Author Archives: Noire Tropical Beauty

About Noire Tropical Beauty

Noire Tropical Beauty is the creation of Nerissa Alleyne. She hails from the twin island Republic of Trinidad & Tobago but currently resides in the beauty/fashion capital of the world, New York City (Harlem to be exact!). She is a lover of makeup, colour, a Product Junkie, freelance makeup artist, eternally devoted to M.A.C. but just getting into other brands like MUFE and NARS. As a graduate of Princeton University and using her background in Chemical Engineering, she is interested in the science behind the product and the balance between beauty and function. She also began her natural hair journey years ago and enjoys discovering and supporting companies that cater to natural, kinky, curly, coily beautiful hair! Huge fan of Oyin Handmade, Qhemet Biologics, Karen’s Body Beautiful and Anita Grant! Mini mixologist. Anything purple. Period. For reference, Nerissa has dark skin (M.A.C. NW 45, Bobbi Brown # 8 Walnut, MUFE HD Foundation in #178). She loves exploring makeup lines, beauty traditions and customs from all over the world, especially for women of colour (African, Latina/Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Indian, Asian and anyone else not mentioned!). There are a lot more products available now, but sometimes women still feel limited in their options. Nerissa hopes to showcase beauty from all over. In her spare time, she is an avid listener of great international music and is currently working on increasing her repertoire of international dance such as Middle Eastern (Raqs Sharqi), West African, Samba and Salsa. Thinks that futbol is the game of gods!!!!!!!!Yankees fanatic!! Dream: to own my own makeup company! Questions, comments, preguntas??? Email me at noiretropicalbeauty[at]gmail.com Follow Noire Tropical Beauty on: Facebook Twitter YouTube

Quick swatches! OCC The Garden Spring/Summer 2012 Collection

Quick swatches! OCC The Garden Spring/Summer 2012 Collection

Hey! So here are some pictures and a few swatches from the launch of the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Spring/Summer collection, The Garden, a mix of pastels and brights.

The Garden by OCC, Spring/Summer 2012

Click here for the entire collection!

Memorial Day weekend Sales and Deals!!!

Memorial Day weekend Sales and Deals!!!

Here are a few of the specials for weekend, the unofficial start of summer!!!

Laura Mercier: Free Shipping with any order.  May 24th to May 28th (11:59PM EST).  Use code: LM5MFS12 (case sensitive).

Boscia: Free boscia bag packed with over $100 worth of products with any $30 purchase.  Use promo code: Surprise2012

Bath & Body Works: $1 shipping with any $25 order.  Use code: MEMORIAL25

Tarte Cosmetics: 10% off sitewide, use code: ALA, May 23rd – May 31, 2012.  Plus get a FREE brush with purchase of any Amazonian Clay Waterproof cream eye shadow.

Black Opal Beauty: Free Shipping with online orders over $15.  Use code: SHIPFREE, now until May 29th 11:59PM EST.

M.A.C. Cosmetics: Free shipping with purchases over $50.

I will add more sales as I receive them!

NOTD: A little fun with my dotting tool!

NOTD: A little fun with my dotting tool!

Using my dotting tool!

Decided to have a little bit of fun with my dotting tool!

Here’s what I used:

  • Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Load (base)
  • China Glaze Nail Polish in First Mate (navy blue)
  • M.A.C. Nail Lacquer in Blue India (a dark, dusky caerulean blue)
  • The Balm Nail Polish in Grey Pearl
  • Dotting tool

Do you love??? I definitely had fun doing this!!

Laters!

Sneak peek into Zoya’s Summer 2012 collection!

Sneak peek into Zoya’s Summer 2012 collection!

Zoya Summer 2012 collection

Sneak peek into Zoya’s Summer 2012 nail polish collection!  I am in love with these!  This reminds me of the Caribbean!

Review coming soon!

Laura Mercier Très Chic collection c’est chic!

Laura Mercier Très Chic collection c’est chic!

Bonjour! Ça va?

This is my first review of Laura Mercier products.   I was instantly attracted to the beautiful, bold, punchy colours.  The Très Chic collection is a limited edition, spring nail collection consisting of 5 colours that range from pastel to bright.

I picked up the two that I thought were going to be my favourites and I love them!!   The polishes are contained in short, square bottles and are slightly smaller than the typical nail polish – 0.35 fl. oz. (10.35 ml) vs. 0.5 fl. oz. (15 ml) and they cost US$18 each.   So the price is a little costly.  The brush is short, and not like the Pro-Wides that you get with OPI.  For those with long nail beds, you may have to use more strokes than you normally would.  The formula is a little on the thin side, but smooth.  I used 2 coats in the swatches, but I could have done with an additional one.  Drying time is pretty fast.  The formula is good, and standard for what is out there.  They are also Big 3 free.

Onto the swatches!

The first one I picked up is Cabana.

Laura Mercier Nail Lacquer in Cabana

Click here for more spring swatches!!

I found a new nude eye shadow! Mally Beauty Evercolor Shadow Stick, a review

I found a new nude eye shadow! Mally Beauty Evercolor Shadow Stick, a review

Hey!  It’s May allyuh!!!  I can’t believe it!  My favourite season is fast approaching, so I start looking forward to wearing very bronzy colours on the eyes and coraly ones on the cheeks.

A few months ago, I decided that I was going to try something from Mally Roncal’s line, mally.  If you don’ t know, Mally is a celebrity makeup artist, who has worked on some of the top names in the entertainment industry, such as Ms. Jay-Z aka Beyonce.  And I always check out what she has to offer when she appears on QVC, ‘cuz I secretly love her style!  So I headed over to Henri Bendel in NYC and picked up this little beauty:

mally beauty evercolor shadow stick in Bronze

Read the rest of this entry

M.A.C. Heroine swatch: What I’m loving now!!!

M.A.C. Heroine swatch: What I’m loving now!!!

Kinda loving this bright, bold purple lip colour.

Click here for more on this colour!

How do you save the Earth & be beautiful? eos can help!

How do you save the Earth & be beautiful? eos can help!

So April 22nd is Earth Day.  We should all, in our own little way, be doing our part in helping our planet.

When it comes to skincare, I definitely like to keep it natural and this is where eos comes in.  Evolution of smooth (eos) is a natural skincare line with mostly naturally derived products and eye-catching packaging.  I have been testing a few of their products.

First is the Everyday Hand Lotion.

eos Everyday Hand Lotion in Cucumber

Click here for more of the review!

Recent nail polish haul: Early spring!

Recent nail polish haul: Early spring!

Hey people!

I’ve been hauling nail polishes like they going outta style!!!

I picked up a few of the hottest, most popular shades from the recent past.

No More Film is from the Essie Resort 2012 collection.

Essie No More Film

Essie No More Film swatch

More swatches below the fold!!

Laura Mercier presents Belle Nouveau for Summer 2012

Laura Mercier presents Belle Nouveau for Summer 2012

Hello!

This is a brand that I am just discovering.  I have heard a lot of good things about Laura Mercier from the artists in the know.  I have a few product reviews from this brand coming soon, but in the meantime, check out what’s up for this summer!

Confident, chic, playful

Laura’s inspiration for 2012 draws from her background as a fine art painter and focuses on the mood and attitude of women through different art periods.  For Summer 2012, she invites you to escape to a dream world that explores creativity through colour, taking inspiration from Art Nouveau’s innovative spirit and painted posters. This poetic embrace of sugary happy tones in sheer textures sets the mood—soft but daring, playful yet romantic.

The face is touched in clouds of colour that bring sophistication without strong definition. Highlights include sheer milky pastel eyes and translucent lips printed in colour. Skin is illuminated with a soft, healthy touch of bronzer and glow.

This collection is available at lauramercier.com and select retailers (Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Henri Bendel, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and select Belk, Blue Mercury, Lord & Taylor, and Macys)  from May 2012 for a limited time.

THE COLLECTION

Sheer Crème Eye Colour (US$ 22.00) Limited Edition

  • Mauve Pastel
  • Grey Pastel
  • Aqua Pastel

Crème Lip Print (US$20.00) Limited Edition

  • Nude Beige
  • Nude Coral
  • Nude Pink

Lip Glacé (US$22.00) Limited Edition

  • Camellia
  • Orange Tulip
  • Lotus Blossom

Nail Lacquer (US$18.00) Limited Edition

  • Lavender Cloud

Sheer Crème Colour (US$35.00) Limited Edition

  • Copper Glow Veil

Body Bronzing Makeup (US38.00) Limited Edition

Caviar Stick Eye Colour (US$24.00) Limited Edition

  • Turquoise

Long Lash Mascara (US$24.00) Limited Edition

  • Bleu

Photos below!

Click here for photos!