40 Shades, But only 10 faces: The Truth About Makeup Inclusivity

Today on Mood Swings, we are talking about makeup inclusivity for darker skin tones.

Why do some companies have 50 shades, but only show 10 in their ads? Why do so many “magic” foundations leave darker skin looking orange, gray, or ashy? And why do so many brands still stop at tan?

We are breaking down:

• The struggle of finding the right foundation for darker skin
• Concealers, contour, hyperpigmentation, and color correction
• Why darker skin needs different undertones
• Black-owned brands that actually get it right
• The “Fenty Effect” and how Rihanna changed the beauty industry
• Our Sip On It or Skip On It review section

We are also sharing our funniest makeup fails, horror stories, and why under our sink looks like a foundation graveyard.

Featuring brands like Fenty Beauty, UOMA Beauty, Danessa Myricks Beauty, Black Opal, Black Radiance, Mented Cosmetics, and more.

Like, comment, subscribe, and tell us your biggest makeup fail or favorite foundation for deeper skin tones.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:02

Hey everyone, it's your girl Jay. And I'm Kendra, and you're listening to Mood Swings the Podcast. Hey girl, hey. Hey girl. Hey. What is I'm just happy to talk to you today, girly. Me too. Oh hell no. Hold on. Oh my God. Um, stop it! What happened? What happened now? I was like, why do you sound like you were all pissed off? You're like, I'm gonna in the middle of like a podcast. Because I need to let her fucking know.

SPEAKER_02 0:33

I'm in the middle of a motherfucking podcast. Shit! How the fuck is she not gonna know if I don't fucking tell her and shit that I'm in the middle of a motherfucking podcast? You know, and the reason why I like to say motherfucking podcast is because I'm looking directly into my new microphone and I fucking love it.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

You're looking directly into the microphone.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

I don't know why I am because it's so big, but I was like, you know what? Motherfucking podcast. You're stupid. I'm so excited. But I am also excited about my topic that I'm gonna be talking to you today. But I wanted to let you know about my mood first and what I was drinking. Yes. If you don't mind. No, of course. And it's nothing fancy, okay? It is really, I just went and got myself a buzzball mudslide. Oh boy. I know. It's so I'm so lazy. It's but it's so easy. You just go right down to the refrigerator and you just grab it and you pop it open.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

Well, for someone that used to be a bartender and is still looking at bartending endeavors, you do a lot of canned shit. Well, you know what?

SPEAKER_02 1:35

A lot of my clients, they love that canned shit. So we can do that as well. But there's a reason, okay? There's a reason why I am drinking a mudslide because it actually fits my topic of the day and also fills my mood of the day, which is over blended and overwhelmed. Oh, my. That's I know.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

Okay. Oh, I want to hear all about that. Well, let me tell you what I'm drinking. Oh, right. Let's hear it. I don't even know why I said what I'm drinking. I don't even know why. I heard it to Ed Negarrett on that one. I am drinking my Mezcal tequila that I told you guys about from the local market I bought here before a few episodes back. And I just, you know, I did some, I did some hood shit. I mixed it with some red minute made. Um, okay. Mm-hmm. Girl's good. It's good. So it's leading me to my mood, which is overserved, you know. It's a good time though. It's a good time. Good times, good times as always.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

You know what I'm saying? As always. Yep. Well, well, guess what? I I will drink to that. You do that. Clink, clink, clink! Cheers! Clink, clink, clink. Well, I just wanted to let you know the reason why, again, uh that what my mood is, what my drink is, is because I have been completely and utterly struggling in my life, not only in my menopause, but also just in my day-to-day trying to feel like a productive member of society, slap some makeup on, you know, go and do some shit.

SPEAKER_05 3:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Slapping the makeup on part is the part that I'm having such trouble with, okay? And the reason why is because it's been so difficult trying to find a shade because I have so many different undertones in my skin and my face, right? Yeah. So either the the foundation is either matches under my eyes, or and then it makes the bottom half look ashy, or it fits the bottom half, and then the yellow parts look super red. And so that's the reason why I wanted to bring up this particular topic, which is 40 shades, but only 10 faces. And that is the truth about makeup inclusivity in itself. Oh, makeup inclusivity. Yes. Girl, yes, we can talk about this. Well, I will drink to that. Cheers. Cheers. Clean, clean, clean, clean. But before I dive headfirst into my topic of the evening, I wanted to share a quick update for our listeners. A couple of episodes ago, when I was talking about the thin line between artistry and real life and and murders that occur that happened on Wax. Well, uh, there's an update on David, the artist. I was speaking about him on the joke. Do you remember? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. We talked about it was still nothing happened yet. They he wasn't taken in, taken in, still out, just doing his own thing. Well, that's what he has now been formally charged with first degree murder in the death of Celeste Rivas Frenet. What? The per the prosecutors are also, and I said it right, prosecutors. Prosecutors also filed an additional charge, including lewd acts with a minor and mutilation of a body. Girl, he pleaded guilty. I mean he did, I'm sorry. No, no, I apologize. He pleaded not guilty and is currently being held without bail um as the case moves forward. So there's still a lot of unanswered questions, but more details are expected to come out in the next coming weeks. So we will continue to follow the case and provide you with updates as more verified information becomes available.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

So I just say what led to the arrest? I think the inform besides her body in her front truck.

SPEAKER_02 5:15

It hurt Tesla. So you know, it's funny. That's not funny because it's a death of a child and of anybody, and such just a disrespectful way to dispose of a body. And like they say, mutilation of a body, right? So my thing is all I know is a Tesla is equipped with about 400 cameras. None of that would hurt. Throwing that body, nothing on the side panels, nothing from the windows and the side, nothing, the back cameras, nobody caught anything. It was dead or something. I don't know. So maybe that's what prompted them to be able to do it. I'm not sure. But again, as the information unfolds, I will share it with your public.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

So today's topic came straight from years, and years came back, because you already know of emotional damage, emotional damage, public embarrassment, and at least and I'm and I I'm not even over-exaggerating, about a thousand wrong foundations living under my sink. Can you attest to that? Yeah, absolutely a hundred percent. I've always always have just bottles from drugstore to department store, expensive brands, online brands, you name it, I have tried it. It's almost like, you know, every diet I've tried, right? But and I've failed at those as well, but it's okay. I'm still cute in the face. Oh my goodness. So my God, will you shut up? You're I can't. Go ahead. We are talking about makeup for darker skin tones. Listen up, ladies, for the darker skin tone, POCs. If you're not gonna listen to any podcast, listen to this one. I'm just trying to help you out. Just I'm trying to help myself out. And as I learn, you learn. So my question is why is it that some companies can make about 42 shades of beige, but some suddenly just get amnesia when it comes to like shades for dark skin? It just like just stops. It's like it's like flat earthers, and you just get to beige and then you just fall off the earth.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Because it's like it's beige, and then there's tope, and then there's fawn and bitch doesn't do that. There's baked bread and golden sunset, and those are all like uh there's flour, there's there's wheat, there's and there's glucose. Right, and for and for dark skin tones, it's medium and deep. That's it. That's all you get. That's all you get.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Well, there is dark. Don't forget that.

SPEAKER_03 7:41

Medium, deep, and dark. We don't get there you go, there you go, there you go. We don't get like chocolate eclair, or you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 7:49

Like, we don't get all that type of stuff. Caramel parfait. Nope, we don't get that. We just get espresso or you get deep or magany. And I gotta say it like that. That's what it sounds like every time I say mugany. It's like, do you know where you're going to? Do you like the things? Anyways, so you dated the hell out of yourself on that one.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Duh?

SPEAKER_02 8:10

I said you dated yours the hell out of yourself on that one. Shit. Hey, with them big eyes, you know, I love it. Mogany. Love you, Billy D. Williams. But you know what? This is this mud slide that's getting me feeling like this, because you know. Oh, sorry. Shit, that's what I'm saying. Okay, so back on to topic though. Yeah. Um I've been orange, not trunk orange. I've been gray, I've been red, and I've also looked like somebody airbrushed barbecue sauce all directly on my face. Right. And the problem is because first of all, it's not only the foundation. No, the number one, it is the foundation, but it also is the lighting in which you apply your foundation. Okay. You already know that. We've talked about this, yeah. Exactly. But don't get me started on the magic foundations. Do you remember the you see that on Instagram all the time? The magic foundations where magically you place it on your face and you rub it and it just matches your tone. With that Mickeyage or what is it called? I always see commercials for that. Not power match. When they do power match, it's a power match quiz that they do, which is just basically a very in-depth questioning of your skin tone. They're asking about your the colors or your veins, which I cannot see. So that's the part that messes me up all the time. And I think that's the reason why I'm always just a tad off and don't actually ever get that perfect shade as they promised. But it's called the power match quiz. But it's not like something with the the color beads that burst when you rub it in. And those are what those magic ones do, which stop at what? Beige, fawn, fawn, glucose, whatever. That's all that's where it ends at. You put that on me, and I will literally look like I was in Pompeii. You know how they all got covered with ash, right? Or I turned around and thought I'm a good moral and got turned to a pile of salt. That shit. That type of stuff. Where I'm over here fighting and kicking bags of flour, that is what I look like. I look like one of those Athen uh statues with no arms, but the titties and the Fupa. I don't know why the Fupa's always there and the little dick, right? All that, that is what I would look like. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, just went on a fucking rant. Whoa, whoa. It's not even anywhere on the paper. I just went on a rant about it because I do be looking like that. So today, K Mac, I'd like to talk about the brands that get it right, the brands that also get it very wrong, and why darker skinned women deserve more than one brown shade called Mocha and a prayer.

SPEAKER_05 10:35

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Life is um mom, you're that one song, it's really cool. It's like a big band. You know that we're dating ourselves there. So, okay, I just had to say that before I even get into this. So Kendra comes home and her daughter, who is is 33. She's 30. 30. 30. She's 30. That's right, because uh my nephew's 33. So my goddaughter comes home and she's she tells her, Mom, I heard this new song. It's so dope. It's like, oh, like like church, and it's like a whole she was like, there's a choir in it.

SPEAKER_03 11:08

She was going, she was like, Life is a minister. And I'm listening to her, and I'm like, and I'm like, everyone must stand up. She's like, you know the song? She's like, you know that? It's on TikTok. I went, do I know? Are you talking about Madonna? Like a prayer? She's like, no. No, it's not Madonna. No, it's not Madonna. It's like a choir, and they're, you know, and they're singing and it's a choir, and they're there's I said, that was that was Madonna. It's it's like a prayer. She's like, no, no, Mom, I'm gonna play it for you. It's not Madonna's. I know it's not Madonna. Okay. So she plays it, and it is absolutely 100% Madonna like a prayer, but it's been remixed for whoever remixed it on TikTok. So she doesn't realize that that's Madonna, and that was a whole song. And she just thought it was just that little hook. She didn't realize it was a whole song. She didn't realize Leon was black Jesus. She don't know nothing, kids. She don't know nothing.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

And Madonna with the dark hair and the hair girls and she's getting it with her black lace. That was so girl, that was such blasphemy all over in that video.

SPEAKER_03 12:12

I mean, remember, I was in private school when I came out, and that was like Madonna was public enemy number one with already being provocative and then coming out with that video.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

And then remember in the background, I start thinking, wait a minute, is she with the clans member because she was burning all the crosses in the back while she was dancing and shit?

SPEAKER_03 12:31

See, when we were little, we couldn't pick up on that. But when we were, when we were, you know, of course, adults now we see it, but I just remember my pastor brother Bennett was like preaching. He was getting his preach on about Madonna. And what was crazy is that myself and his granddaughter, who was like my best friend at the time, we loved Madonna. Loved her. Life is a mystery. Everyone must stand alone. I hear you calling my name.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Okay. Okay, listen, let's not do this. Let's not do this. So look, y'all, at this point, finding foundation for darker skin feels like a toxic relationship. Because every time I find one, I well, actually, and I think it's also the lighting at the damn counters, because the makeup counters. Because I I get home, I feel it looks great in the mirror, I put it on, I go and look in the mirror, and suddenly I look like I've been lightly breaded and deep fried. I'm like, what the hell? I look You sound delicious. I do sound delicious, but then also when I wear um the you know, certain ones that feels cakey or oily or thick or feels like my pores are filled. I feel like I'm suffocating. And then I look like Trick Daddy. Oh God, that is not a good look. Well, he does love the kids, but I'm just saying I don't love his face. So no, no one does like that. Exactly. Well, okay, so some of these brands will really have you leaving the house looking beautiful in the bathroom mirror because of the lighting, right? And then you get out in the sunlight and then you realize you look like Estelle Penny. Okay, you sit here looking like a milk dud, and nobody wants to tell you that you needed to add contour and a little bit of color correcting. Didn't know about it. Okay. So as I'm learning, and I'm 50 years old, guys, and so you see all the MUAs all on TikTok and all those. You can follow them all you want to. I'm just gonna give you the real deal about mature skin. Okay, don't think that this is the end of end all be all, holy grail, answer to your problems. You're gonna have to still do your research because the beauty of black skin is it comes in a variety of shades and undertones. So you gotta find it. But the places that I'm gonna recommend in this particular podcast are definitely gonna be the places you you will find them. Okay. So I just wanted to let you guys know that um hopefully when we get off here, we're gonna have beautiful skin and beautiful life and still in menopause, but oh well, still sweat it off five minutes later.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

I did not know that you were having such a hard time finding. Now, I will say this I can attest to you having 50,000 different foundations, but I listen, I've never really bought a foundation on my own except for once. I've always coattailed off of your foundations because we have the same complexion. So, whatever you used, if you liked it, I was like, oh, okay, I'll buy that. And that's what I'd buy, and I would, I would use it. And I always, I've never seen you look like you came from Pompeii. I've never seen you look like Trick Daddy. I've always seen you look beautiful, which is why I would use your foundations. Well, and that's why you're my best friend. They were my best friend because you lie like a rug. No, I'm not lying. I girl, I would tell you if you was looking effed up. I would tell you for real, but I don't, I've never seen you look like that. So that's why I said I didn't know you were struggling with all the foundations. And so when I find a foundation, I remember one time your sister took us to uh bare minerals. And you guys thought that was like the be all end all. So I was like, oh, okay. So I just went along with it and I bought the bare minerals, and I used that for years and years and years until one day you were like, Why are you using bare minerals? Bare minerals, prosecutor, overserved. We should have called this, we should have called this podcast overserved, right? And then you guys were like, Oh, no, no, no, no, bare minerals, stupid. VGF did not be like, bare minerals was a fucking product. Do you write all yeah and your sister took us there? In fact, a lot that I've learned about makeup, I learned from your sister. So shout out to sister.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

Big sister.

SPEAKER_03 16:38

Yeah, that that's what I know about makeup. But go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

So, everyone, listeners, K Mac and I have basically become beauty scientists. We're over here mixing foundations together, like we're in the lab, one pump of this, half pump of that, a dot of orange corrector, a prayer, a ring light, the blood of Jesus. We just put it all in there, and then we try to come out with something that looks somewhat like my color. And of course, we already know Ketter and I have very similar skin tones, as you can see in our mood swings logo, because we look just as I except she looks like Kelly Rowland. But pretty much. Right. But, you know, I only want to try and find one foundation because every time I do the mix, I can guarantee you I'm gonna put a little more of something that should have. And so the foundation is just a little off. Kind of like my chicken adobo um recipe. I never measure, you know, it just comes a little different every time. Your chicken adobo is always so good. I know it is being a little good though. You know what I'm saying? Wish my foundation was like that. I wish I couldn't give myself chicken adobo face, but I can't. Oh, I don't think you want that. Well, I know that that doesn't sound right. Well, anyways, now I have to worry about foundation because I'm older. Not only do I have to um figure out, oh, do I have combination skins? Is it too oily? Is it gonna sloth off? I also gotta think about settling into lines now, looking cakey, drawing me out, making me look like I need a nap and a multivitamin, anything like that. I need to be able to. Like I'm low iron deficiency, which I am though. So I mean about that. But, and darker skinned women have a whole extra set of issues like hyperpigmentation, dark marks, uneven skin tone, discoloration around the mouth.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Oh my god, I mean it's just me. They're just writing about me.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

Straight at me.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

Fat. Damn it! Under eye darkness, and trying to cover it.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

All heads are certain things in there. But trying to cover blemishes without ending up with that weird gray cast. Now, one blessing in life. I knock on, well, I have a glass table. Knock on glass. I've never had acne issues. I don't think you either, right? Yeah. No. I've never had acne issues. So that's one good thing. So when I'm looking at a product and it's asking for acne fighting benefits, I don't need it. Like give it to my 16-year-old, which I don't have, but I'm just saying. So um it's so sometimes it feels like we're not just looking for foundation, we're looking for skincare, color correction, coverage, hydration, and a miracle in one bottle. That's what I'm trying to do. And I have not been truly successful in that because, again, as I said, I have two different shades in my face. So choosing one to fit one doesn't fit the other part of my face, right? So that's where the color correcting comes in and things like that. So I I digress about all that because I just been through the struggle, and because I've looked like a copper penny, a glazed donut, and a stressed-out milk dud at different points of my life and stopped lying, Kendry Half. I've decided to do the research for y'all and look into the brands and the shade ranges and black-owned companies and samples and discounts and color correctors and quizzes, all of it. Because somebody had to do it, somebody had to do the Lord's work. You out here doing the Lord's work. That's what I'm saying. So now that we have foundation, okay, let's talk concealers and contour. Because contour can be tricky on deep deeper skin because a lot of contour products are too gray, too muddy, and just sometimes, and a lot of them just disappear into my skin. I'm thinking it's a darker one, and I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna put it here. I'm like, wait, where'd it go? I just wasted the whole product. I might as well just use it on my whole skin. But then I do, and then all of a sudden it look like again an ashy milk dud, right? So I'm running into this big circle and circle of things. And so what I need to do is stop, break it down, understand my skin and its anatomy, and I think I might be able to find something, especially going with these particular companies that I'm about to talk about.

SPEAKER_03 20:34

Okay, so Okay, because you know, I never knew about color correcting. It wasn't until maybe I hit like 43 and I was noticing around my mouth was so dark, and I remember talking to you about it, and you were like, that's just the plight of a black woman. Like, that's just what we have to do. We have to just deal with it. I was like, damn. And then one day you gave me this little orange color corrector thing, which I still have to this day. And when I want to be really fancy and really put together, I'll put it on. But it's a pain in the ass because it's chalky and hard to blend out, you know? So let me tell you.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

See it. I'm so glad. And I'm sorry, Kendra, I'm gonna apologize to you right now. Me thinking, right? You always think we got friends who always think they got some kind of like in on some knowledge and shit. And then we find out like 12 years later, girl, we looking like shit, right? So I found that orange is not our color tone. It we need to start using reds because um I found that the orange can tend to make that area look ashy. So I went, but that was so what knowledge we never had at the time. But let me tell you, that was the knowledge and the accessibility to these products that we had at the time. That was the only color corrector they had. They didn't have these other colors that they have now. So back then, when I told you, because you know, I'll tell you something in like 1987, and you will still have that same mascara, right? Yeah, it's for real. Like I'm old faithful, yeah. So that's the reason why. Well, so that's why many black owned brands. Tend to get it right. They know the struggle of looking orange, gray, red, ashy because they've lived through it too. So some black brands that really seem to get it right, or brands like have you ever heard of Uma? Not Thurman. I was just about to say from Kill Bill. M-A-Beauty. No, I never heard of that. Just throw, yeah, look it up. Look it up. U O M A Beauty. They do not just throw dark shades in one category and call it a day. They actually break shades down by undertones because darker skin is not all the same. That's why I say. And then there's Black Opal, right? Which has been around forever. Yes, love Black Opal. You remember that? It's always been one of those reliable brands in the deeper skin colors. And the only ones that you usually see until Melania came up, right? Not Melania, the president's wife, but Melani, right? M-I-M. Yeah, I know. Yeah, I know, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. There we go. What about do you remember Black Radiance? Yeah, I do. So now those ones there, I I'm gonna tell you, I'm a little bit on the fence about Black Opal and Black Radiance because I feel that they are still quite heavier products. They're really, really thick products, right? So they're harder to blend out. So, but it's another good affordable option because their products usually do not leave you looking gray or ashy. And in some way, mainstream brands still do that to us, right? So, but I don't know if you know this, but I've been I've had, I've owned a couple of minted cosmetic products. They're in stick form. It is an actual black-owned company and they come in like T numbers and M numbers, like M10 or T something like that. Well, I I think I'm uh M10 or something like that, but that one's a good one too. But it's a little bit drier than my taste, especially now at my older age, you know? So Mentor was literally created because the founders were tired of nude only meaning what? Beige. They wanted nude shades that and fawn glucose, they wanted nude shades that actually worked on deeper skin. So, um, and then but then this is another one. This here is another one came back. I'm super excited. I'm so happy I started this research. Yeah. Danessa Myrix. D-A-N-E-S-S-A Myrix M-Y-R-I-C-K-S. Okay. I've even found some brands that I'm not even aware of before, and now I'm completely know why people love them. I've been looking at her their page, and Danessa is amazing because they show darker skin, textured skin, mature skin, and all of it. And their products actually have enough pigment to show up. So that is another one that I have never even knew of, but I am so excited to try some of her products. So I'm reaching out to these particular brands and seeing if we can obtain some samples so that we can kind of give our listeners real live feedback on these particular products. We'll start with right, and then there's the lip bar TLB. Have you ever heard of that? And you can get that on Amazon or Walmart. I have that brand as well. Again, as I said, part of my thousand in my collection. Yeah, the lip bar, which came from the founder, Melissa Butler, being frustrated on how limited mainstream beauty brands were in the first place. So she came out with one too. So that's another one you want to look at. Um but honestly, honestly, we do have to include Fenty, Fenty Beauty, in this conversation too. Because technically, she is co-owned by LBMH. So some people debate whether it counts as fully black owned. But Rihanna's vision is all over that brand. You she built Fent Fenty around darker skin, real undertones, and actual inclusivity from the beginning. But before Fenty, a lot of brands were perfectly comfortable stopping at beige, at tan. At beige, yeah. Yeah. Then Rihanna came out with about 50 shades, and suddenly everybody wants to act like they cared about deeper skin tones. And that's why people call it the Fenty effect. And I don't like to be felt as an afterthought. Maybelline, L'Oreal, all the all these brands that have been out there for many, many years. We've been on this earth for many, many years as well. But all of a sudden, this is a market that people want to buy. These people actually have money and want to buy this stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:08

Always have it. Fenty has this beautiful lipstick that I have. It's it's the icon velvet lipstick, the liquid velvet.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

My God, I was gonna ask you because K-Mac used to let me borrow that lipstick for my 50th birthday. And I rock that lipstick. And normally she likes more of a yellow uh undertone base uh red, more of that brighter color. I'm more into the blue base, which is that really darker red. But that one that you had let me borrow was perfect. And my I I freaking loved it. So yes, can you if you can let me know of that and let the audience know of it too? We'll go ahead and add that link down in our description as well. It is such a beautiful color.

SPEAKER_03 26:49

Um, you didn't keep it because I never got it back. I don't I don't know what it is. Wait, what? I don't I can't find it. You can't shit. I better go look at hey, I should wear that tomorrow if I if it's in my makeup again. Right, man. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's called the the MVP, and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's beautiful. And even if you go to Fendi and you look at the actual swatches, she has a swatch on a dark skin person, a medium skin, fair skin, like it's the whole gamut. I love how she puts she puts these models. It's like one, two, three, four, five different skin tones, and they all have the MVP on. So you can see how it looks on every single skin tone. That is fair representation.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

Because that is what that's what I'm talking about for representation. When you go onto Amazon, you go to this ones, and you look and say, oh my God, that color looks beautiful. Let me go ahead and scroll through the pages, and then you see three arms. And one arm is fawn, one arm is pale, one arm is tan, and then you see the 42 colors on them, but you never see that 45 last dark shades on a dark skin to see how it looks. Right. Yeah. I love when you actually take the time to seek out individuals who greatly represent our the diversity of our world. That's what you need to do. So, anyway, so props to Fenty, and she's actually has risen number one in my charts. I have not even thought to even purchase any Fenty. I don't know why. I'm not sure why. I just thought for some oh let me, you know, actually, I do know why. A lot of celebrity-backed products usually aren't even backed or created or had any bit of sweat and tears from that celebrity. They just showed up and said, Hey, you gotta promote this item. Put your name on it. Yeah, put your name. Cindy Crawford, all those, they do it. But Rihanna actually is really putting her blood, sweat, tears behind this product. So I'm I'm really excited about it. And I'm um I'm I'm gonna be going to get that that uh lipstick for sure. Yeah. Because I did say, and I actually wrote that on here. Shout out to Kendra because she let me use that red Fenty lipstick for my birthday party, and baby, that red was that one.

SPEAKER_03 28:56

Well, let me just say this how you've been on the on the quest for the perfect red. I am always on the quest as a black woman for the perfect pink for pink lip. Yeah, for for black, a black woman, and I'm not even ashamed to say, and a black woman with some black ass lips. Like, I got black ass lips, like Barack Obama black lips. You know what I mean? So I'm always on the quest.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

Hey, your list is blacker than the back of forest with neck, and that's how it is.

SPEAKER_03 29:25

The lip bar. Okay, I just looked up the lip bar. I didn't realize the lip bar was black-owned. It's black-owned, and it's it'll usually come up as TLB on the ordered a pink, I got a pink from them, and I took it back. So that's another thing. Trying to find so it's not just foundation, it's lipstick, it's everything. Like trying to find what you need for your skin tone is is it goes beyond just foundation, it's everything.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

Absolutely. And so I remember us, we were always talking to each other and try and figure out, and if you like what I like, what I'm wearing, you're gonna wear it, because again, like we said, we're very similar in skin tone. But you know, and so guys, we basically become unpaid beauty testers at this point. Because honestly, some of these companies need to go ahead and just hit us up for some free samples because we have already done enough research to qualify for an honorary degree in foundation matching. That I think if they give us these particular products, we can actually run a couple of shows and actually do those ones on camera and show how you know the good, the bad, and the ugly. So but Michael's not gonna be on the show, so probably just the good and the bad. Got it. All right, well, now this is just time for me and my favorite part of the show, which is called Sip on It or Skip On It. Ooh, love it. Yes, it's where we give a quick thumbs up or thumbs down to brands, products, and trends we talked about today. Basically, we're adding it to the cart, or are we leaving it right there on the shelf where it belongs? Okay, so I'm just gonna go over these particular brands and let you know that all of these are I'm giving already the sip it um sip on it. Starting with Fenty Beauty. That is Fenty Beauty. Yes, we are sipping all day, all night. Yes, we're sipping. Now, down to the two new ones, Uma Beauty. I've never never sipped it, but I'm ready to sample it.

SPEAKER_03 31:20

Okay, yeah. I'm yeah, okay, yeah, we could do a sample for sure.

SPEAKER_02 31:24

And Danessa Myrix Beauty. That's the one, Danessa Myrix Beauty. It's I'm I'm new to it, but the reviews got me curious. So I definitely want to look into it. That's the one that does the mature skin, the oily, the texture skin, all that. So we'll definitely be going on there and seeing if we can try and get some product to see if we can try to test it out. And because the one thing I just hate doing is buying a full bottle. And like I said, and having them just sitting there wasting and and expiring under my like counter, right? Why don't you take them back? Well, there's a lot of starving people in Africa who need foundation. You know what I'm saying? Well, it's too late now. I mean, there's you know, the time is there this time has been gone. But uh black opal, as I said, I'm still on the fence with that one because and as well as Black Radiance, because uh, first of all, they're they're great go-to and and quick uh uh for drugstore brand, but the problem is the accessibility. Every time I go there, either uh the shade that I may have thought I would probably match is always gone. And the reason why is because there's probably only three of them to start with. So the three people who have similar shades to me or not even similar shades are like, ah, close enough, they're gonna buy it. And so then I go there and they don't have it, so I can't test out your product because I was gonna say black opal.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

So back in the day when I was just started wearing foundation, I went to black opal and I bought, I think it's called cappuccino. And I love it. I still have my old compact there because I didn't want to throw it away because then if I ever needed it, it's given. And I know it's so old and needs to be thrown away. But that was always frustrating to me. Whenever I would go to the store, that particular one would be gone. I could never get it. It was always sold out.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

So yeah, it shows inclusivity by showing we do have it, but I'm pretty sure that we know the quantity that's given per location uh of stores is very limited as opposed to the lighter shades that are a plethora of just a non-ending amount of the foundations there, and then all of a sudden we go to our section and they're usually got one, it's broken, and then the other ones are just gone, just empty, right? So but you know, so I might have to order online at this because a lot of the stores don't carry the inventory that I'm looking for, but I I am willing to try Black Opal and Black Radiance again.

SPEAKER_03 33:42

Yeah, I they're good. I don't know. Do they still make Black Radiance? I don't know if Black Radiance is still out. Oh, you know what? I have a um, I do have a uh, what do you call it? What do you call those things? A translucent powder from Black Radiance.

SPEAKER_02 33:56

Oh, you do?

SPEAKER_03 33:57

I have a Cherries Jubilee from Avon. So so do I.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

And you know how thick bitch! Shout out to Wet n Wild. So the uh Mented, like as I mentioned before, Mented Cosmetics and the Lip Bar. Those are, I would say, is sip on it for sure. Okay, except for that pink. And then Mac Cosmetics. Mac goes way back, K Mac.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

You know, it's in your name. Right. It's so funny that you brought up Mac because Mac has a pink that I've been wanting to try forever. It's called Flat Out Fabulous. And did you know? So I just learned this, actually doing research for this show, that at the Mac, you can go to their website and you can use your camera, your web camera, and try on their different foundations, try on their different lipsticks, all that good stuff. So I like that that you can, there's some activity. I mean, it's not the best, trust me, the technology still has a way to go, but it's better than nothing, which is what we had.

SPEAKER_02 34:56

But see, and the only risk is right, the difference between the um the color tone in your computer screen, your phone, your iPad, the lighting, you know, are you really capturing your real one? And then we're we're hoping that technology gets the closest to it. So I've done that before and then got pissed off because everybody the fuck out and had to return all my shit because my lighting was off, right? So it was my lighting was too yellow, and now I look like a jelly bean. So now uh Juvia's Place. Are you familiar with Juvia's Place? I have uh some products from there, but I I swear I'm on the fence on Juvia's Place as well because I I felt the foundation that I tried. But to be fair, I did try this like in 2016-2017. I felt that that formula was too heavy and a bit oily. Oh my gosh. I have to go to Juvia's place. If you go and look at it, it has a lot of African symbolism and and koofies and things like that. It's all in in that type of design. And it it does uh cater to the African-American skin, which you can get at Sephora or at what is the other one? There's Sephora and then there's what's the other big Ulta. Yeah. I don't know about Ulta, I think it's in Sephora, but they have them as well. But when I had gotten them, my daughter was really into Juvia's Place. Um, and but it just felt so heavy. That's why I was saying I feel like uh my face is kind of like suffocated because it's just so heavy. So I'm still on the fence with that, but I am interested in going back and retrying Juvia's Place. Maybe their formulation has been changed in the past. 10 years. Are we sipping or are we skipping on Juvia's Place? No, Juvia's Place, we're gonna sip on it. We're gonna sip on it. So we're gonna try that and get on it. Can I also get only one? There's only one company that I'm gonna skip on. And that would be Huda Beauty. Do you remember Huday? Huda Beauty? Huda. I don't know what that is. Huda, H-U-D-A, Huda Beauty. It was big controversy about the her still in, I think it was called the Baked Beauties formulation for foundation or powder, and it and that was like over ten years ago or something like that. But it's been um still very controversial. They had things about like vagina lightning, and then it went into like color, you know, colorism, and it was crazy. Her stance on stuff, so uh I'm just gonna go ahead and you know, just just move forward and and not do Huda Beauty. I never got any Huda Beauty stuff anyways, but I I am upset about it because Huda Beauty does have a lot of inclusive shades and it has a really, really good concealer for African American women. No, I've never even heard of it before. So I was on the fence. I might go over the fence real quick, grab that um color corrector, crawl back under the fence, and then then be like, ah, screw Huda Beauty. Let me say what it, you know what I'm saying? Just kidding. Just kidding. Never heard of it. Well, okay, well, so hopefully today I saved y'all a little money, a little stress, maybe a little embarrassment from natural lighting, because nobody deserves to spend$50 on foundation just to walk outside and realize they look like a confused traffic cone with a ring light addiction. If you have a favorite brand, a horror story, a product that betrayed you, or a foundation that finally got it right, let us know because you are not alone in this struggle. And remember, you may be entitled to compensation. You call, not V-Law. So, Kay, before we end this episode, we do want to welcome a new member to our swing set.

SPEAKER_03 38:24

Yes, absolutely. So, our viewer of the week is somebody that is always they're considered a friend of the show. They're always writing in questions, they're liking our posts and commenting and just engaging with the show. So we appreciate that so much. So, we want to welcome our newest member to the swing set, and that is the real Alleyway. Welcome, real Allyway. Thank you for being a friend of the show.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

Welcome to the swing set. And remember, guys, life is too short to be out here looking ashy on purpose. We'll catch you on the next ton mood swing. Love you, K. Love you, Jay. Cheers.