My Melanin Makeup

A Brown Girl's Chaotic Adventures in Beauty. Lost in the sauce. Foundation. Whatever. Instagram | Twitter

[mymelaninmakeup]

Giving you The Fifth Element Diva vibes. This is a look, no? Done using @sugarpill, @nyxcosmetics and @colourpopcosmetics

[mymelaninmakeup]

I wanted to take a moment to admire how blended my eyeshadow is. Coming from the girl who couldn't blend eyeshadow for shit a year ago. Keep at it! You got this! Shoutout to @sugarpill Feline Fancy collection and @anastasiabeverlyhills CLASSIC modern renaissance palette for my look. No I was not sober lol #makeup #looks #blackgirlmagic

[mymelaninmakeup]

BBBIIITTTCCCCHHHHHHH. I've been gone for a min now I'm back with the jump off.... Ya girl found the light indeed. I feel like @alissa.ashley with this this highlighter life. @colourpopcosmetics did tf outta this :3 HOW DID I MANAGE TO LOOK LIKE THIS???

[mymelaninmakeup]

A beautiful quickie for a bomb ass girl. A simple Beyoncé-esque look on my spur-of-the-moment model @ayefred #sheamoisture #anastasiabeverlyhills #morphe #purminerals #maccosmetics #makeup

[mymelaninmakeup]

Mascara is a bit of a scam

Now, I am sure you are wondering what the fuck that means. Well, Most people who rock with mascara know how amazing it is. You can go from “I am dying” to “I had a gallon of coffee” in 30 seconds. Even if you aren’t a regular makeup wearer, you know the grace that is that little tube.

Now, I have owned a lot of mascara.

No seriously, at one point I owned more mascara than I did pairs of socks.

One thing I’ve learned is that mascara is a bit of a scam. Every tube promises 50-11 different things. Lengthening, volume, fiber, definition, ect...they all have something that they feel like we want/need. They know we all want to look like a wide eyed Disney Character, so they sell it to us, and of course we buy it. Why? BECAUSE I WANNA LOOK LIKE PRINCESS JASMINE. 

But with every mascara that works for you, there are about 20 that you buy and never touch again. Or they will sell you the world and deliver not a single acre Dior Show.  That’s because everyone has a unique look/need they are searching for. But in typical fashion, they don’t explain that to us. They don’t explain that if you have straighter lashes that mascara that is on the wetter side will have your lashes dropping like a booty at the club. 

Finding the right mascara is a task and a half and I am pretty much over the whole thing. 

The only almost fail-proof tip I can give you when it comes to mascara is to take a tissue and squeeeeeze the lash wand with it once. It will help remove the extra product , therefore reduces the chance of clumpy lash mess. unless you like that look, I know sometimes I do.

Don’t say I never gave y'all nothin...

[mymelaninmakeup]

HEY HI HELLO YO WAZZZUUUPPPP....

I am Tara. I am literally just a girl trying to be pretty. Yes I am, in fact, a bit vain. This very vanity led me to the beauty world. Truth be told, I wasn’t always vain. I was an awkward black girl with shit self esteem and a warped view of myself. Being a girl comes with complexities, but being a dark skinned black girl in a white world is like constantly being the new kid. And that sucks....A whole lot.

Luckily I grew out of that (kinda) and my next course of action was to flap my new view of myself around like a zubat. I dibbled and dabbled in beauty on and off for almost 10 years and in that time I realized one thing: The industry doesn’t particularly fuck with us. They will repackage our natural features or our style for those they deem worthy (whypipo), but pay us dust like someone’s weak edges. And it’s absolute BULLSHIT.

The insane number of marketed beauty gurus and magicians that are the color of college ruled notebook paper is pretty insulting when you realize that there are so many black/brown people in the world. ESPECIALLY since those same melanin-deficient industry people market dark skin in a can. Like bruh, WORK WITH US HERE.

Most of us sun kissed sweethearts have to do a lot of trial and error to even get halfway to the snatched brow promise land. We aren’t the target audience. They wont try to understand our complex undertones, or do they want to remember that one shade (typically called ‘Mahogany’) isn't enough to label their brand “diverse’ MarcJacobs

Over the years I’ve been through a lot of different makeup stages. I’ve learned. I’ve failed, I’ve went on hiatus, I’ve cursed, I’ve had every possible reaction a dark skinned magical girl could have trying to find things that worked. I am not perfect, I am still growing. 

              (me from about 2009-present day 2017...whew)

I am not a beauty guru. 

I repeat 

I AM NOT A BEAUTY GURU

i am just a catfish. And A scammer. And a messy bitch who lives for drama.

More importantly, I am a magical black girl who is trying to figure this pretty girl shit out and would like the company. If I can help other girls not go through what I went through (see top row of photos for references), then thy will be done.