havana...nah nah nah: a makeup review
recently, i was sent a box from influenster containing the entire camila cabello for l’oreal collection in exchange for my honest review. this 14 piece, limited edition collection is, per the copy on the l’oreal website, inspired by camila’s hometown of havana and she worked tirelessly to develop these products.
it is truly a shame that the city of havana has a makeup collection dedicated to it that was designed by a racist, was tested on animals, and is about on par with the quality of claire’s accessories Baby’s First Eyeshadow Kit.
allow me to elaborate.
pictured here: the entire collection, of which the best part is the cute floral packaging
camila cabello is a charming young woman most notable for her antiblack racism and repeated, vicious bullying of her fellow former group member normani kordei. as detailed in the linked post above, she has this weird problem where she just could not seem to stop saying the n word, and then never made a real apology for it. i will freely admit that i was also a little shithead when i was 15, but i had it drilled into me repeatedly that that was a word you Never, Ever Say. ever! the bar is on the floor and she still crawled under it. incredible.
the products in the box included two liquid bronzers, one in light/medium and one in medium/dark; three liquid brow pens in light, medium, and dark; one flash liner liquid eyeliner in black; four eyeshadows; and four lip glosses. first off, let’s look at the eyeshadows.
from left to right: in love (light pink), oh-na-na (bronze), hot havana (green), and control (...also bronze?). ignore the weird scratch on my wrist, i got snagged by my cat
at first, i genuinely thought oh-na-na and control were the same eyeshadow and that they had sent me two by mistake, but no, apparently they are supposed to be different colors. could’ve fooled me! the application was extremely patchy and it took me a lot of buildup to get the color you see on my arm. oh-na-na and control are also a shade of bronze that reminds me heavily of johnny depp’s mad hatter makeup in alice in wonderland, because if anyone pale wears it they look like they are slowly dying of mercury poisoning. not a fan.
pictured: my stank face showing my thoughts on this collection
i created a makeup look here with the liquid brow in dark, the eyeshadow shades “in love” and “control,” the liquid eyeliner, and the lip color in “desnudo.” i also mixed some of the light/medium bronzer into my foundation, which they recommended for a “natural glow.” it made me look slightly more glittery, so that was nice. i also used some elf mascara and the dandelion blush powder by benefit to finish out the look.
the liquid eyeliner is one of the worst eyeliners i have ever used, and that is not an exaggeration. i expect my black liquid eyeliner to be highly pigmented and this felt like i was trying to draw my eyeliner on with a dry erase marker. and much like a dry erase marker, the slightest touch rubbed away the entirety of one of my wings two full hours after application. 0/10, do not recommend. the eyeshadows were Just Okay but i also applied primer and concealer to fully bring out their color before using them.
from left to right: liquid brow in dark, medium, light
i liked the liquid brow pretty well. i used the dark shade and it filled in my brows nicely for a natural look, which is what i go for most days. the formula is good and it’s the type of product i’d definitely consider purchasing again from another brand.
can you tell the difference between my lip color in these two pictures? does it look like i’m wearing clear lip gloss both times? well i have news for you, these were supposed to be two completely different colors! the first one is “serendipity” (peach) and the second one is “camila” (pink) but both of them are pretty much unpigmented upon application. they have a scent and stickiness that brings me back to buying wet and wild lip gloss when i was 13. also yes i know my lips are a little chapped don’t @ me
the first color, lit up, is a shimmery bronze that reminds me of a knockoff version of the fenty beauty lip gloss. however, while the fenty gloss bomb is my life and i swear by it, “lit up” is, again, Just Okay. the standout winner of the lip glosses here is clearly “desnudo”, a pinky-brown nude shade that takes top spot here due to having actual pigment. however, i could easily find something that looks just like this from another drugstore brand that doesn’t test on animals and doesn’t work with a racist.
in case you were wondering, here are what swatches of the lip gloss and eyeshadow look like on darker skin tones.
in conclusion, save your money. there is no ethical consumption under late capitalism but i think we can all agree that supporting l’oreal’s animal testing and camila cabello’s documented history of racism is not the move. NYX is my go-to for cruelty-free drugstore makeup, and if you are looking to support a black owned, cruelty free, independent makeup business, try beauty bakerie. this will almost certainly guarantee i never get another box from influenster and get a bunch of stans mad at me, but whatever, i don’t use this blog anymore anyway.
until next time!
