chinablaq
Well-known member
Hello Everyone! Myself, along with 2 other ladies were chosen to receive a few products for review from Black Up Cosmetics. I've recently been introduced to them after coming across a very talented makeup artist on YouTube that's from Nigeria. She used some of their products in her everyday makeup routines, which were always applied to perfection! I was impressed with their range of products suitable for women of color, so I decided to further research them. Here's a little background on the brand itself... They're a renowned French brand founded in 1999 by an african makeup artist. A high-end makeup brand with an array of products that are primarily targeted to women of color. Today the brand now has distribution in about 200 retail locations. They've gained lots of fan base in France and is now the nations #1 ethnic makeup brand. Brand is available in the US online (blackupcosmetics.com) as well as internationally online (blackup.com) Below are the items that I was sent to review... 
I received 6 full size items along with some foundation samples.
Black Up CC Cream in CC03
Black Up Sublime Powder in PS03
Black Up Waterproof Smokey Eye Kohl in KS03
Black Up 2in 1 Lip Pencil in JUM09
Black Up Lipstick in RGE21
Black Up Shimmering Lipshine in LPS07
On to photo's, swatches, and my thoughts on them all
CC Cream in CC03
CC Cream in CC03 swatched heavily, then blended
CC Cream in CC03 swatched heavily then blended (natural light)
Online, Black Up states that this product is a complexion correcting foundation that moisturizes, targets dark spots, blemishes, minimizes pores, and unifies the complexion of african american skin tones. It's light weight, spf free, oil free, paraben free, and fragrance free. Comes in 5 shades and can be used as a makeup primer to hydrate and treat the skin while helping your makeup last much longer. Now I have used this products numerous times already and I love it!! While I haven't used it long enough to notice any difference in my blemishes, I can definitely tell a difference in my overall skin when using it. Its extremely light weight and doesn't feel like I have makeup on at all. I prime my face and skip the moisturizer and just apply this. Great shade match for me as well. I know this will be my go to product for sure during the summer. Coverage is light-medium and definitely build-able. Wore it for 8 hours straight (set with loose powder) today in 95 degree weather and didn't have to blot at all! That's rare for this oil gal! This has turned in to my new found love! I'm officially summer ready with this bad boy! 
Sublime Powder in PS03
Sublime Powder in PS03 blended out then swatched heavy
Sublime Powder in PS03 blended out then swatched heavy (natural light)
Black Up claims that this product was made to give the skin a healthy glow. Provides an all over shimmering effect to the skin. Can be used as an bronzer/highlighter as well used to set foundation. It comes in 6 glow-enhancing shades. I tried this product once as a setting powder as I was curious to see if it worked out for me. Sadly it didn't. As you notice in the photo's above, the powder has a sort of shimmer to it. Using this as a setting powder gave my face too much of a glow. Sort of a shiny effect to it which being an oily girl I try to avoid. I then tried it on my cheeks as a blush, and it worked amazingly. Blended in well with my skin giving me cheeks a healthy glow.
Next up are the foundation samples above. I was sent 3 shades of their Full Coverage foundation
Full Coverage foundation swatches in 07, 08, 09
Full Coverage foundation swatches blended and settled in
This is an oil free, fragrance free foundation made to cover the most severe imperfections and comes in 15 shades.
I wore this foundation once. Coverage and finish was great, however it did oxidize on me. Not only did it oxidize, it didn't keep my oily skin tamed. I found myself blotting numerous times while I had the foundation on. It also felt a bit heavy on my skin. I'm not much of a full coverage person anyways. Especially during the warmer weather.
Waterproof Smokey Eye Kohl in shade KS03
Black Up states it to be a long wearing waterproof liner that glides on smoothly and is a satin finish. Comes in 10 shades.
Iv'e yet to wear the liner itself, but I have swatched it on my hand, and then went on with my day. Glided on smoothly and evenly. The finish I got was more on the frost side, versus the satin side as Black Up claims. The liner is very long lasting indeed! It held up through a few hand washes as well as normal activity. I had to use a makeup remover to remove it whereas normally with most liners soap and water does the trick. I'm sure once set with a matching eyeshadow this liner would look great used on the lower lash line for the perfect pop of color!
Shimmering Lipshine in LPS07
Smooth no stick formula, sheer to medium coverage, with fine pearly particles and shimmer is the description used online.
Black Up was right on with their description. Wore this one time only as I'm not much of a gloss girl. The gloss was nice and smooth on the lips. Not sticky, and pretty moisturizing. Wasn't gritty from the shimmer at all. While the color isn't intense at all, it leaves a slight tint that gives off a glistening shine. I was left with tiny glitter particles on my lips after about 2 hours of wear. While its not an intense shade when worn alone, this would be great paired over a lipstick for a beautiful shine.
2 in 1 Lip Pencil in JUM09
comes with a sharpener attached
This lip pencil comes in 12 shades and can be worn alone or as a base for another lipstick color. This was the first product I tried as I'm a purple fanatic. One of those products that you can just grab and go. Has a sharpener attached for even more convenience. I found the liner to be fairly moisturizing to my lips. It glided on nice and smooth. Gave my lips a sort of sheen to it. The color lasted for 4 hours straight before it started to wear off a bit. Even then I was left with a slight tint. 
Lipstick in RGE21
Black Up has a collection of 30 lipsticks. 18 satin finishes and 12 matte finishes. They're highly pigmented, paraben free, and fragrance free according to their online description.
With me trying out the lipstick I can agree that it's definitely pigmented. As for the finish, this particular shade seemed to be on the sheen side. Sort of like a Mac Amplified finish. While the color is a gorgeous magenta sort of fuchsia, I really wish it was one of the finishes as claimed. I'm not much of a sheen girl and love these sorts of shades as a matte finish. I learned a trick of added translucent powder on top to matte it out a bit. Ended up getting the look that I wanted! 
KS03 eye liner, JUM09 lip pencil, RGE21 lipstick, LPS07 Shimmering lipshine
'captured the shimmer in the gloss
KS03 eye liner, JUM09 lip pencil, RGE21 lipstick, LPS07 shimmering lipshine (natural light)
Overall I'm impressed with this brand. They were at the recent Makeup Show here in NYC and I had my eyes on a few things so I went ahead and applied for their makeup artist program. After getting approved I went online and purchased some things that I had my eyes on. I'll be sure to share pics and swatches at another time as this post is already a bit lengthy so stay tuned for that! Hope someone finds this post helpful. If there is any further questions or info needed feel free to ask away 
