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Melanin Haircare by Naptural85. Is it as good as advertised?

You know my signature look is the twistout. It’s just so easy to do. And I love lightweight creams that give a little hold without being crunchy, especially since I don’t use hair gels. So, Whitney White aka Naptural85, an OG YouTube blogger has been working for years to create the perfect haircare products and she has come out with Melanin Haircare. I was very excited to support this black owned, woman owned brand and placed my order last October when she opened pre-sales. Fast forward to 2019 and I finally received my products. I ordered her two hair products, the The Melanin Twist-Elongating Style Cream and The Melanin Multi-Use Pure Oil Blend. There are two other products that are available, a Logo Visor and Logo Head Wrap, but I didn’t get these.

Melanin Haircare is a natural haircare line, specially made for people who have curly, kinky, coily natural hair. Whitney is a bit of a legend on YT, here hair is amaaaaaazing and she has been giving us her tips for healthy hair for years!

Here’s a demo of my twist and twistout.

Melanin Haircare Review – Details & Packaging – Twist-Elongating Style Cream

The Twist-Elongating Style Cream – a lightweight cream that is buildable and it hydrates, softens and seals in moisture onto the hair stands. It uses some of the best known natural butters in the natural hair community – shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter (one of my faves!), kokum butter and cupuacu butter. It also contains aloe vera juice, which is well known for being very hydrating and a number of natural oils like argan, avocado and sweet almond oils, which helps adds nutrients, emolliance and makes the product spread easier. There are some naturally derived synthetic ingredients that help with the stability, emulsify and enhance the conditioning properties the product. It is an off-white creamy product that does not feel greasy. It melts into my hair quickly and can add more product if needed without weighing down my kinks or making them feel sticky.

This comes in a 16.1 fl. oz or 475ml container with a coral cover. It’s a LOT of product. I have been using this product for weeks and it looks like I have barely touched it. It can easily last 6 months or more. You can be liberal with the application, or you can share it with other family members. Whitney mentioned this in her video, that she wanted to give customers a lot of it, cuz, we typically have a lot of hair and we use a lot of product at any given time.

NEW Colourpop BFF Mascara – Are these the best colored mascaras?

February 20, 2019 / Noire Tropical Beauty / 0 Comments

Coloured mascaras! I am so excited! Colourpop Cosmetics recently came out with 7 new coloured mascaras – 1 black and 6 colours. These are the Colourpop BFF Mascaras. Coloured mascaras are not that prevalent on the market in the US and for the most part, companies bring out black (and variations of black), brown, navy and maybe a burgundy. Oftentimes, brands will bring out a limited edition coloured mascara collection for summer, and this is a permanent line, so that makes me very happy.

If you are interested in looking at my video review instead, click here…otherwise check out the review below.

BFF Mascara Details

There are 7 shades. I bought 5. I did not get the black shade nor the yellow shade. They are available on the Colourpop website and they retail for $8 each for 7 oz. You can buy the entire set at a discount or there are lots of discount codes floating around on the internet (unfortunately I don’t have one).

Colourpop claims that this product volumizes, lengthens and lifts lashes, using a unique nylon brush and does not flake. The formula is also buildable.

BFF Mascara comes in a pale lavender box with multicoloured foil and iridescent text, mimicking the colours of the mascaras. The tube is made of white plastic with metallic foil matching the colour of the mascara.

Colourpop BFF Mascara

The BFF Mascara has a large bristle brush with shorter bristles in the middle of the brush. The formula has a slight sheen to it and was not too thick.

How to line your lower waterline – the easy way! Kat Von D Lash Liner review.

November 21, 2018 / Noire Tropical Beauty / 0 Comments

Hey!!! Kat Von D Lash Liner is here. As far as I know, this is the first liquid inner lash/waterline liner that is made specifically for consumer use in the USA. Most liquid liners are not suitable for use on the lower lash and waterline and for those of us that are fans of that sultry, eye catching look, we are left with using kohl liners. Kohl liners have been used for centuries for protection and beautification, but while they impart that smokey, black look to the eyes, they are also quite soft and run over time. So the Lash Liner promises to give you a longer lasting lined look.

Kat von D Lash Liner – Packaging and Product

So this product comes in classic KvD packaging. A sponge tipped applicator that dips into a well of jet black liquid pigment. The entire product feels similar to your typical eye pencil, i.e. a skinny product that is relatively easy to hold in your hand. The applicator is rounded at the tip and it is fairly flexible. Like a doe-foot applicator but thinner and flexible.

According to the brand, it is a Fluid-Gel formula that dries in about 15 seconds, and it has a rich texture. The clay ingredients allows it to stand up the natural watering process of eye. The liquid pigment applies super shiny but dries down quickly to a semi-matte finish. And it is very, very black. It comes in the shade “Trooper Black”, which is their blackest black shade. Kat Von D also claims that this product is water-resistant, transfer-resistant, vegan and cruelty-free.

Kat von D Lash Liner – Video

So here’s a video review and demo that I did, so that you can see exactly how to apply this. Keep reading below for tips on using the product and my thoughts!

Maybelline The Burgundy Bar Review: The hottest drugstore palette is here!

April 24, 2018 / Noire Tropical Beauty / 0 Comments

Maybelline The Burgundy Bar Review: The palette is finally stateside! It was released in Europe a few months ago and people have been raving! It has been a long time since I have heard this much hype over a drugstore palette. This is a continuation of “The Bar” line that Maybelline and it has arrived in the US. I am not sure if they had originally planned to have a U.S. release, but a few weeks ago, while browsing Twitter, I saw that Maybelline was directly linking to and selling this palette on Amazon! So, that surprised me a little bit and I was not aware of this. I had to get a few other items so the palette was added to my shopping cart.

This is a 12-shade palette – 10 shimmers and 2 matte. Most of the shades are champagnes, taupes and brown neutrals with a few red-toned shades. My favourite shade in the palette is the deep, rich burgundy one on the second row. The shimmer shades definitely have reflects, but none of them are glittery. There are only two matte shades, a medium taupe and a cool dark brown. According to Maybelline, the palette gives 13 different looks and it is broken up into 3 quads, or 4 trios or 5 duos. The ways the colours are arranged, adjacent colours in the quad trio or duo are meant to be used together.

Swatches – First quad

Swatches – Second quad

Swatches – Third Quad

Here’s the video review and tutorial that did using this palette. Check it out below. All the products that I mentioned are going to be listed further down in the blog post, as well as close up pictures and more details on the product.

Maybelline The Burgundy Bar Review- Video

An innovative liquid lipstick is here – NARS Powermatte Lip Pigment review

March 14, 2018 / Noire Tropical Beauty / 0 Comments

I can’t tell you the last time I wore lip gloss. It has been easily years. I just love the density and the pigmentation of a lipstick especially. One the most popular lip products in the beauty world for about a good 3-4 years are liquid lipsticks. These lip products start off as liquids and they dry down, usually to a matte texture and finish. More recently, some companies have added reflects, pearl and glitter which gives an interesting dimension to a sometimes flat finish. The biggest complaint about liquid lipsticks are that they are too drying. The lips don’t have pores so that there are no oils that naturally lubricate them therefore they are more susceptible to dryness. That dryness can lead to cracking of the lip and lip product, discomfort and ‘pooling’ of the product around corners or crevices of lips. Another complaint that I have is that many liquid lipsticks don’t have even pigmentation – they apply patchy. So when NARS debuted their new liquid lipstick, the NARS Powermatte Lip Pigments, you know I had to try. I bought one of the colours that I have and the other one – the cute mini – was a 100 point perk from Sephora!

Here’s my video. See how they look on my dark skin. If you want to see a more detailed review with pictures, just keep scrolling.

NARS Powermatte Lip Pigment Review – Video

NARS Powermatte Lip Pigment Review – Product Description

The NARS Powematte Lip Pigment is described as being infused with liquefied pigments with infinite matte colour. It promises to be a full-coverage, smudge-resistant, flexible, lightweight product that is applied with a custom doe foot applicator. This product is very thin – very close to the viscosity/feel of water. It is so thin that you have to be careful when opening the product as it can very easily splash on you. There is no other product like this that I have found on the market. It is juuuuust different enough and it stands out. It comes in 18 shades with a mix of neutrals, berries and reds. I have the shades Rock With You and Starwoman. Rock With You is a deep mulberry – a rich purple/plum. Starwoman is a bright blue-red shade. There is a very faint scent to the product.