I’m loving how more and more makeup brands are extending their shade ranges.
I’m selfishly more concerned with the deeper end of the spectrum, but I can applaud them for creating more options for the porcelain end of the spectrum too. Pale girls need their foundation to match too!
I was so excited to find that Maybelline recently extended the shade range of their Fit Me lines. I was sent the entire Fit Me Matte + Poreless line of foundations and powders and I couldn’t wait to test them out to see which new shade might be a better match than Coconut. Coconut is a little too red for me on application and it got worse as it oxidized throughout the day.
Now they carry a shade that’s basically perfect for me: Spicy Brown.
DeAndrea Douglas/xoNecole
DeAndrea Douglas/xoNecole
DeAndrea Douglas/xoNecole
DeAndrea Douglas/xoNecole
DeAndrea Douglas/xoNecole
DeAndrea Douglas/xoNecole
DeAndrea Douglas/xoNecole
I like that the foundation comes in a glass bottle. It’s really easy to see the true shade of the product, undertones and all. I’m not the biggest fan of the top. I like for my foundations to have a pump or be in a squeeze tube. It’s a lot easier to control how much product you’re getting that way. This one has a top that screws off and you have to pour out the product. Each time I use it I pour out entirely too much.
The powder is another story. It’s made almost entirely of black plastic and is a little bulky. Most of the bulk of the container is the space for the built-in mirror and sponge compartment on the bottom.
The foundation has medium coverage, but is buildable to have more full coverage. It blends very easily to a smooth, poreless finish. If you use a primer that is heavily mattifying then the finish can be a little cakey because everything is too matte. I used mattifying primer first then go over that with a smoothing primer to prevent that from happening. No matter what primer or setting powder and/or spray I used, the foundation started to separate after about six hours.
The powder applies smoothly as well, but all of them have a chalky finish. The shade range is severely lacking too. Even the darkest shade made me look ghostly pale. I tried to bake with a few of the shades, but I got TERRIBLE flashback in photos. I destroyed all the evidence.
GLAM OR NO MA’AM
It depends. If you don’t plan on wearing the foundation for more than six hours you’re good, but anything beyond that and it will start to separate. That’s not a deal breaker for me especially since it’s so inexpensive. I’m never going to be a fan of pouring my foundation out, but it’s still a pretty decent drugstore buy. Leave the powder alone unless you’re very "fair skinned", though.
SHOP: FOUNDATION (Target | Ulta), POWDER (Target | Ulta)
Article originally posted on asisterscrown.com
Have you tried these? What did you think? What are your go-to drugstore foundation products? Let me know in the comments below!
Hailing from the hometown of Beyoncé, DeAndrea is a hyper-chatty winged eyeliner enthusiast in love with all things feminine chic. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter (@xodeandrea) and on her lifestyle blog: asisterscrown.com.
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The experience goes beyond a typical college reunion; HBCU Homecoming is a family reunion, a fashion show, a cultural festival, and a week-long turn-up that embodies what it means to be unapologetically Black and educated. For HBCU alumni, the journey back to the yard each year is rooted in a love and pride that’s hard to put into words but impossible to deny.
From statement pieces to tech must-haves, every item represents the intersection of Black pride and HBCU love, ensuring that you show up to the yard in style and with intention. So whether you’re repping your alma mater for the first time since graduation or looking for fresh pieces to express your HBCU pride, these essentials will have you standing out, because, at HBCU Homecoming, it’s not just about showing up—it’s about showing out.
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Featured image by Visual Vic/Getty Images
After that voicemail, I checked my socials and sure enough, the news had begun circulating. I then got another text from a mutual friend of ours, similar to my cousin’s voicemail. “Hey, are you okay? You were the first person I thought of when I heard the news.” I simply said, “Thank you, and yes, I’m okay. It’s just a sad situation.”
Visions/ Getty Images
In full transparency, my ex and I hadn't spoken in at least three years prior to his passing, and our relationship had ended several years before that. Though we no longer had direct ties or regular communication, I was always connected to him in some way: through our close mutual friends, his family members that I still occasionally spoke to on social media, or the fact that the health issues he battled and succumbed to started when we dated.
To give a little of the backstory, he battled a chronic illness of sorts. He was very transparent about his journey with his own social media following, and would often reference a medical incident that he says was the beginning of it all.
That incident happened in my apartment living room, mere hours after we spent time with our families for the holidays. It was traumatic, to say the least. He wound up in the hospital for days, and doctors suggested that if he wanted a better quality of life, he would need to undergo a major surgery in the coming weeks.
That surgery date came so quickly. Although we had an argument just days before, I was by his side bright and early that morning. Standing with his mother, I kissed him and told him I loved him before they wheeled him back.
To say I was scared, was an understatement. It was an all-day procedure, one that we would learn he flat-lined at least three times. But prayer works, and later that day, I was there as he opened his eyes for the first time.
Fast-forward to somewhere between the surgery and him being moved from the ICU into general recovery, I found out some “not-so-good news” about him and our relationship, and I chose to end things when he was healthy enough to talk.
There wasn’t a heated argument—in fact, he even said I was too calm—but I made it clear that this was the end of us, although I was here if he needed me as he recovered.
Through lots of therapy, I was able to forgive him. We developed a casual friendship in the coming years and even ended up at the weddings of our mutual friends and other events together. Despite our romantic relationship being a total fail, there was never any hatred between us.
We would check in every few years with a joke or two and then go about our lives until the next check-in. So, when I heard that he was no longer physically here, I didn’t know how or what to feel—and I still don’t.
LaylaBird/ Getty Images
On one hand, I felt like I wasn’t allowed to grieve his passing because our last check-in happened over three years prior. So, in a sense, I felt like there wasn’t any reason for me to be sad over someone I barely spoke to. Not to mention the way our relationship ended. On the other hand, after speaking with one of his family members and learning what he had endured health-wise those last few years, it broke my heart.
It took me back to that day in my living room, the fear I saw on his face, as well as the times when he opened up to me about how he just wanted to get through his medical issues and live a normal life. I knew how much he just wanted to live and how hard he fought.
Though I intended to be there to show support to his family, I couldn’t pull myself to attend his memorial service because, once again, I didn’t think I had the same right as those he actually talked to regularly (in addition to the fact that I didn’t know his dating status at the time and didn’t want to overstep any boundaries).
I found myself going back through our very brief DM history in the days and weeks after, hoping it would bring me some closure. But it only left me with regret for not checking in more or even responding to the last message he sent me— “What’s up, player?” (His way of breaking the ice when we spoke.)
We’re officially at the one-year mark since his passing, and for some reason, the emotions have begun stirring up all over again. My mind is once again doing this series of mental gymnastics, telling me, ‘Girl, let it go’. But also, ‘it’s okay to grieve the loss’. Maybe it's the seasons changing, or maybe it's a genuine sadness from not being able to say goodbye.
Either way, it’s definitely a situation and a period in my life that will forever be etched in my brain. Because at the end of the day, he was someone I once loved and the heart never forgets—even if it didn’t have a fairytale ending.
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