch it and share it with you all. Let’s support Black-Owned Cosmetic Brands who already know how we want that colour, the one showing through the bottle to pop and transfer to our lips and not off of them no matter what shade our skin may be.
Support and #WearItLikeYouMeanIt
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