I love Candace!! I still haven't found my perfect shade yet in her foundation but her eyeshadows and everything else are so gorgeous. He customer service is A++++! If you ever need help choosing shades just drop her an email and she'll get back to you ASAP
I rarely come into contact with lines geared toward Black women. Iman is nowhere to be found in my area, Black Opal is hard to find, and Black Radiance's products are rarely stocked in my neighborhood Walmart. The only line that I'm around all the time is Fashion Fair and that's because I work there!!! Yay for me! The job kind of just fell in my lap lol... but more about that later.
Fashion Fair is great as far as eyeshadow, lipstick, and blush go (the blushes are toooo gorgeous). Golden Sunset, Bronze, and the Golden Light’s beauty Highlighter (what kind of name is that?) are my favorites...
I'm having a serious issue with their foundations. On the darkest skin, the colors match beautifully but the lighter you go the more skewed they get. Some shades are pure pink...others are pure orange. WTF? The formulas are so outdated too…some are thick and nasty. The liquids are thin and runny. Its time that they hire a new chemist. Until then I refuse to put that crap on my face.
The liners and glosses are generic. The glosses thin and have no staying power. The liners are difficult to use and come in a few generic colors. NYC, Prestige, and Wet n’ Wild definitely outdo them in that area.
They recently came out with a line of brushes (3...whopdeedo). They had me using Q-tips to apply e/s before (WTF?). The brushes range from $15 to $22.50. Right now, they’re offering an e/s, blush, and powder brush. From what I can tell they’re synthetic and kind of scratchy. Makes me want to walk over to the MAC counter and grab someone’s brush belt.
My biggest gripe is the way they present the product. That brown and beige packaging is so dated it is not even funny. Some of the skincare is packaged in heavy glass bottles and the tester units are butt ugly. It seems to me that the Johnson family is also hesitant to change its marketing strategies. If a new collection comes out you’ll never know about it because it’s hardly advertised. Fashion Fair ads are only place in Ebony. What good does that do?
Drives me crazy. I also think they’re afraid to lose their current customers if they do make drastic changes. A good chunk of my clients are older women (60’s-70’s) who’ve used the line since it’s inception in the 50’s and are accustomed to the way things are. It’s a bad business move IMO. I hate to be morbid but when these women pass on who’s going to patronize the line? Not my generation…I can tell you that for sure
My verdict: Not the best thing in the world but don't be afraid to stop by a counter now and then. I must confess that with what I've got to work with I do some magical things
End of essay.