My Review Process + How This Beauty Blogging Thing Works…for ME

Read ALL about my review process including how I take swatches, photos, and more here.

dark skin beauty blogger

Guys! You guys are like friends in my head from all over the world. Many of you have been coming here and visiting this little ole blog since its beginning in 2007 and many of you might have recently found me. No matter what though, I appreciate every single one of you for hanging out, reading my thoughts, and leaving comments. Who knew the pictures I take of makeup and my thoughts on them could be so important to so many people? It all just blows my mind—but I love makeup (and clothes and skincare and traveling and working out and cooking and ok—I like a lot of things…lol) and more than anything I love being able to talk about something I love with an audience who loves to read about it.

But lately I’ve been getting some comments where there seems to be a bit of a disconnect in what’s being asked and what I actually can do. I answer most of them, but figured it would be better to give some insight into how I do my beauty review and makeup swatches process.

So first things first, while there may feel like there’s some “standard” beauty blogging process, owning a blog means the blog owner can set his or her own standards when it comes to running their blog—in my case about beauty products. I don’t have to be a Temptalia or Makeup and Beauty Blog. Those ladies are great at what they do and have huge audiences who follow their every word, but I’m me and I do what I can with what I have. I’m also not a Youtuber. I have a Youtube channel but it’s mostly past failed attempts at doing reviews and my TV appearances…lol. I’d love to do Youtube videos, but I just don’t have the time nor the equipment (if I’m going to spend the time doing it, I want the right lighting, setting, etc. and need to have the time to spend editing—if you’ve ever edited a video and are NOT a professional, you’ll know how long it can take to make a good 2 minute video). But I do like to write and like to describe my experience with products and even if something isn’t for me, lay out who it might be for.

Update:

About a year or so after writing this post I learned how to make videos! Subscribe to my channel here.

I also don’t have a team. It’s just me here. One of my really good friends is a photographer and takes amazing fashion pics of me and works with me on special projects like 50 Shades of Lipstick, but we don’t live near each other and she has her own business to run so it’s not like I’m going to drive 30 minutes to her studio every time I have to take makeup pics…lol. It’s just not feasible for me. Some bloggers are really fortunate enough to either have multiple person teams or even a loving boyfriend or husband who does all the technical stuff for them. I mean, I date, but I certainly don’t have a beau-tographer (boyfriend photographer…lol) and as busy as I am, I think I’d like to spend the extra time with my man doing um—non-blogger thangs…lol.

So anyway, here’s my review process. I will figure out how to link to this post so it’s on every review I do so you can have it handy to read and understand my process.

Also, and this isn’t a complaint on my end, but just to get you to understand my POV. Swatches and reviews are about 25% of the posts on this site I do but take up a good 50-60% of my time to complete.

In addition to this blog, I also work hard at being a freelance fashion and beauty writer (I had my work published in print magazines and regularly write for another fashion publication). I also have the business-end of this blog and my brand to run as again, I don’t have a team.

See also How to Start and Maintain a Beauty Blog.

How I Obtain Product

When I first started blogging in 2007, ALL the products I talked about were things I owned and bought myself. It wasn’t until maybe two or three years later when PR companies and brands started sending me stuff. And when I am sent a sample, I mention it within the first paragraph or so of the post. I personally don’t care whether or not a blogger review I’m reading bought a product or if it was sent for review consideration, but the FTC says bloggers must disclose if something was given or we could face being fined. I also personally don’t like putting “I received this from the company’s PR” at the bottom of the post in little print (not knocking anyone who does it—again, I really don’t care…lol. Some of my sponsored posts will have a disclosure at the bottom but that’s because the sponsor requested it). I like to write as if I’m having a conversation with whoever’s reading and it feels more natural for me to do that within the post. If I didn’t say it was sent to me, then I bought it myself.

Now here’s the thing about PR samples. They aren’t some bottomless store where any and every blogger can get samples. It just doesn’t work that way. Brands/PR agencies can decide whether or not they want their product sent to certain bloggers. I’m not on every major brand’s list and in fact there are some brands who may only send me press releases about new products, but won’t send me the actual products. No sweat off my back. I understand and respect that not every brand is going to want to send me anything. And when I do get samples from brands, not every brand is going to send me everything from a collection. I’m okay with that, too…lol.

Sometimes if I’m out shopping and see something I know you guys would like to know about, I’ll buy it just for the sake of reviewing it. I try not to do that often because otherwise I’ll always have an overflow of product and it doesn’t make sense business-wise to spend money on makeup I won’t use after I review it. And once you open a product, you can’t donate it to charities (see the vicious cycle? lol).

Also I don’t always have the luxury of reviewing a product the second I get it. Sometimes I miss delivery, sometimes I’m busy working on other obligations, and sometimes I just forget I have it. Hey, I’m human…lol.

Photography

I am SO not a photographer. Not in the least bit. But I’ve found some settings that work for me and that best show a product in its true form. I rely on a good source of sunlight when taking product pictures with my SLR (I have a Canon Rebel T2i) so if it’s cloudy out or I missed my window of opportunity in the spot where I take pics (usually from 9 A.M. – 12 P.M.), then I have to wait until I can get the light I like. I like my product pictures to look a certain way but that’s just my personal preference. It fits the aesthetic of my blog and my brand.

While I’m pretty decent with taking photos of products and swatches of makeup on my arms, I have yet to perfect taking pictures of myself. It’s a lot harder than you think. What makes it easier for me is to take it with my iPhone using the forward facing camera (we’ve had that discussion before). Folks, this is all I’ve got for now. My long drawn-out actual words and those pictures. I can’t give any more than that now even though I’m constantly working on improving and revamping. If you need more than that, you will not hurt my feelings if you use Google image search or Youtube to find someone else that can give you all you desire.

In fact, I’ve come a long way already with how I used to take pics. And I do listen to feedback—I only started doing lip color swatches on my lips after people asked me to do it. But that slows down my process because where before I would test makeup while still in my PJs (if I had two eyeshadows to test, I’d put one on each eye and then a lip color and whatever else I needed to test—multitasking at its best which allowed me to bring more new products relatively quickly to you), now for me to take pictures of my actual face I need to look presentable and girl, that takes time since I work in my pajamas most of the time and when I do go out for meetings and events, I often don’t have time (or the right lighting) to snap pics. And you know what, there’s some days I don’t feel like taking pictures of myself. But I give the most that I can with what I have.

Also some products just don’t translate well into a photograph as easily. Like for instance, I reviewed some Laura Mercier foundations that even in person looked exactly the same so they looked the same in pictures. I definitely made mention of this in the post and also noted what the undertones were for each which is what I’ll do when something like that comes up.

Also some monitors may display colors differently, but I’ll include a description of the product color in the post.

Review Process

My reviews are written in a way as if I’m having a conversation with whoever is reading it. I talk about the product color, the texture, how long it lasted, and where I can, I mention which skin tones it’ll look best on. Not every review can be the same because not every product is the same. At the bottom of most reviews I’ll have a “bottom line” (which is a SUPER quick summary on whether or not you might want to check the product out) and “price and where to buy” (which sometimes contain affiliate links—which is like how a sales person receives a small commission for product you buy).

The idea with my reviews is to HELP you with the buying process and to be a guide to lead you down the right path when it comes to choosing products that I love that I think you’ll love, too. As much as I wish I could be, I can’t be the entire buying process for you. I realize not everyone lives near a Sephora and I try my best to always think of that girl who lives in a smaller town when doing reviews, but sometimes you have to also experience the product for yourself which might mean buying more than one shade if you’re ordering online (see: How to Buy Makeup Online and Here’s How to Buy the Right Foundation Shade Both In-Store and Online).

I’m also under no obligation to say I like something when I don’t. I’ll be the first one to say I didn’t like something but even then if I feel that there might be someone who it might work for, I’ll mention that, too.

Each product category can sometimes warrant its own process, so here’s how I deal with certain products in a nutshell:

Lipstick/Gloss

I try all lipsticks and gloss on their own with no base, no liner, nothing. I’ll wear it for as long as it wears on me which will usually include through meals and drinks. I’ll put swatches on my arm as well as on my lips. But I also did a really big project where I swatched over 100 shades of lipsticks on me, full face and had them photographed by my friend Nas of Nasilele Photography which I did to serve as a guide to see how lip colors look on a full face—because really and truly, all these lip colors tend to look alike…lol.

Foundation/Concealer/Powder

I try foundation/concealer/powder over a couple of days to see how it works in different settings. I have oily skin and will make mention of it in all posts and prefer to review foundations for oily skin just because ones for normal to dry skin won’t work on me unless it’s the dead of winter in NYC.

I also review foundation with powder on. I never wear foundation without powder unless the product specifically says not to wear powder.

I didn’t always show pictures of me wearing foundation in all my posts because to be honest, though I can tell the difference in person about how a foundation looks on me, in pics they all look the same…lol. And I find that could be distracting because people will look at the pics and not read the actual review. I want people to read the review because most foundations will look nice on me (I’m not saying that to be a jerk—I take really good care of my skin and have good skin genes). So please read the review…lol.

My foundation shades/skin tone

You can find my foundation shade equivalents across a couple of brands here.

Eyeshadows

I always test and swatch eyeshadows without any kind of base or primer to see how good the formula is. When I wear them out when I’m not testing, I always wear a primer or base to make sure the shadow stays—as should you. But I never use a primer underneath for swatches. What you see is exactly what you get.

Also to note, certain eyeshadow colors—particularly very light colored mattes—are VERY hard to photograph on me. I try my best to go in Photoshop to alter the color so it looks like how it looks in person, but even then sometimes they can still look ashy. But you’ll know about wear and pigmentation from what I write in the review.

Hair

There are some hair product reviews where I’ll just have to spell things out for you. I’m not a video girl and sometimes taking pics doesn’t show what I mean, so I explain it the best I can in the review. But of course when it comes to things like hair weave, I’ll get as many pictures as I can but again, all the meat is going to be in the review itself.

Nails

I LOVE nail polish but it takes the most time to showcase. I wear gel nails a good 85-90% of the time so I can’t show you what something looks like on my hands. Plus I wear long wear top coats on everything when I have a regular manicure, so I’m personally not as invested in how long a formula lasts. Or how the brush glides. I’m pretty much just like “Ohhhhh color!” lol But luckily there are SO many blogs dedicated to just nails that will go into that detail for you.

Skincare

Skincare is another huge favorite of mine. Some products take much longer to review than others. A cleanser usually takes maybe 3-5 days for me to have an idea of whether I like it or not. Mattifying moisturizers I can tell after about two days. Things like dark spot treatments, night time moisturizers, wrinkle creams (I don’t review a lot of these—at least not yet), or pretty much anything promising a change in the skin can take me 6-8 weeks and sometimes even longer.

I take breaks in between reviewing skincare just to get back in neutral mode and also take note of the ingredients in each product so I know if I notice a change, I can pinpoint which product it came from. Also some skincare products are seasonal. I have oily skin so in spring and summer I need to do more to help control the shine. In fall depending on what NYC is serving weather-wise, my skin can either be oily or not-so oily. In the winter my skin can tend to feel drier than normal but it’s still for the most part oily—but this is when I change to “heavier” formulas to protect me from when it gets really cold and dry here.

Tutorials

I’d LOVE to explain how to do something to you, but you’d have to be willing to read it…lol. I’m working on doing some pictorials but most likely won’t be doing video tutorials any time soon because I’m a crazy Virgo and I don’t have the right equipment and setup now to do them.

Dupes

Sorry, but I don’t make it a mission to do dupes. If I notice right away something looks exactly like another product, I’ll mention it, but I don’t purposely go out to find dupes. There are SO many sites dedicated to just finding dupes though. I personally own makeup that looks extremely similar to each other and can justify why I have them all so I’m not the best person to tell you that you don’t need X if you have Y…lol.

Misc

I know that my swatches are important to so many of you because I’m a dark skin beauty blogger. That’s why I keep doing them even though they take up so much time and mean more work for me. I love being able to help you out and love nothing more than to help someone feel great because they finally found a concealer that works for them or a lipstick color that makes them feel sexy because they read my blog. That’s freaking amazing!

I know a TON about beauty and fashion (I have my Fashion Institute receipts and I’m constantly getting updated on the latest through virtue of my job…lol) and love sharing what I know—beauty is my life…lol. But I can’t be all things for all people, and I’m okay with that. I would like you to be okay with that, too.

If you have questions about anything, my comment section is always open (I have to approve your first comment because spam bots try to take over) but ask a question if you missed something or don’t understand, leave a comment. I’d love to answer your questions when I can :)

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25 Comments

    • Danielle
      Author
      September 18, 2014 / 11:07 am

      I need to see your dowry first :/

  1. September 18, 2014 / 10:04 am

    Thanks for this, Danielle. I hope people now understand the process better and realize you can’t be all things to all people. I love what you do and know for sure that when I see a review here, it is 100% authentic. That’s more than I can say for some other blogs. Keep being D.

    • Danielle
      Author
      September 18, 2014 / 2:28 pm

      Thank you, CC!!!

  2. September 18, 2014 / 10:32 am

    Danielle, I know by now you realize you can’t please everyone! You are one of the most authentic bloggers I know and I know every review you post is 100% honest. Keep up the good work!

    • Danielle
      Author
      September 18, 2014 / 2:39 pm

      Thanks so much, Nesh!!!! You know I adore you :)

  3. Lina
    September 18, 2014 / 11:11 am

    As a long time reader of your blog, I love what you do and the way you do it. Your posts are concise, to the point and extremely helpful. And since I am a couple shades lighter than you, I take you swatches as a point of reference, and I think others should as well. Your skincare and what to wear posts are my absolute favorite, but I look at every single article. Thank you for doing it your way.

    • Danielle
      Author
      September 18, 2014 / 2:31 pm

      Lina!!! I SO appreciate you :) thanks for reading for so long!

  4. cca
    September 18, 2014 / 1:21 pm

    I love this blog. And you are such a resource for swatches on your skintone. So thank you for doing it.

    • Danielle
      Author
      September 18, 2014 / 2:31 pm

      Thank you!!!!

  5. September 18, 2014 / 2:00 pm

    Thanks so much for sharing! As a hair blogger, I feel like people don’t get the memo about all the background work and time that goes into reviews… they just want more and more! I might do a similar post on my blog. I respect you rability to put out so many reviews, so keep out the great work!

    • Danielle
      Author
      September 18, 2014 / 2:33 pm

      Hey girl hey! Yes so many don’t understand the work but so many bloggers/vloggers do it so well it looks easy. And it’s tough because you want to be able to do more but it’s hard and expensive to do some things especially when it’s just you.

      You totally should do a post, too :)

  6. September 18, 2014 / 2:28 pm

    This post was actually helpful to me because it makes me think of where I’m “doing too much”…No one can be all things to all people. Sooo soooo very true! Thanks for the post!
    xo

    • Danielle
      Author
      September 18, 2014 / 2:41 pm

      Yes, girl—you can drive yourself crazy doing too much! You’re like a superstar though because you do blog, OOTD pics, and Youtube SO well! I see you :) lol

  7. Faith
    September 18, 2014 / 4:45 pm

    Hi Danielle, I am one of your UK fans. I check-in to your site almost daily and have 100% confidence that your reviews are honest authentic and well-considered. I am similar in complexion to you (about Mac NW50) and will consider your reviews before purchasing a new product. I love the mix of hair, skin care, make-up and lifestyle/fitness on your site. It’s great to see you walking in your God given purpose. Keep up the excellent work!

    • Danielle
      Author
      September 19, 2014 / 6:30 pm

      Faith!!!!

      I adore you! Thanks so much for reading and for the sweet comments. Thank you thank you!!!!

  8. Felicia. Y
    September 21, 2014 / 8:02 pm

    I love reading your blog! It’s an awesome source of product information for women of color. Keeping doing you! :)

  9. CG
    September 21, 2014 / 9:49 pm

    Danielle, I’m so happy to see how many of your viewers appreciate what you do. As a first hand witness to your busy-ness (business), I often say to you that you are not being paid enough for the kind and amount of work you do as a blogger. I sometimes have to schedule an appointment just to say “Hi, how u doin?” Reading this article makes me more appreciative of your absence every day working. You’re doing a great service helping people feel better about themselves, and that’s a good thing.

  10. itsjustme
    September 26, 2014 / 7:17 pm

    you’re doing great, danielle! i’ve loved you since you were beauty editor for FBD. be encouraged! :)

    also, thank you for your note on how long it takes for beauty reviews. i always wondered how reviewers were able to identify the efficacy of multiple products so quickly.

  11. Bukky
    November 15, 2014 / 9:23 am

    Hey girl hey! So I’m like catching up on my blog readings and your blog is the only one I make sure I go back and read all the old posts anytime I miss a few days (or months). I truly appreciate your advice and every post that you write! You’ve taught me tons about beauty and skin care and I love getting inspired by your fashion posts. You’re my long lost cousin in my head and want you to know you’re the best! On my DJ Khaled. ;-)

    • Danielle
      Author
      November 21, 2014 / 11:51 pm

      Hey Bukky!!!

      You know I love you like cooked food, right? It’s a shame we don’t live in the same city! YOU DA REAL MVP! lol Thanks so much! I really appreciate you for reading and going back to old posts and SO happy I could inspire you and teach you so much. SO happy to hear that—thanks so much :D Made my whole entire month…lol

  12. Chi
    December 15, 2014 / 8:53 pm

    I love your blog. I find it very informative. I don’t consider you dark skinned really but in a Euro centric world you are. I think you are lovely. Beauty comes in all shades. I like Makeup Game on Point too, Makeup Doll. I take bits and pieces of all your tips and do some trial and error. Thanks for all the hard work!

  13. July 18, 2015 / 2:20 am

    So I just discovered your blog via google while searching for a comparison post on the urban decay 1, 2 and 3 palettes.
    I put up my first make up pictorial on my blog 2 days ago so I find it really timely that I stumbled across your blog today.
    I put up my first lipstick review with swatches a couple of weeks ago too.
    I tried soooo many times to do video reviews in the past couple of weeks but they didn’t come out right.
    It’s good to know there are dark skinned bloggers who do all their swatches and make up reviews via pictures and not video.
    I’m a freelance writer/content creator, started getting paid to write in March so I’m really glad I can learn from someone like you who has been doing it successfully for way longer than I have.
    I’m going to be a regular on your blog and I can’t wait to go through all the posts so don’t be surprised when you see loads of views coming in from Nigeria :)
    I hope you check out my blog too!!

    • Danielle
      Author
      July 18, 2015 / 3:17 pm

      Haha! Heyyyy, Tuke!

      SO glad you found my blog and hope you enjoy checking out the archives :)

      Good luck to you on your new blog! I just checked it out and you are SO cute!

  14. Susan Duntoye
    February 7, 2016 / 7:44 am

    Thanks so much Danielle you definitely inspired me to go into blogging and it’s fun, thanks this brought alot into light for me my question is how do u link another page in your write up for example this your write up and the pink coloured links how can I do that on my page? Pls check out my page and let me know what you think SOULBEAUTYMAKEOVERS@BLOGSPOT.COM.THANKS

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