By Erica Moore @glammzmore

In case you haven’t heard of Mented Cosmetics, they make nude lipsticks for us brown girls. I wrote about them here a while back. The brand has recently released a matte version of their signature lipstick collection along with complementary lip liners. And they were kind enough to send both for review. Before I get to those though I’d like to talk about the Everyday Eyeshadow Palette which was also sent for review.

The Mented Cosmetics Everyday Eyeshadow Palette features nine shades of nude eyeshadow made with melanin in mind. The uber pigmented shadows are the perfect neutrals for creating day to night looks, and the color selection is great for Fall. 

The shadows apply smooth and blend well. And they wear all day over a primer and base without fading. I love this palette and have been reaching for it all week.

The lipsticks are creamy, comfortable and have great pigmentation. They wear well for at least four hours without needing a touch up. Unless you eat something greasy.

My favorite is still Dark Night. It reminds me of hot chocolate.

The Mented Cosmetics Lip Liner Collection features nine creamy lip liners, one to complement each shade of lipstick.The lip liners are nice and creamy. They glide on smooth and don’t tug on the lips, and the pigmentation is great with one swipe.

All aren’t an exact match for the paired lipstick. But it’s close enough. You can also mix n’ match them.

Original article on TheGlamorousGleam.com

 

What if we told you that you could have the perfect nude lip in a long-wearing formula without it being super drying! It's a miracle! No, it's our new velvet mattes and creamy lip liners! Formulated to feel as soft and cushiony as your lips you'll forget it's on. Our original 9 semi-matte lipsticks you love now come in matte with matching liners. Sold as duos and individual you can feel free to mix and match to make each shade your own.

By Ofunne Amaka @cocoaswatches

The limited edition Glow for Grown Ups collection includes three shades for your summer glow. These shimmer lotions are buildable, blendable, and made with your melanin in mind. each shade is packed with shimmery pigment, but sheer enough to give you the soft, easy glow that summer time calls for. All shimmer lotions are vegan, cruelty free, and proudly made in the us.

The 9 semi-matte nudes you love will be available this friday (9/14/18) in a velvet matte finish! This launch has definitely been in the works for a while as we've perfected this matte formula to be comfortable all day long! We encourage you to try our new shades--you may find your new favorite nude in our mattes. 

We hope you didn't think we'd come out with mattes without liners now! We're introducing 9 highly pigmented and super smooth lip liners matching our matte and semi-matte lipstick. These liners are perfect for adding definition to your lips and taking your look up a notch. Mix and match these liners with our gloss and lipsticks to create endless looks.

I spent the first several months after we launched Mented feeling like I always had to have a full face of makeup on. "How can you run a beauty company without being a walking billboard for makeup?" - I thought. It wasn't just in my head either - one night, after telling someone what I did for a living the person responded, "Now that you run a makeup company you really should look the part." (Of course the person was a man - eye roll.)

 I watched hours of YouTube tutorials, terrified of being the dope in the room who didn't contour or highlight properly. I'm not joking - I've spent more time watching YouTubers contour than I've spent planning my retirement (relatedly - we should all be spending way more time thinking about retirement). 

There were plenty of days when I loved putting on a full face - sometimes there's nothing more relaxing than piling on concealer, am I right? But there were plenty of days when I started approaching minute forty-seven of my makeup routine and thought to myself, "What am I still doing here?"

Thankfully, the hotter-than-Hades New York summer snapped me out of my more-is-more routine, and forced me into a simpler, less-is-more variation. Some days I don't wear any makeup at all (though I always put on a brow…a girl's gotta have standards). Most days, I find myself quickly swiping on some concealer to diminish my dark spots, brushing on a dash of eyeshadow (Redbone from our Everyday Eyeshadow palette), adding mascara and a gloss (I'm still obsessed with Send Nudes) and I'm out the door. Because right now, in this moment, that's what makes me feel beautiful (and that's about all that can survive the heat).

Come fall, I suspect I'll up the ante a little bit, but I'm committed to remembering these past few glorious months - I haven't contoured in ages and I'm telling you it feels amazing. What's more, makeup feels fun again, because I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone; I'm simply using some of my favorite products - which were formulated specifically for brown women like me - to enhance a face I've come to love, flaws and all. 

Until next time,

KJ

It was our second year at AFROPUNK BK and we had a blast! We came back bigger and better than last time. We went from having 9 lipsticks, 4 glosses, and nail polish to this year having our new summer gloss collection, eyeshadow palette, t-shirts and glow! Thank you to everyone that stopped by and we'll see you next time!