MAC Pure Orange Studio Finish Skin Corrector - a beauty must have

MAC Pure Orange Studio Finish Corrector is one of those holy grail products for Black Women that encapsulates why I blog -sharing great products, particularly relevant to women who are of a similar shade to me.

Initially colour correction passed me by as I saw women of a lighter hue using greens, purples etc, prompting me to dismiss it. I grew frustrated a I saw peach correctors being touted as being applicable for black/ tan skin. When I went to swatch these peach correctors I noticed that they didn't do anything for my hyperpigmentation.

MAC's Pure Orange Studio Finish Corrector is a game changer.  It  may seem a little bit scary upon first glance, but to all my Black Women NW45 and above with hyperpigmentation, we need this in our makeup arsenal. The little pot packs a punch as a gentle swatch provides enough to cover even the deepest hyperpigmentation. I use it to cover around my mouth and eye area where I have panda eyes. I love how it starts off as a scary red / orange then it settles down to looking, normal. I find that this helps me use less foundation and concealer. Creasing has not been an issue around my eyes and I am able to use eyeshadow without the orange colour interfering in other shades. 

MAC describe it as:

A specially tinted, full coverage and long-wearing water-resistant corrector.

...full coverage and long-wearing water-resistant corrector. Goes on smooth and dries to a natural finish. This emollient-rich formula is unique in that it's highly pigmented and only requires a dab to correct discolouration and conceal tattoos, dark circles and blemishes.  

Colour Correction: A quick, brief background

Image borrowed from Google

Colour correction essentially is used to correct or 'neaurailse' problematic areas on the face.

Black Women, especially those of us who are rich / deep in tone, tend to suffer with (blue) hyper-pigmentation  around our eyes and mouth. In this era of Kim K we would use a concealer to brighten / highlight under our eyes but, by applying a bit of basic colour theory, we can seek to overcome these issues in a sympathetic and, in my opinion, natural way than a simple use of a concealer. Often the hyper-pigmentation is blue in colour in Black Women  and as a primary colour, its opposite (complimentary) on the colour wheel is orange. Therefore if we need to neutralise blue, we need an orange to do so.


I definitely recommend Destiny Godley  youtube videos on colour correction  for anyone still confused. 

Have you become a fan of colour correction?

Wilko's Premium Make Up Brushes - great buy

Wilkos Premium make up brushes have become a firm favourite of mine since last year. A surprise find on the high street due to the truly affordable price point (avg £4) and reasonable availability, I am surprised that more fuss has been made of these 100% synthetic brushes. 

Wilko Premium Powder Brush

I was initially drawn in by the powder brush on their display whilst in store; it called out to be to be touched it was soooo dense. I kid you not I was stood there for a good while stroking the brush to see if any of the bristles came off in my hand, I couldn’t believe how soft and thick it was. I quickly came back to repurchase as many as I could find once I got home and tried out the powder brush , using it to apply my bronzer. Gorgeous. The dense bristles distributed the bronzer almost better than if the sun had kissed my applied foundation itself!  I found the only draw back was the stippling brush which was a bit confusing as it was both too soft and scratchy when applying makeup. Undeterred, I have found a use for it – to apply my elf HD blushers which are very pigmented and need to be distributed quickly and evenly on my face. 

I deliberately wanted to wait to see if these brushes would deteriorate after use, but after a year of use I haven't seen so much as a single bristle escape. 

 

Top to bottom: Powder, Stippler, Blusher, Smokey Eye Duo

Have you come accross any surpise beauty finds that arent't being hyped?

Afro Hair & Beauty Live May 25th 2015

 

Afro Hair & Beauty Live took place on the last Bank Holiday in May and I was fortunate to be gifted tickets to attend this years offering.  I was interested to see how the event had changed since my last visit many moons ago where, despite having permed hair at the time, the focus on weave and extensions put me off.  I was interested in learning about my hair, caring for it and having the chance to interact with creators of products. Fortunately this year ticked all of my requirements and more. 

Quick tube sefie

Based in Islington’s Design Centre, I began my journey on the tube and was positively bouncing in my seat as we got closer to Angel and more people en route boarded. There was definitely a buzz in the air and I quickly made my way to the venue where I was pleased to see that much thought had been given to the layout and a balance had been struck in securing both large and small vendors.  

 

Of the smaller vendors I was impressed by FroSister (haircare) and EbonyPink (makeup) who were holding their own amongst the larger companies. 

Pleased to see smaller vendors were in attendence

Some of the big brands showing

I really appreciated being able to speak to the brands representatives and learn more about their products.  The standout speaker had to be Felicia Leatherwood / Beautiful Textures  who shut it down in her corner!  Her passion for her craft and the products definitely resonated with the attendees who asked a mixture of questions regarding permed / natural / weaves / baby / child haircare. Her engaging live demonstrations, plucking members of the audience to demonstrate on their own hair textures, coupled with tips on how to manage the varying issues many raised in the audience meant that there was a scramble for space to listen. My friends and I spent nearly two hours straight just listening, absorbing, and asking questions – all of us leaving impressed.  

Felicia Leatherwood / Beautiful Textures

Overall I was impressed by the amount of sheer information on offer, mixture of brands and the chance to engage with others interested in Afro Hair & Beauty. The pace was correct and in keeping with the relaxed, professional vibe of the day. 

Good job Afro hair & Beauty 2015!

My thanks to Avlon for gifting me with complementary tickets to the event