September 29, 2009

Darker Skins Need Foundation Too!

Most cosmetics brands now offer much more choice in terms of foundation for women of color than 10 years ago.  But let's face it, the choice for darker skin tones is still limited. Some brands have truly embraced their ethnic clientele while others are still behind.

I've tried many foundations over the years and finding the right coloring/coverage has definitely not been easy. Three brands stuck out for me, however.


1 -MAC, the obvious choice
Great choice of colors from light to really dark skin. One of the first brands to offer quality products to ethnic women. Probably the best for light coverage, no doubt.





2 - Clinique, just as good as MAC

Again, great choice of colors including powders. Their staff has always matched their foundation with my skin with great skills. The coverage is a little heavier than the MAC foundations I tried and it's a good thing. Used in combination with powder it's a winner.






3 - Dermablend
Dark blemishes on dark skin can be hard to cover. Although Dermablend offers a limited range of colors, it does include a couple of foundations for black skin. The darkest foundation can only be found online (check out the Dermstore Canada), Shoppers Drug Mart does not carry it, bummer!

If the color does not exactly match your skin but you need the coverage, you can always use it as a base to mask your imperfections and use a darker foundation/powder to get the right color.

4 - Flops
I've tried Fashion Fair, years ago and I wasn't impressed, their products were heavy and their range was limited. Forget cheap brands from ethnic stores, they suck! Also, forget brands like Dior, Chanel etc..the choice of colors is usually very poor for darker skins. La Roche Posay (Toleriane) used to offer a couple of fairly dark tones and the best coverage I had ever seen, sadly they changed their product and the colors offered are now just dark enough for olive skin and the coverage is also much lighter.

 What's next? I'm definitely planning on testing IMAN's products soon and I will let you know how it goes!

- Christelle -

2 comments:

  1. I also like Cargo. They have this liquid foundation that's so sheer and light. Not necessarily full coverage, but gorgeous colors for brown skin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will definitely look for it, thanks for the tip.

    ReplyDelete

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