black|Up Cosmetics

MoGiselle

Well-known member
I know its off topic but since you are a NC 50 do you like the MAC mineralize dark or deep dark. which is closer to your skin tone?

I'm using their foundation. The number rubbed off, but I think it's No. 7. It is perfect for me, looks like my skin colour. Bought it in February. this year. Haven't used any thing else since (have used MAC NC 50, MAC Mineralize Dark and Deep Dark, Nars Jamaica, Bare essentials Deeper? and MUFE -the water gel one- No.12), I hardly wore foundation before. I could never find a good match and it made my skin look dull/ flat.

I also bought and absolutely love the Embelliseur de Teint- like a luminizer/ highlight thing. I use it all over my face under, mixed with or instead of foundation. It's the golden bronzy one. Actually, usually I just use this on it's own. It's very subtle and I often get compliments on my skin (not my make up) when I wear it.


I had looked in Debenhams, Oxford Street and had the same super-unfriendly/ rude service as Blushbaby. The prices are high enough to suggest they're a high-end brand, but the service level didn't match. Both of the things I bought were around 27pounds.

I finally bought my items in Debenhams, Croydon. The assistant was nice enough. I was a bit dubious because she just picked up one colour and didn't mess about testing a couple of shades, but it looked so great, I just bought it. Also, looks really great in photos.

Their other make up colours were really beautiful and vivid. I don't live in the UK, so I wish more people would try them out, swatch and let us know what they think.

About the name? Yeah, it's really foolish! Someone should have done their homework.
 

jamstar

New member

I have MAC mineralize deep dark. It's okay. I think it's a bit too red /orange. My sister gave me MAC mineralize skin finish in dark, it's a slightly better match - but I use it very lightly.
 

banana1234

Well-known member
oh ok thanks....
yes, half the time what looks good on me, barely shows up on my darker skinned friends, or looks ashy, and what looks good on them looks bad on me etc



i just meant some of the blushes etc were way too pigmented for my very very pale skin tone and the concealers foundations etc werent for my skin tone, and yes, i do some make up stuff on the side, weddings etc. i havent had any proper training, just worked on a counter, so yes, i find the WOC thread great to find out what suits skin tones etc, i also love seeing peoples FOTDs for face swatches so i can see the colours on various skin tones! this is why i love specktra!
 

rubysubi

Well-known member
Just returned two mattifying foundations that I bought from the website (I was already wary of the site, and knew going into the process that it probably wouldn't work since I've never had luck buying foundations without swatching them on myself). Their Foundation Finder tool recommended FM 04 for me (I picked out medium-light as my general tone), but the image on the site looked a little pale, so I ordered FM 05 as well just in case. And threw in a blush in BL11 for good measure, since I'd already heard good things about that.

The package arrived promptly, and they'd used enough paper inside to adequately protect the product. They included a nice glossy catalog and a sample of the mattifying foundation in FM05, as well as a sample of their mattifying base. Both samples were in sealed plastic "pouches." Each product had it's own cardboard box with ingredients and a product description on it.

As I suspected, I need to wait for this line to come into stores before buying any foundations or blush shades, because the recommended FM 04 on my skin was a lot deeper than it needed to be. I swatched some on my hand and it was darker than my MAC NC 45 Pro Longwear (which is supposed to be pretty yellow but is still kinda orangey on my skin). Noticeably. I think at some point today I'll do a blog post about it and post the little swatches I did. The consistency of it wasn't too bad, and - I know many of yall will love this - the bottle has a pump. Still think it's kinda pricey at $41 for under an ounce of product, but as a woman of color, at this point I already know that I am going to have to pay dearly for a foundation that has yellow enough undertones.

The blush in BL 11 was a much deeper burnt sienna than the image online, which would have been fine if I didn't already have a contouring blush in that color. But the texture was just as described - silky, highly pigmented, and all that. But not worth $24 (since it'd be a dupe of a Sephora eyeshadow I have that I use as blush).

As much as I want to do a return, then re-purchase (they don't do exchanges just yet), I think I'll just wait til the line hits stores. I already will have spent $15 on shipping and handling to receive and return the $100+ of products that didn't quite meet my expectations, and I have to wait about 3 weeks to get reimbursed...BOOOOO to that! Maybe if more women start buying the products, I'll be able to find a review that'll help me find a closer match to my skintone (currently mix NARS Sheer Matte in Tahoe and MAC Pro Longwear in NC 45 to get a close-ish match).
 

Paint&Ink Chick

Well-known member
Has anyone here tried this brand? It's Paris based & made for Woc. I read about it awhile on a Woc's blog,so I took a look. I just received their email & they've came out with Blushes(some you all have dupes for). But they have a pretty Orange & Marigold looking yellow. Being the blush fiend I am,I'd like to try a couple. The site states their Matte & Irridescent....sounding interesting. A 25 a pop,I'm taking this a Paris HE. Plmk what you ladies think or if you own any of the line:)
 

trina11225

Well-known member
Has anyone here tried this brand? It's Paris based & made for Woc. I read about it awhile on a Woc's blog,so I took a look. I just received their email & they've came out with Blushes(some you all have dupes for). But they have a pretty Orange & Marigold looking yellow. Being the blush fiend I am,I'd like to try a couple. The site states their Matte & Irridescent....sounding interesting. A 25 a pop,I'm taking this a Paris HE. Plmk what you ladies think or if you own any of the line:)
oh I remember this was suppose to be in Macy's or was I forgot. That is the most I know.
 

TwistedFaith

Well-known member
About 15 years ago they had a counter at the Herald Square Macy's. I was there with my mom and she had purchased what I would call a "pigment", an extremely bright metallic white-gold, and a multi-purpose cream product that was designed to be used for eyes, lips and blush. It was a shimmery burnt orange and was the reason I discovered I loved to wear orange on my eyes and cheeks. I really really liked their products and was disappointed to see they didn't last long in the US. When my sister traveled to France a few years ago, I enlisted her help and made her seek out a Sephora just so that she could get me one of their products, which turned out to be a super pigmented matte magenta blush. I don't use it often enough. But yeah, that's pretty much what I know about them. I think they are a good brand and will probably order from their website in the near future.
 

Yazmin

Well-known member
They have a store in Paris, in the 2nd, I believe. You can order them online in the US, but it sucks that you can swatch anything first.

I have a couple of their lip glosses (just finished one, actually) and lipsticks, a couple of their eyeshadows, cream shadows, a mascara and concealer, one pigment and Two-Way Cake and Sublime powders. Most of these I purchased at the beginning of my makeup obsession, so I really don't reach for them much now since I've moved to other brands. The shadows are smooth and have good pigmentation. Their cream shadows are nice (kind of like Giorgio Armani or L'Oreal Infalliables type of texture; I may have to pull those back out. I do love the glosses and have been considering repurchasing the one I just used up. I haven't used the mascara or concealer yet, but I've had my makeup done twice when I visited and these items were used on me both times, so at some point I'll start using them.

I recently got an email announcing their new CC creams, so I'm curious about them. Been wanting to try out some of their blushes, too.
 

Paint&Ink Chick

Well-known member
Yazmin,glad you like the items you have & good to hear the quality is atleast good. And I do remembering seeing that this line was coming to the states. That would be nice,to swatch a color.
 

MAChostage

Well-known member
I just ordered some of the sample cards for their full coverage foundation and can't wait to try it. I'm super interested in the line but it's uber expensive and I really don't want to have to play the "exchange game" trying out different colors across their different products.
 

MAChostage

Well-known member
I received my full coverage foundation samples in colors 4/5/6 and 7/8/9. 7/8/9 are way too dark for me so I had to immediately remove those from the mix. Of 4/5/6, 4 and 5 are as close to my complexion as I'm going to get, but I have never seen such yellow tones in foundation! Wayyy too yellow! I really like the texture and coverage of this foundation, but those colors just aren't hitting it for me. I also found that you have to really blend, blend, blend with this and a little goes a long way. If you can find a good color match you may really like this foundation.
 

boujoischic

Well-known member
I received my full coverage foundation samples in colors 4/5/6 and 7/8/9. 7/8/9 are way too dark for me so I had to immediately remove those from the mix. Of 4/5/6, 4 and 5 are as close to my complexion as I'm going to get, but I have never seen such yellow tones in foundation! Wayyy too yellow! I really like the texture and coverage of this foundation, but those colors just aren't hitting it for me. I also found that you have to really blend, blend, blend with this and a little goes a long way. If you can find a good color match you may really like this foundation.
My undertone is very yellow I have such a problem finding a good match because of this. Thanks for the info I need to give their foundation a try.
 

indiekicks

Well-known member
The next time I have some extra money, I'll make a few purchases from them. I usually don't like buying cosmetics blind off the internet, especially foundation, but I appreciate that they're a black-owned company catering to black women. I'd like to buy a sample pack, a blush or two, maybe the primer, this highlighter that looked nice, maybe the two-way cake powder...

The quality is said to be on par with NARS, Makeup Forever, etc., son I don't balk at the price, especially if means I'm supporting black business.
 

Ajigglin

Well-known member
Love this company for the simple fact that they have a CC cream (or was it BB?) that for real for real is for #teamdarkskin. That Smashbox BB cream was super no bueno for me.
 

vannycul

Active member
Hey guys! Don't know why people don't talk about black up a lot. Anyways I have been eyeing them and finally thinking of giving it a try. If you watch reviews on YouTube this make up guru called "makeupgameonpoint" reviewed them. And her make up looked good. But since they sent it to her I'm a bit skeptical. Ladies please share your thoughts!!!
 

mosha010

Well-known member
Swatches from black up blushes
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