TSABD Quick Reviews: Bobbi Brown Skin Long-Wear Foundation, NARS Wanted II Blush Palette + MORE on Dark Skin

Welcome back to another TSABD Quick Reviews!

TSABD Quick Reviews is just as its name would suggest: quick reviews. Sometimes there just isn’t a whole lot I need to say about a product, so I’ll group them together and give you the quick rundown. These are NOT like my TSABD Edit where I tend to go into detailed explanation with swatches and sometimes video demo.

Today we’re going through Bobbi Brown Skin Long-Wear Weightless Foundation, NARS Wanted II Blush Palette, BECCA Ocean Jewels Eyeshadow Palette, Black Radiance True Complexion CC Palette, L’Oreal Voluminous Superstar X Fiber Mascara, L’Oreal Infallible Longwear Eye Pencil, new Gold Label Cosmetics nude lip colors, L’Oreal True Match Lumi Glotion, Wet N’ Wild Photofocus Dewy Face Primer, and a variety of newly-sold-at-select-Target-stores The Lip Bar lip colors. PHEW!

Everything except for the Black Radiance palette and the Wet N Wild primer was sent to me by the corresponding brand’s PR.

Scroll to the bottom of the post for price and shopping info.

L’Oreal Infallible Longwear Eye Pencil

These remind me of a drugstore version of the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eyeliner Pencils (L’Oreal bought UD a few years ago so it’s possible that the formulas are similar). These aren’t as soft and don’t glide as easily as the UD ones nor do they have the vast shade range, but they’re still great for the price point. They’re waterproof so yay! And get this, the Black shade is a dead ringer for UD’s Perversion which has been my favorite eyeliner for yeaaaars.

Gold Label Cosmetics Nude Lip Colors

Gold Label Cosmetics is one of my fave Black woman-owned brands and they just launched some nudes!

I normally like nudes that are brownish-pink or pinkish brown and that are glossier in finish, but CEO took me by surprise! It’s more of a yellow brown and has a matte finish but I really liked it on me. I also liked Tan Lines on me as well which is a bit lighter and a bit more orange-y in undertone than CEO.

These have great wear and though they’re mostly lighter in color, the opaque finish helps them last long.

Shop Gold Label Cosmetics at www.goldlabelcosmetics.com

L’Oreal Voluminous Superstar X Fiber Mascara

This mascara is double-end and has a black primer on one end and a volumizing mascara on the other. It’s meant to give you a fake lash effect. I liked how it made my lashes longer, but I didn’t get that much volume and the formula felt a bit dry on my lashes.

BECCA Ocean Jewels Eye Palette

This is such a beautiful palette. The shades are nicely pigmented (though wear a primer underneath if you want the shadows to stay put all day without creasing) and you can create quite an array of looks with them. You might be taken by surprise that three of the shades have an iridescent finish (or maybe not if you knew that from reading the description of it…lol).

Black Radiance True Complexion CC Palette

Concealer palettes are great for those who have a hard time finding a shade that matches or for those who like the flexibility of creating your own shade depending on your current needs. This Black Radiance True Complexion CC Palette has nine shades which is probably way too many for the average person, but I like the texture—it’s easy to just use your fingers to apply (but of course you can use your favorite makeup brush as well). The coverage is more medium and you can build it up or sheer it out. I can see how these would crease in the under eye area though—check out this video to see how to fix that and other makeup mistakes.

The Lip Bar

The Lip Bar is now sold at select Target stores! Yup, you can waltz right in and stock up on Bawse Lady to your heart’s desire. Check out the Target site to see where it’s sold near you.

The Black woman-owned brand is vegan and cruelty free and features bold and beautiful lip colors. My faves so far include Bawse Lady (a liquid lip that is a beautiful intense blue-red—it doesn’t last as long as my usual faves from MAC and NARS but that it’s vegan and cruelty free made me feel good) and Vixen (a full coverage opaque blue-red gloss).

Bobbi Brown Skin Long-Wear Weightless Foundation

I was super intrigued about this foundation because it offers so much: 16-hour wear, buildable medium to full coverage foundation with a natural, multidimensional matte finish, waterproof, sweat- and humidity-resistant. I have never had a great match in Bobbi Brown foundations—over the years shades come close in color but then wind up being too red in undertone. Chestnut was the closest shade match for me—it’s a tinge too dark and too red (I have neutral undertones), but you can’t tell just from looking at in on my face. If you then look at my face in comparison to my neck and chest, you can tell it’s off because those areas are very neutral in undertone on me. After some time had passed, it looked less red on me, but still red. Performance-wise though this foundation is awesome. Gives very skin-like results while covering like a boss and holds up on my oily skin BUT it is still winter (though milder than usual) here so I’d have to retest when it gets warmer out to see how it fares on me. The texture is beyond! It’s like a cross between a liquid and cream—you get the ease of a liquid with the flexibility of a cream. An added plus: even though it comes in a bottle with a pump, the foundation doesn’t get stuck in the dispenser—this could change though as the foundation runs out, but at that point I’m sure you can just remove the pump and coerce the remnants out. If this came in a better shade match for me, I would love this more.

Wet N Wild Photofocus Face Primer Dewy

I saw someone on Instagram do a video demo of this a while back and knew I needed it. It took awhile for it to get to Target stores (I could have ordered it online from the Wet N Wild site but I didn’t want to pay for shipping…lol) but I got it! It can be worn alone or under your foundation to give the skin a soft glow. I like that while it gives the skin a gorgeous candlelit effect, it doesn’t look or feel wet—in fact the primer dried down matte on me—this is good news for someone like me with oily skin. The look is subtle so if you want something more intense, check out the next product in this post.

L’Oreal True Match Lumi Glotion

Now if you want a more intense glow than what the Wet N Wild primer offers, you might want to try this. This differs in that it’s not a primer, but you can use it in multiple ways to get a bronzy glow (it also comes in three other shades, but this shade, Deep Glow, is the one that shows up best on darker skin).

NARS Wanted Cheek Palette II

I have never been more excited about a blush palette! See, thing is, a lot of blush palettes aren’t great for darker skin tones. There maybe one or two shades that work and then everything else is a dud—makes no sense to spend money on something like that. But this? THIS?!?! O-M-G.

So there are two new cheek palettes coming out soon from NARS: Wanted I and Wanted II. Wanted I features lighter shades that although gorgeous, wouldn’t be the best for dark skin. Here’s some info from the press release:

High-profile shades. Made for play. Introducing the NARSissist Wanted Cheek Palettes, acurated selection of 12 new and beloved cheek shades in two limited-edition palettes. Brighten up with cool corals and pops of pink, or go bold with radiant reds and deep raspberry in matte, satin and shimmer finishes. The covetable formula feels silky smooth and provides blendable application. Profile, raised. #NARSissist.

Shades Include:

NARSissist WANTED CHEEK PALETTE I

(from left to right, top to bottom)
UNLIMITED, shimmering pale pink (limited edition)
BUZZED, matte coral (limited edition)
NOTORIOUS, matte lavender (limited edition)
KINGPIN, matte rose (limited edition)
BUMPY RIDE: shimmering candy pink
CRAVE: matte bright coral (limited edition)

NARSissist WANTED CHEEK PALETTE II

(from left to right, top to bottom):
PYT: metallic rose (limited edition)
AMBITION: satin tangerine (limited edition)
TAOS: soft red with golden sheen
EXPOSED: matte dusty rose (limited edition)
PENTHOUSE: matte raspberry (limited edition)
QUEEN: matte ruby (limited edition)

PRICE: $59 each. (exclusive to ULTA)
Available on March 8, 2018 on Ulta.com.
Available on March 15, 2018 at NARS boutiques and narscosmetics.com
Available on March 18, 2018 at Ulta stores

Wanted II is amazingly pigmented (I’m sure Wanted I is as well but I didn’t try it) and lasts all day much like what we expect from NARS blush. As someone whose makeup stash has recently become MUCH lighter, I really appreciate this palette because it’ll mean I can keep more blush shades in less space.

See Blush for Dark Skin for more info on how to pick out a blush shade. See 50 Shades of Blush to see a ton of similar blush shades on my cheeks.

Get pricing and shopping info on the products in this post in the widget below:

Shop Gold Label Cosmetics at www.goldlabelcosmetics.com

(Don’t forget to use the arrow to scroll through to see more products)

Have you tried any of these products? Would you? Tell me in the comments!