#MyMelaricheStory; Melariche.com

I was always the makeup one in my family, even when I wasn't that into makeup, goes to show how little my mum & sister were into makeup. My mum was all about a dark plum lip (and still is) and my sister was a straight up tomboy. So I kind of felt like I didn't really have anyone to show me the way, this was way before the invention of YouTube (showing my age). I was left to my own defences, to experiment and figure out my makeup style, for years it was mostly makeup bought from mac. I dreaded going to the a mac counter (sorry some of the staff are so rude), but what choice did I have, weren't many brands catering to my melanin rich skin in my price bracket, certainly weren't any drugstore options. I'd have to save up just to afford mac at that time to be honest, which mainly consisted of concealer, mineralise skin finish powder, mascara & a flesh tone lipstick or gloss. I've felt like its taken a while for me to really find my way with makeup, it's such a shame to see that several years on the drugstore scene is not that much better than it was in my day.

TheFoundationDirectory; #MyMelaricheStory

So it's really inspiring when I see brownbeauties, taking things into their own hands, and making a change to the 50 shades of beige. Native New Yorker Jackie Taiwo, was surprised and frustrated to find that the choice of makeup and skincare for melanin rich women here in the UK is much more limited, than where she previously called home New York. Jackie has launched a website (melariche.com - an amalgamation of melanin & rich, clever) that caters specifically for the makeup, skincare and haircare needs of women of colour, and to top it off most of the brands are black owned too, I mean how amazing!!! I received items from Zao, Biolissime & PHB Ethical Beauty.

TheFoundationDirectory; #MyMelaricheStory

Zao is an organic, eco-luxury makeup brand made in Italy from 100% natural origins, it is internationally certified organic, chemical, cruelty & gluten free. The packaging is the most chic and unusual packaging I've seen a foundation housed in, and it can be refilled, meaning the packaging isn't wasted every time you need to repurchase.

Biolissime is a French skincare line that is specifically formulated to treat issues regarding to hyperpigmentation, using a non whitening formula that evens out the skin tone while increasing the skin's defence mechanism against UVA & UVB rays, therefore preventing further pigmentation issues.

PHB Ethical Beauty is a British family run business with a range of award winning handmade products, they are home to the world's largest range of Natural, Vegan Cruelty Free and Halal Certified beauty products. There's something to suit all skin types with their colour coded range of products that blend the purest organic extracts and essential oils, to treat various skin issues.

Melariche.com is definitely the place to go if you are looking for brands and products by women of colour for women of colour all under one roof. Jackie has done a fantastic job of bringing these and many more brands together, making them more accessible for you and I.

Beauty Blender Masterclass; The things you didn't know you could do with a Beauty Blender!!!

TheFoundationDirectory; Beauty Blender Masterclass

 On an unexpectedly hot day in September I toddled along to a Beauty Blender Masterclass, not expecting to learn much more than I already knew about beauty blenders, oh how wrong was I?! Beauty Blender exclusively use a unique material that is not found in any other makeup sponge, once wet the water fills the pores of the sponge so it doesn't soak up any further makeup, you just 'Wet, Squeeze and Bounce'. There are a couple of exception to this beauty blender mantra, but we will get to that later.

Firstly did you know there was a body blender? That's right a huge flat shape (think huge egg sliced right through the middle), that can be used to apply fake tan, body shimmer etc to large areas of the body and keep your hands clean while doing it.

TheFoundationDirectory; Beauty Blender Original (Pink)

Then of course there's the original Pink Beauty Blender, that can be used to apply foundation, powders, primers, cream blush etc. The shape allows for impeccable blending with a professional finish, no brush marks and if you usually have issues with products 'balling up' when you try to layer them, this will help prevent that.

Next up is my absolute favourite of the entire bunch, and one of the exceptions that doesn't conform to the 'wet, squeeze, bounce' mantra. It's the only sponge in the line-up that is designed to be used dry, it's the Blotterazzi, the first washable, re-usable alternative to blotting papers. It's a flat teardrop shaped sponge that you press against the skin to gently absorb oil without disturbing your makeup, it comes housed with 2 in a cute mirrored air vented compact that can easily fit in your handbag for on the go touch-ups. The sponge is super easy to clean, using the beauty blender cleaner, or what I've done, which is with anti-bacterial hand washing soap. This is great as it allows you to get rid of shine, without leading to a cakey build-up from the over use of powder. I touch-up less with powder since using this, and when I do use powder I feel it applies better as I can get rid of the oil first, I think this is a must for my fellow combo/oily skin girls. Beauty blender state that each sponge lasts 60 days, so the 2 in the compact will give you 120 days of use, but to be honest I think I will get longer use out of mine, I haven't even touched the second sponge in the compact and have had them for about a month now and the first sponge looks great and is still going strong.

TheFoundationDirectory; Beauty Blender Micro Mini

Next up is the Beauty Blusher and Micro Mini, as the name suggests the first is for the use of application of cream or powder blusher. I actually prefer to use this to blend under eye concealer and liquid/cream highlighters on the face. The micro mini is designed for this and also to contour, but personally I find it a little small, so just stick with the beauty blusher for this job, although micro mini would be great for contouring/highlighting really small areas like your nose, brow bone etc. It can also be used to apply eyeshadow, that's right, eyeshadow. Especially if you like to apply those one and done washes of colour over your lids, now I haven't tried this myself, but the pro makeup artist that demonstrated this at the masterclass and made it look super duper easy.

TheFoundationDirectory; Beauty Blender Liner Designer

Finally and the only thing in the beauty blender arsenal that actually isn't a sponge, (so again doesn't comply to the 'wet, squeeze, bounce' mantra) other than the cleanser of course, is the Liner Designer. This is set to make doing those instagram enviable winged liners, achieveable for non-professionals like myself. The 3 different sides are designed to help create different angles, curves and shapes to suit your eye, perfect to use with all types of eyeliner. Not only that, but beauty blender has thought of everything, the compact that houses the Liner Designer actually comes with a suction cup and a 5x magnification mirror. So you place the compact at eye level with the little suction cup, rub the liner designer between fingers for 10-15 second to warm it up, this allows the tool to adhere to your skin and stay in place. You use the longer side for dramatic cat eye looks or shorter side for a more subtle look.

I'm sure in all this there's a beauty blender for everyone and all bases are covered, not forgeting the liquid and solid beauty blender cleansers that allow you to maintain and keep your blenders in tip top shape. Beauty Blenders can be found here, here and here.

Are you a beauty blender fan? Did you know all these beauty blenders (and more) existed?

Tsaka Deep Clean Facemask

What do you do when you leave your country to go and study in a new country and then find your skin starts playing up trying to adapt to the new climate? Launch a new skincare brand that will cater to your melanin rich sensitive skin? No, me either, but that is exactly what the formidable Celmira Amade did when she came and study here in the UK. Celmira came to the UK in 2010 to study International Business, almost overnight her skin suffered from blemishes, dryness and uneven skin tone. She searched the British highstreet trying to find natural based products designed specifically for her melanin-rich skin to no avail, and eventually settled for make-up to disguise rather than treat the problem. It was not until she was offered a skin bleaching cream in a local beauty store that she realised she had to do something about this, makeup and skin bleaching were not acceptable alternatives. Despite some hesitation Celmira took that leap, influenced by ancient Mozambican beauty recipes from her grandmother the British based vegan brand with African roots, Tsaka (pronounced Saka - meaning happiness in the Ronga dialect of Mozambique) was born.


TheFoundationDirectory; Tsaka Facemask

First in this skincare brands line-up is the Tsaka Facemask, the first beauty line in the UK to formulate with rare plant extracts from the Olacaceae family that are only found in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Madagascar extensively. Paying tribute to time tested traditional African beauty recipes, each ingredient is wild harvested, hand picked and processed with heat. The mask has high anti-inflammatory and smoothing properties, that minimise post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, it deep cleans and detoxifies without clogging your pores, while regenerating and hydrating your skin. The big difference with this face mask however is it's preservative free formula, which is enabled due to the lack of water in the formula. That's right the mask doesn't come premixed, it's water activated so you add water when you are ready to apply it to your face, mixing a teaspoon of water to half a teaspoon of mask together.

Celmira is very hands on, splitting her time between studying at University of Cambridge and travelling back and forth to Mozambique to ensure that only the purest ingredients are used in production. As if giving us a British vegan African fusion skincare line, designed specifically for melanin rich skin wasn't enough. Celmira has also made the commitment to leverage 2% of it's profits to achieve beautiful things in the communities where the ingredients are sourced, utilising a beauty brand to sprinkle happiness and touch the lives of many.

I have to say I found it a little alien at first, trying to get the right proportions of water to product, and when I applied the mask to my face it felt like I wasn't applying very much. But then as the mask hardens it turns white, and you can see the mask become more apparent on the skin. It doesn't feel like your traditional facemasks, so not too tight or drying, and my skin felt clean and soft after use.

If you are looking for natural vegan skincare, designed specifically to work in harmony with your gorgeous melanin rich skin, that is free from Preservatives, Hydroquinone, Lead, Heavy alcohol, Synthetic Fragrances, Sulfate, Mineral Oil and Animal derived ingredients then you cannot go far wrong with Tsaka, I can't wait to see what else the brand has in store for us.

Prices start at £17 and the Tsaka facemask can be found here.

FoundationFiles; Is Makeup Revolution The One Foundation, the cheapest foudation ever!?!

Foundation Files; This is where I test out different base products, from concealer to powder, tinted moisturiser and foundation etc, over a period of 7-14 days and post my findings. (Follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Bloglovin so you don't miss a post) So let’s get started!!!


First off some information about me; Skintype: Combination (leaning dry in winter and Oily in Summer). Shade Reference: in between MAC NC45-50/NW43. Undertones: Yellow/Neutral.

TheFoundationDirectory; Makeup Revolution The One Foundation

Brand: Makeup Revolution

Name: The ONE Foundation

Coverage: Light-Medium

Shade: 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16

Swatch: 

TheFoundationDirectory; Makeup Revolution The One Foundation Swatches

What The brand says: This will be your ONE Foundation. ONE shade for everyone. Using revolutionary fusion technology The ONE Foundation adapts to your skin tone and texture to give a flawless finish. Benefits: Due to it's liquid formula, it is easily build-able and applied. The ONE Foundation gives full coverage resulting in a matte finish. Available in 16 shades to suit every skin tone. 

Wear time (with/without primer): The wear time on this foundation is not that great, it's not a matte foundation as stated, and I feel due to it's lightweight consistency my oils pushed through quite easily. I would also struggle to class this as full coverage, you get a medium coverage at best, and that requires a lot of layering, it also oxidised quite badly on me.

Price (ml): £1-4 for 29ml dependending on the shade.

Pros: Affordable

Shade range
Shade adjusters

Cons: Accessibility
Undertones
Doesn't live up to claims
Not long wearingon a combination skin

Suitable Skin Types: Dry, Normal and Combination (if you a willing to touch-up). All skin types if using as a mixing agent.

Ingredients: Aqua, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Isododecane, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Isododecane (and) Acrylates/Polytrimethylsiloxymethacrylate Copolymer, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Cyclopentasiloxane (and) Ethylhexyl Palmitate (and) Quaternium-90 Bentonite (and) Propylene Carbonate, Magnesium Sulfate, Phenoxyethanol (and) Ethylhexylglycerin, Tocopheryl Acetate, BHA

May Contain: Titanium Dioxide(CI 77891), Iron Oxides(CI 77491), Iron Oxides(CI 77492), Iron Oxides(CI 77499)

Oxidation: Yes, a lot.

Any Other Information: Don't get me wrong for the price this is an ok foundation, but I really wanted to love it, I'll try it again once the weather it's much cooler and see if that makes a difference on my combination skin. However for now it's best as a mixing agent, for instance if you want to add more yellow to your foundation reach for shade number 12, to deepen your foundation tone add a darker shade etc. If you like a very light coverage, have dry to normal skin that holds foundation well, very few blemishes to cover, are new to make or looking for something to slap on to run errands, this could be a great option worn as a foundation. As you can see from the swatches it has a very liquid consistency, similar to Mac Face and Body, and needs a good shake prior to every use. I didn't get on with Mac Face and Body foundation either, so maybe these water fluid foundation textures are not for me.

Conclusion: I really wanted to love this foundation worn alone, firstly I struggled to find a shade, 12 has a great golden yellow undertone, slightly too light for my tanned summer skin. 13 is straight up ashy on me, as it's too cool toned, 14 has this weird green-grey-brown undertone that just didn't work for me, 15 is slightly too red and although shade 16 is gorgeous it's too dark for me. Even mixing shades together I struggled to get a good match, in addition it just didn't last well on my skin, I had to constantly touch up and after a few hour I didn't like the way it looked on the skin. This for me will strictly be a mixing agent from now on, but if you are looking for shade adjusters these are a great affordable option, or if you fall into any of the above mentioned categories this can make a great lightweight base if you can get your shade.

Availability: Continuing on with the Superdrug Shades of Beauty Campaign Foundation Exploration, this is another option available from Superdrug, I've not seen it in any stores, but you can get it online at Superdrug.com and Tambeauty.com 

*Rating: Dislike as a foundation, Love as a mixing agent.









*Ratings; Hate, dislike, Like, Lust, Love