Black Radiance Perfect Tone Matte Lip Color Swatches on Dark Skin

Black Radiance recently launched six new shades of Black Radiance Perfect Tone Matte Lip Color. I picked up all six (I got them from their website—I find it hard to find all the colors in drugstores near me) and gave ’em a whirl.

These aren’t MATTE matte—they’re more of a creamy matte. Very comfy on the lips and the color pigmentation is nice. These aren’t going to be long-lasting (they have a “lasting adhesion” claim on the site) and I did experience bleeding of the color while eating. But at $1.99 a lipstick, if you’re on a serious makeup budget or want to experiment with certain colors without breaking the bank, that might not be a deal breaker for you.

So the lipstick packaging doesn’t have the names on them but the site has the names but no numbers so I assume they go in number order the way they’re listed on the site.

5118 (Hollywood Glam): a bright Barbie pink with a slight iridescence
5119 (Afro Chic): a berry red
5120 (Retro Berry): a grape-y shade
5121 (Vintage Plum): a dark berry red
5123 (Red Carpet): an orange-based red
5124 (Mod Mocha): a deep chocolate brown with slight shimmer

Video:

I filmed a spring makeup tutorial the same day I shot these swatches (hey, gotta get as much in as you can at once…lol) where I was using a lot of products for the very first time. So for instance my highlight looks a little off (to me) and is more of a cooler tone than I would normally use (I prefer a more golden undertone with my highlight–read more about that here). The images above are actually screenshots from the video.

Also some of the colors would look better with a few makeup tweaks but again, I was filming a bunch of things all on the same day so I would have been tweaking A LOT. Stay tuned for the video on the makeup look to come out soon.

See more Black Radiance posts here

See more drugstore makeup posts here

See more lip color posts here

Bottom line: I personally don’t love these but I also don’t hate them. You get some pretty colors and a decent formula (aside from the bleeding) and you don’t feel like you bought a “$2 lipstick.” They aren’t very long-lasting, but for the price if you’re either on a makeup budget or looking to try new shades like I mentioned earlier, this might not be a deal breaker for you.

Price and where to buy: $1.99 each at blackradiancebeauty.com.