Uncomplicated Beauty: blk cosmetics drops, FOTD, and first impressions
It's common for celebrities to collaborate with their favorite brands, but to put up their own makeup empire? That's a different level entirely! That's why we were excited when top endorser and actress Anne Curtis announced her makeup line, blk cosmetics. It's attuned to her personal philosophy of keeping it simple and fuss-free when it comes to makeup. She partnered with industry mainstay, Jacque Yuengtian-Gutierrez, to ensure that she could bring her vision of "uncomplicated beauty" to her fans!
Jacque Yuengtian-Gutierrez and Anne Curtis tell Nicole Andersson the story behind blk cosmetics
“Just keep it simple. Definitely not piling it [makeup] on because the simpler, the better,” is Anne’s top beauty advice. This explains why she decided to go for a smaller collection: blk cosmetics is releasing two face powders, two highlight, blush and contour palettes, two brow duos, and two eyeliners. She decided to go bigger with lip colors (15 shades in three formulations) though as she loves to play around with lipstick!
Anne Curtis sports the blk look – a neat face with a playful lip!
blk cosmetics is uncomplicated, both in theory and in practice. Everything they released is quite affordable at under P500, and will be easy to find in Watsons stores, SM Beauty, and online (zalora.com.ph and blkcosmetics.com.ph.)
The All-Day Matte Powder Foundation (P399) comes in two shades: Natural Beige and Light Beige. Ultra fine pigments allow you to build anywhere from medium to full coverage, while the infusion of vitamin E and SPF 15 ensures your skin stays pretty inside and out. The Contour, Blush, and Highlight Palette (P499), on the other hand, comes in coordinated and easy-to-wear shades. There two palette variants are differentiated by their blush color: Flushed carries a pinker, rose blush while Sun-Kissed carries a peachier, orange-tinged blush. Both palettes come with a soft brown matte contour and champagne highlighter of the same shade.
The Long-Lasting Liquid Eyeliner (P249) contains aloe vera, which nourishes the delicate skin around your eye area. It comes in two shades, black and brown. The only other eye product, the Brow Sculpting Pencil Duo (P249), features a sword-cut pencil and a spoolie. It comes in Taupe and Natural Brown, which you can feather for a more natural look, or build heavily for a fuller brow. The sword cut makes shading so easy!
As much as she keeps the face simple, Anne goes all out with lipsticks! The All-Day Intense Matte Lipsticks (P299) are a solid matte with zero shine, but are enriched with vitamin E and camellia oil to allow the formula to move with your lips. They come in six shades: Chic (deep nude), Charming (mauve pink), Bubbly (dusty rose), Elegant (light terracotta), Brave (bold red), and Fearless (wine).
Meanwhile, the Velvet Lip Creams (P299) are smooth as butter. They contain vitamin E and camellia oil, like all the other blk cosmetics lip products. One swipe gives solid pigmentation! It comes in four shades: Alluring (bold red), Refined (soft peach), Classy (rose), and Flirty (warm coral).
The Long-Lasting Liquid Matte Lipsticks (P349) have a mousse texture that dries to a soft matte finish. This has hydrating vitamin E and lip-softening rosehip seed oil, making sure to keep your lips comfy while the color payoff steals the show. They come in five shades: Brazen (bold red), Bold (burgundy), Sassy (dusty rose), Sophisticated (warm nude), and Simple (soft nude).
The entire collection is wearable and Pinay-friendly in terms of color selection. You don’t even have to think; the shade offerings are a no-brainer. Here's what some of them look like when worn!
Swatches, from left: Contour, Blush and Highlight Palette in Sun Kissed (contour, highlight, blush), Velvet Lip Cream in Flirty, All-Day Intense Matte Lipstick in Charming, Long-Lasting Liquid Matte Lipstick in Sophisticated
I used the same base for all my FOTDs, and the Contour, Blush and Highlight Palette in Sun-Kissed, which has a coral/orangey blush. I applied the contour along the sides of my face, the blush on the outer 2 o’clock of the apples of my cheekbones, and highlight on top of the blush and along my nose bridge.
FOTD with Velvet Lip Cream in Flirty; Blush and Highlight Palette in Sun-Kissed
The contour is probably the best part of the palette. It’s not that easy to work with contour, but blk’s is easily blendable and buildable. I also think the shade will easily suit most Pinay skintones, so it makes sense that they kept it the same for both palettes. I find the blush a little strong, but topping it with the highlight shade makes it a little more subdued, and gives an interesting texture. The highlight itself is unexpectedly nice. It seems like it doesn’t show up when you first apply it, but the shimmer textures are really fine and give a luminescent glow rather than a full-on strobe.
The Velvet Lip Cream in Flirty is really slick. It glided on almost too quickly across my lips, and tended to feather on the edges. It’s very comfortable though, and doesn’t transfer as much as the moisture content leads me to believe. I also like how it’s fully opaque in one coat; two coats max, if you’re light-handed! At P299, it’s very much worth the tag. This particular shade worn this way isn’t my cup of tea, and I wish I did a gradient application. It would have been so easy to blend, and this shade looks better with soft edges!
FOTD in All-Day Intense Matte Lipstick in Charming]
Just as the Velvet Lip Cream was comfortable, the Matte Lipstick in Charming is a truly comfortable matte as well. It glides smoothly on the lips, so the edges are pretty easy to draw without fear of skipping or tugging. The only drawback is that I don’t think it’s fully opaque, and never gets to be 100% all the way there. There is also a teensy bit of shine, but not enough to put it outside the realm of ‘mattes.’
Charming looks brownish-red on me. The pigmentation for this particular shade isn’t fully opaque, but it does leave a nice, even stain.
FOTD in Long-Lasting Liquid Matte Lipstick in Sophisticated
The Long-Lasting Liquid Matte Lipstick in Sophisticated has such a nice formula! It’s almost mousse-like, so the texture is quite light and creamy. It doesn’t dry as fast, so you have time to blend and perfect your application. The doe-foot applicator also helps in perfecting those edges. I like how the formula seems to fill in the cracks on my lips, even though it felt really tight once dry! It didn’t crack, thankfully, but it was a bit itchy at first.
Sophisticated is almost nude, but has enough red in it that allows me pull it off even with the rest of my face quite bare.
Have you seen this stores near you yet? What are you looking forward to trying in Anne’s cosmetic line?
blk cosmetics will be exclusively sold in top Watsons and SM Department stores nationwide, on Zalora, and through the official website.
Header image via blk cosmetics: Anne wears the blk Velvet Lip Cream in Alluring
