Palette: The Beauty Bible for Women of Colour

Don’t let the title scare you away; regardless of skin tone, the information in this book can be helpful. The publishing of this book is a necessary addition to the few makeup guides still available in print. I found out about The Beauty Bible for Women of Colour by Funmi Fetto from Vikeejeah on Youtube. Vikeejeah and four other YouTube Creators collaborated to each cover three products mentioned in the book. You can find all the videos from the collaboration linked in the list below.

• Victoria James – https://youtu.be/NfKE95bZEbw
• Kelsee Briana Jai – https://youtu.be/YbD9KEQ2_oM
• Mo Makeup Mo Beauty – https://youtu.be/FRmR2niTPDg
• Alicia Archer – https://youtu.be/fxA5Ueit_DI
• Glam Girl Chelsea – https://youtu.be/oa-v7M1Z8f4

I do want to mention that some of the write-ups in the book are more helpful than others. Some anecdotal parts aren’t that helpful in terms of how a product works, but I haven’t noticed any items that I felt wouldn’t be workable for deep skin tones. Overall, I have enjoyed reading through this book and am excited to check out some products I haven’t tried before.

I thought it would be fun to showcase some of the products covered in the book that I have tried. The book does cover skincare and hair care, but I’ll only be focusing on the makeup portion.

This blog uses affiliate links (marked with **).  When you purchase through links on my site, I may earn a small commission.  Learn more here.

Foundations

Two of the foundations in the book that I have used are the Estee Lauder Doublewear** and Nars Natural Radiant Longwear** foundations. I already have a review of the Estee Lauder doublewear foundation, so if you want more details from a dry skin perspective, you can check that review out.

As for the Nars Natural Radiant Longwear**, it is still fairly new to me, so I’m still getting a feel for it. You can tell in the swatches below how matte the Estee Lauder is in comparison to the NARS’ Radiant finish. The one issue I have had with the NARS formula was that it accentuated texture really badly until I got my shade right. It looks much better on me now that I’ve switched to the shade Tahoe instead of Huahine and Syracuse. You can see me wearing the NARS Natural Radiant Longwear in the shade Tahoe in my profile picture (on the sidebar, at the bottom of the page on mobile, and on my about me page).

Eyeshadows

This NARS Duo Eyeshadow** is the only eyeshadow mentioned in the book that I’ve tried. She admits that she’s not big on eyeshadow and so there aren’t many talked about. I enjoy the formulation of this duo from NARS, but it looks like they are being phased out. Some of the shades are listed in their last chance section and the ones that aren’t are marked down to $24.50 from the normal $35.00 retail price**. It looks like the NARS single eyeshadows (I have some swatches here) are still available and in my opinion, they have the same formula.

Blushes

I have to agree with the author’s write-up on the Bobbi Brown blushes**, they are true mattes and well pigmented. The shade Slopes does have a slight shimmer running through it, but it doesn’t translate on the skin. These blushes are easy to blend and while they are slightly dusty in the pan I don’t find myself needing to be careful.

Fetto specifically talks about the matte blush finish from MAC**, but there are numerous finishes to chose from if mattes are not your thing. MAC has five different finishes that fall under their main line of blush: matte, satin, sheertone, sheertone shimmer, and frost. She points out that black women are often recommended raizin**, and while beautiful, MAC does have more to offer for deeper skin tones. I’ve included swatches of some lesser talked about shades. If you are looking for something neutral and more brown based, I do have a swatch of raizin posted here. Burnt Pepper is a matte, peachtwist is a sheertone shimmer**, and breath of plum is a sheertone**. If you are looking for MAC blushes outside of their traditional line, I have also posted swatches of some glow play blushes**, mineralize blushes**, and extra dimension blushes** that I will link to below.

• Mac Glow Play Blush Review (Heat Index and Groovy Swatches)
• MAC Mineralize Blushes (Love Joy and Love Thing)
• MAC Extra Dimension Blush Swatches

Lips

Revlon super lustrous lipsticks** are underrated these days, but they are excellent lipsticks. They come in a variety of finishes and colors. Extra Spicy is a newer release from the brand in the last year or two (I think), so I thought it’d be nice to swatch that shade. I also have a swatch of a classic shade in the line, raisin rage, in my Fall Edit 2020 Post.

Update August 18, 2022: I have swatched more shades of the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks, if you are interested, see the links below.

• Revlon Rum Raisin, Raisin Rage, and Desert Escape compared
• Revlon Make Me Blush and Desert Escape compared

People either love or hate MAC lip pencils**, I don’t think there is much middle ground. They have a drier formula than other lip pencils, but they also last longer in my experience. I also find that they mix well with various lipstick formulas. Keep the pencils sharp and moisturize your lips before applying and I don’t think you’ll have any issues. I have swatched the shade auburn for you below, which I like to pair with every shade of red I own. If you are interested in more MAC lip pencil shades, I have swatches posted.

MAC lipsticks** are iconic and I don’t think there is anyone left that needs an introduction to them. So I have again picked a lesser talked about shade from the line to feature, Spice it Up (lustre finish).

The author, Funmi Fetto, has extensive experience as both a Beauty Editor and columnist and is currently a contributing editor at British Vogue. The knowledge she has gained through years of testing and learning about products is evident throughout the book. It’s broken into sections, making it easy to skip around depending on what products you have in mind. As with any resource, this isn’t about buying everything she speaks of, but about learning product attributes and formulations. Once you have that knowledge, you can make the appropriate decision for yourself at the time.

---

Whether you were curious about the book or not, I hope this round-up of products was helpful.

---

If you enjoyed this post, please consider sticking around and checking out more of my content. 

• Brands A-Z: Check out this index if you want to know what products I have posted about in the past.
• MAC Cosmetics:  I likely have some swatches you’ve been searching for if you love Mac as much as I do. 
• Shop My Stash:  Join me as I share swatches of my products and occasionally search for alternatives to new releases. 

Disclaimer:  I purchased all products featured with my own money.  This site receives a minimal commission from participating in the WordAds program and using affiliate links.  For my full disclosure policy, click here.