Best products from r/brownbeauty

You sound like the Best Sister! Here's a bunch of different options in case some things are hard to find. All of them you can order online if you strike out in store. I personally like drugstore.com and amazon.

Companies that cater to women with darker skin tones that you may not have heard of:

• Black Radiance
  
• Black Opal
  
• Iman Cosmetics
  
• Milani Cosmetics
  
  Mainstream Companies with lines that cater to darker skintones:
  
  
• CoverGirl's TruBlend
  
• CoverGirl Queen
  
• Revlon
  
• L'Oreal True Match
  
• Maybelline Fit Me
  
  What I would personally put in a starter kit:
  
  Foundation
  
  
• Revlon ColorStay Combo/Oily
  
• CoverGirl Queen 3 in 1
  
• CoverGirl TruBlend
  
• L'Oreal True Match Super Blendable
  
  Primer
  
  
• Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
  
• ELF Mineral Infused Face Primer
  
  Concealer
  
  
• LA Girl Pro Concealer
  
• Black Opal Spot & Scar Eraser
  
  Finishing Powder
  
  
• Black Opal Invisible Oil Blocking Loose Powder
  
• Maybelline Fit Me Pressed Powder
  
  Blush
  
  
• Milani Baked Blush in Bella Rosa, Rose D'Oro, Red Vino, & Corallina
  
• Black Radiance Blush in Toasted Almond & Warm Berry
  
• NYX Powder Blush in Cinnamon & Pinched
  
  Mascara
  
  
• CoverGirl LashBlast Fusion and Clump Crusher
  
• Maybelline The Falsies, Anything but Great Lash
  
  Brows
  
  
• Wet n Wild ColorIcon Pencil in Mink Brown
  
• Rimmel Pro Brow Pencil in Black Brown
  
  Eyeliner
  
  
• Wet n Wild ColorIcon Pencil
  
• NYX Slim Eye Pencil
  
• Milani Ultrafine
  
• L'Oreal Lineur Intense
  
  Eyeshadow
  
  
• Wet n Wild Comfort Zone 8 Pan Palette
  
• Black Radiance Downtown Browns & Urban Jungle 8 Pan Palette
  
  Lipliner
  
  
• Milani
  
• NYX Slim Lip Pencil
  
  Brushes
  
  
• ELF Studio (the black handle ones)
  
• Real Techniques
  
• EcoTools
  
  I'm skipping a rec for a lipstick because almost every company makes shades that will look good. It's more a matter of IMO playing around and seeing what colors look good/your sis prefers to wear. I will say that lip liner is super important for WOC as we tend to have pigmented lips. A good way to use liner is to find one that either A) matches the lipstick shade or B) is a mlbb shade for her and then use it to fill in the entire lip before applying lipstick. A good brand to play around with color though is Wet n Wild. The ones that come in the black bullet are $2 and while matte, have a great shade range. If it's a little drying for your sis, tell her to put a lip balm down first.
  
  As far as her acne scarring and oily complexion, send her to /r/SkincareAddiction. I probably have similar skin issues and after implementing stuff I learned over there, I have the clearest skin I've had since before I hit puberty.
  
  
  P.S. When your sister is ready for some Next Level Shit like contouring, get her this. It'll take awhile to show up since it's coming from the UK, but it's totally worth the wait.
  
  

Oh my god, I think color correcting is my calling. I posted in MUA a few months ago about my color correcting B/A (link here) and I'm a huge advocate of drugstore makeup.

These are my lifesaving products- keep in mind that although I am a medium/deep (tan) skin tone, the following correctors can work wonders for darker and lighter skin tones.

1. L'Oreal Color Correcting Primer in Medium/Deep
   
   
2. NYX's Concealer in a Jar in Orange
   
   
3. Concealer Palette
   
   
   These products may be cheap, but the amount of correction to the face is astounding.
   
   
   The first product is something I use everyday. I take about half a pump onto the back of my hand and go around my undereye/eye area, my muzzle discoloration and my hyperpigmented birthmarks on my face. A light, targeted layer of this instantly brightens the skin, and often times it will be enough after foundation to cancel out discoloration.
   
   
   For days where I have slept less, or woken up after being dehydrated, the orange pot concealer is my best friend. I will blend this orange with a lighter skin tone concealer from the palette to create a custom correcting shade for concealing. The palette also has some peach-y tones but I find they are too light for me. When mixed, the concealer becomes this beautiful smooth and creamy formula that can be layered (lightly!) to avoid creasing, but to create a flawless finish. That concealer palette is also incredibly helpful for contouring/highlighting.
   
   
   My next color correcting investments will be these products:
   
   
   
4. Mac Prep + Prime Fortified Skin Enhancer in Recharge
   
   
5. Mac Studio Conceal and Correct Palette in Medium Deep
   Destiney Godley has a great video where she uses this and loves it, so I'm pretty stoked to get it.
   
   
   If you have any questions please please please let me know! I'm by no means an expert, but I do this every single time I wear makeup, and I've only gotten better at it! :)

Eyes

• Eyebrows: Used the bottom right dark brown on this Body Shop Eye Palette in 01 Smoky Brown
  
  I bought this in-store in Canada for $10 around the post Christmas liquidation sale time, and it's amazing! Very pigmented, comparable to Naked 1 I'd say. The link is for the Indonesian Body Shop site, since I can't find it on the main one. Sorry! The matte dark brown colour is perfect for filling in my brows and stays all night.
  
  
• Highlighter under Eyebrow: Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Virgin (from the Naked 1 Palette)
  
  
• Base: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
  
  
• Eye Shadow: BH Cosmetics, Take Me To Brazil palette
  
  
• Tight-lining & outer waterline: MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Engraved
  
  
• Eyeliner: Lakme Insta-Liner | Water-Resistant Eyeliner
  
  This stuff is seriously SO amazing, ease of application of a liquid eyeliner, love, love, love the applicator, and the black intensity of a gel eyeliner when it dries. Get your hands on this!!
  
  
• Eyelash Curler: Shisheido Eyelash Curler
  
  
• Mascara: Wet N Wild Megaclear Brown & Lash Mascara as a base then Revlon Grown Luscious Plumping Mascara
  
  
  
• Contacts: FreshLook One-Day Color Contact Lenses in Gray
  
  
• Under-eye primer/brightener: Revlon Photoready Eye Primer + Brightener
  
  
• Under-eye corrector & concealer: Vasanti Cosmetics Wonders of the World Concealer in O2
  
  Oh. My. God. You guys. I'm not kidding when I say I've tried Bobbi Brown's Corrector in Peach & this beats it BY FAR. This is NOT a dupe. It is in a whole other league of its own. This, topped with the concealer that comes next to it, does not crease, does not fade, blends easily & seamlessly, covers anything & everything, and for so cheap. You have got to try this at least once, especially if you struggle with under-eye dark circles. I have horrible ones that never go away, and this stuff is my HOLY GRAIL!
  
  
  
  Face
  
  
  
• Primer/Base/BB Cream: MISSHA M Perfect Cover BB Cream in #31 (Golden Beige)
  
  
• Light dusting of powder foundation for setting: MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation in NC43
  
  (didn't link to Amazon here since they all look like fake sellers!)
  
  
• Contouring: Maybelline Shine-Free Fit Me Foundation Stick in 355 (Coconut) (The darkest one they had at the drugstore haha!) & elf Bronzer in Warm, I use the bottom right colour for contouring.
  
  
• Highlighter: Benefit Cosmetics Watt's Up
  
  
• Blush: Wet N Wild Color Icon Blusher in 834E (Berry Shimmer)
  
  Lips
  
  
• Lip Liner:NYX Lipliner Pencil in 828 (Ever), an apparent dupe for MAC Lip Pencil in Spice (Bollywood actresses recommend this all the time, but didn't want to spend the money before trying out the dupe, and man, after my NYX is done, I'm trying out the MAC version)
  
  
  
• Lip Gloss: Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Luminous Lip Gloss in Royal Plum I actually got this in a package of 4 from my boyfriend's brother for Christmas, I wasn't really that much into glosses at the time, I always had a bad experience of my hair sticking to my lips, smudging, etc, etc. This is perfect though; it stays in place, great nude colour for my pigmented lips, just the right amount of shine without looking trashy, and no hair stickiness. I would spend $24 to get another one to be honest. Love, love, love this!
  
  
  
  

Hi, I know you haven't asked for other recs, but do you use sunscreen? SPF would help a ton with both reducing and eliminating your dark spots, plus adding extra protection for your skin.

Assuming that you want to eliminate dull skin and dark spots, sunscreen and chemical exfoliation are the best options, but I'll stick to what you've asked for now :)

As for moisturisers, there are hundreds, if not throusands, of options, so more info would be great! e.g., do you like thick moisturisers, gel types, thin lotions? There are products with added ingredients that can help with dark spots and be hydrating at the same time, e.g. Cerave PM Facial lotion, a gel-type moisturiser, which has niacinamide. You can also get moisturisers that just do that one thing, e.g. Nivea Creme, Clinique DDML, etc.

More info would be great!

You don't really need to replace your brushes if they aren't raggedy and falling apart or shedding. If you're cleaning and taking care of them regularly t hey should be absolutely fine to keep.


That being said, I think the Elf Studio brushes and Eco tools are great.


This is my favorite foundation brush of all time: http://www.amazon.com/e-l-f-Studio-Powder-Brush-elf/dp/B002B4GGUG


I've replaced them a few times to be honest because it starts shedding after about a year but I love everything about how this brush is designed and how it works. You can really control the amount of coverage, stipple, blend. It works with all textures of foundation from cream to liquid to powder. Love it. 6 bucks!

Sacha Buttercup would work, I'm NC44 in the winter, NC45 in the summer and it worked well on me. The texture of it is odd and hard to describe - it feels denser/heavier than most other powders and is VERY richly colored. The yellow cast it gave me was so intense my husband would comment on it, so I stopped using it. Unless you're super yellow toned you have to be careful with it to use a very light hand.

I have since tried Ben Nye Banana Powder, W7 Banana Dreams powder which seems to be a dupe for the Ben Nye, and Ben Nye Topaz powder. The banana shade (of any powder) seems to be ideal for our skintone under the eyes. I have to mix the Ben Nye Banana powder with the Topaz and it makes a perfect all over the face setting powder.

I've posted this before, Banana Boat Sunscreen Protect and Hydrate Moisturizing Broad Spectrum Sun Care Sunscreen Lotion. No white cast whatsoever on me & also great price. Absolutely love it. And it's 50 SPF, which is pretty good.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009FKNGF2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00