Nude Lips for Black Women

Hello again!

This week I’ve discovered yet another lip line, but this one specializes in products for an underappreciated segment in makeup. Black Radiance cosmetics has one mission: to help women of color achieve beautiful makeup looks while meeting the needs of their skin tone and type. Sadly after a little research, I discovered the company is not truly black owned but they still have a positive mission I can appreciate. I was disappointed to learn that they aren’t black owned, but I’ll save that conversation for another day.

Black Radiance was completely new to me, but naturally I was drawn to it once I stumbled across their Instagram that featured stunning looks on women of color. At the time they were promoting the launch of their new lip product Perfect Tone HD Lip Sculptor. These gluten free and cruelty free lipsticks come in 8 rich colors for the low price of $3.99.

I purchased four of the eight colors and rotated them for a week. I was dangerously close to purchasing every color, but I wanted to see how the product went on my skin. I sometimes have random reactions to some lip products, but its typically glosses so you’ll rarely catch me in those.

Product claims

The Black Radiance website describes these lipsticks as gel-creme formulas that both shades and contours lips with its unique geometric shape. The pigments also claim to be long lasting and pampers lips throughout the wear.

Courtesy of @BlackRadianceBeauty

For an affordable brand, I really couldn’t ask for more from these nude, matte lipsticks.

The color test

As I said, I put three out of the four colors to the test for an entire week. I fell in love with the colors online and they lived up to my expectations for the most part. For Sunday brunch, I started with the most colorful of the collection,  5503 Slay Queen. Slay Queen applied pretty easily and had a nice matte finish that complimented the color on me. I did apply a good amount to get the color to completely cover, but then I felt the color needed a dark brown liner once on my face.

The next two colors 5506 Melanin Princess and 5508 Queen B were much more nude and natural looking. Both Melanin Princess and Queen B had that same matte finish that created amazing nude looks on me. These colors also needed a good amount of layering to completely cover but the colors are gorgeous once they do.

The last color I purchased I found to be the most challenging. Bombshell is the only metallic shade in the collection. Looking at the color online I could tell it had a slight shine to it, put I did not realize the metallic effect it had until swatching it. I’ve worn the color around the house, but I did not feel comfortable wearing it to work just yet with the metallic finish.

Bombshell blends into my skin so well that the metallic sheen looks a little…weird. Almost like my lips are ashy which is a definite no! I still think the color is pretty, but I don’t think I’ll be able to pull it off fully without a dark liner or additional lipstick to create a more dimensional look. I’ll be sure to share that once I try it!

Results

Slay Queen

Melanin Princess

Queen B

Bombshell

All in all, I can’t really complain about this super affordable lipstick. I did find the product to last 4-6 hours without touch up. The colors felt pretty hydrating and comfortable on my lips for matte colors. However, you definitely cannot wear these without exfoliating or moisturizing beforehand. These colors will expose those chapped lips so be ready!

I was originally skeptical about the geometric shape of the product, but it turned out to be perfect for lining and then filling in my lips with the color (shade and contour as it claims). The lipstick itself seems like it will distribute evenly with correct use so there should be no issues with losing the contouring edges.

And did I mention the color names?! Quite fitting and inspiring, especially with it being Black History Month.

Thanks for reading my thoughts!

Sincerely,

Chanee L.