**REVIEW** Black Opal True Color Foundation

Cue the singing of angels!

I have found yet another reasonably priced foundation in a shade I love. It's not hard to find a good foundation. I've checked many brands at the drugstores that feel good on the skin, have a great look (if it matches the wearer's shade), and doesn't break the bank.

My problem is my darker-than-"deep" shade. I love how all the darkest shades near where I live stop somewhere between Mocha and Cafe Au lait. It's as if someone decided that most black women are actual sisters of  Beyonce, Mariah, or Alicia Keyes. I might find something real close to a Jennifer Hudson shade every now and then, but those usually go wrong just enough to leave me looking ashy or chalky. That's just what happened with this Revlon 2-in-1 foundation and concealer I recently tried in "Cappucino"...

NOT the reviewed product!!!

That certainly looks like if would work for me. If anything, from the photo, it looks like it might be perfect.

It's not.

First of all, it's only that dark in the photo. Second of all, even though the actual product was dark enough to fool me when I saw it at the store, it's not that dark when applied. It's more of a Cappucino with a dose of cream. When I applied it, it worked so well that I could have gotten away with wearing it if no one looked past my jawline, In other words, I looked like a black kabuki-painted chick. If there is such a thing, I mean. (No offense intended to any cultures.)

~sigh~

I was disappointed until I found this:

This is the Ebony Brown shade of Black Opal's True Color Pore Perfecting Liquid Foundation.

Since I first spotted it online, I was a bit worried about the shade match to my skin.  Thankfully, some sweet lady had lots of photos in different types of lighting. That made it easier for me to take a chance and try this one.

I'm going to pause now to share some photos in different lighting. Sort of a pay-it-forward thing since I didn't get the name or site of the lady who helped me out.

The TOP (darker) photos are the truest to color.
The BOTTOM photos make the liquid look lighter than it actually is

Most of you should have an idea of what shade my complexion is by now. One thing I learned long ago from a beauty consultant was to always test new shades to the neck or jawline. I don't know how good this photo is, but I can tell you that this foundation in Ebony Brown is just about a super match to my skin tone.

There is ZERO makeup below my jaw. I actually did one side of my face and left the other side bare this morning, but the match is too close for my camera to show you the difference. Looking in the mirror, it looked as if I had "blurred" or put BB cream on the side with the makeup. There's just a smoothing and evening-out effect that I love. Doesn't do much for the 5 decades worth of wrinkles around my eyes, but I still love the effects. 

Good thing that I didn't see this part of the box before I bought this makeup or I would have passed. From the picture below, this would seem way too light for me:

Here's the crazy thing: when I compare the bottle of this Ebony Brown to the (now returned/refunded) Revlon Cappucino cream foundation, they look like exact matches. But, oh, nay nay.

There is one interesting thing that I noticed when I was checking the label. There's this part about the product being "alcohol-free"...







































...that sounded good until I looked at the ingredients:

Am I missing something - or is something that has "Cetyl Alcohol" in it considered free of, well, alcohol? Apparently, yes, I am missing something. I guess it's not only important to read a label but to also know the games played with them.

Because I assume the alcohol is meant to keep down the shine, I'm a tiny bit disappointed that I do get shine with this product. I have discovered that it best to blot this really well to remedy that. Also, even when I did blot after applying, after a few hours in the car (on a warm day), I had to tissue my face again. If you don't blot (or re-blot), this makeup transfers to everything that you touch. (Side note: my optometrist was probably hating me when she had to clean all her testing machines after my exam today.) My NARS and BH foundations are much better non-shine/non-transfer products, but the coverage is lighter than with this foundation. (I will have to review the NARS one day soon.)

Aside from the (not really) alcohol-free and the other issues, I do love this foundation. I'm going to be checking with Black Opal to see if they send out samples. I'd love to check the Black Walnut shade in the product.

One day, I will have to do a post comparing all the different brands and shades I've still got laying around. For now -

Peace
--Free



P.S.: I do want to give credit to Revlon for having a shade as dark as Cappucino. At least they are offering some shade variety. By the way, if you can wear their 2-in-1 product I mentioned, it's some great stuff and I'd tell you to give it a try. Can't wait to find a cream-to-powder that works for my skin shade.

Black Cosmetics: Great Strides & Great Failures

You guys know I love my membership at sites like SheSpeaks and BzzAgent. Like anyone, I enjoy getting to find out about and try new products, not to mention how much fun I get in telling you guys about them!

Here comes the "But" part of this post...

I am really disappointed that, among items featured on these "try-and-tell" sites, there are not more cosmetics and hair products suited for black women. If you ask me (and, yes, I know you didn't), the companies who produce products for black women are really missing out. (And when I talk about these products, I don't care whether or not they are black-owned or produced; I'm strictly talking from an end-user perspective here.)

When the BB creams became so mainstream popular that everyone and their cousin jumped on the train, I missed out. I'm still sitting in the station, waiting for a BB cream to come along that won't make me look two shades of ashy.

Now, here's the thing, I did a quick search of BB creams for black women. There are quite a few out there, but only a handful that come in a greater variety of shades.


BlackUp has some shades so beautiful, they make me want to cry. I'm going to have to get hold of some trial sizes of this. Now!

$39.50 for the CC cream

$42 for this foundation

See? My face was over here just craving that CC cream! Even at those prices, it's worth it to have a shade that matches and works well for your skin type. It's not like you're going to be buying it once a month or so, right?

I actually have some loose face powder by BlackUp. The powder was a gift, so I didn't go over and check the price, but... Guess what? It's about half a shade off from what I need. The person who gifted it to me had to choose from an online photo of the product. Wouldn't it be nice if I could have sampled a couple of shades first? Shade problems aside, that is some really good product.

Now, because of the average price of a really good foundation or CC (or BB or DD!) cream, it's really not worth buying a full-sized product without knowing the benefits. Even if a product matches your skin tone, you don't want one that leaves your face feeling dry, or looking un-natural. That's why reviews are so important. Reviews by people like you and me (and not some celebrity or anyone else most of us can't relate to) are key. We can compare value to price and quality. We can tell each other how well the product fits our "regular" lifestyle and budget.

No offense to Garnier (or Neutrogena, Covergirl, etc), but I don't fall into the generalized category of shades you've determined to be "Dark" or "Deep". I'm not Halle Berry or Queen Latifah. I'm closer to Lupita Nyong'o. There's usually no decent shade of foundation for me in the aisles of Walmart. Matter of fact, there are lot of women who have trouble finding a good shade of makeup in mass retail stores. Once not long ago,  I had a nice chat with a Caucasian lady in the makeup section at Walmart. She was having problems locating a shade for her peachy-tan undertones. She said that she had once found a decent product from one brand, but it was hard to find on local shelves.

~sigh~

Back to my point though: When are the black cosmetic brands going to get with the movement of putting there products out there for folks to try before they spend money or the wrong shade or type? When I find a good product, I talk about it, and then the people I've talked to talk about it. Word of mouth. Get it?

In late 2013, one beauty and personal care analyst was talking about the "boom" in ethnic cosmetics. It's true. I'm starting to see lots and lots of diversity in cosmetic products, but the producers need to look past the faces they see on the TV and movie screens. There are more shades to "ethnic" than "Medium", "Medium Deep" and "Mahogany". I'm waiting to see some truer-to-skin shades for women like me.

For the brands out there who do have a good range of shades, please start working with us consumers more by getting samples and trial sizes into the retail aisles. We "regular" folk will spend good money on good products - once we have a chance to see that they are good. And because we are "regular", we don't often hit up Nordstrom or Macy's; you'll reach us quicker at Target, Walgreens and Walmart. (Okay, maybe that last was just for folks like me!)

Ladies, for those of you who live in an area with better access to products, check out the stroy of DooBop. For the rest of you (and me), you can try looking for these brands:

• Iman Cosmetics 
• Black Opal
• Mac Cosmetics
• Fashion Fair
• Bobbi Brown

I'm going to leave you with some images. Shades, tones and hues...

Black Opal

Bobbi Brown

Flori Roberts

Iman got it right!

Iman

Peace

--Free