At this point, I’m not sure why I even bother. The other day, a picture of L’Oreal’s new liquid lipstick collection, Les Chocolat, was circulating social media. Several of the shades looked rich and deep, and I saw several women commenting that the nudes would be great for women of color. Now, I was already annoyed because I felt like the chocolate-scented collection resembled B’ellegant’s Melted Chocolate collection, and major brands biting off indies has always been sigh-inducing for me. But at the same time, I thought I might use this opportunity as a chance to compare the two collections and highlight a black-owned brand.

Photo cred: Trendmood

I headed to my Target and luckily, they had all of the shades in stock. Candyman and Sweet Tooth didn’t make it home with me because they seemed to be the lightest shades of the bunch (a peachy and pink nude). Once I got home, I immediately swatched them on my arm and just…shake my head. Here are my swatches from my wrist down:

• Box of Chocolate
• Dose of Cocoa
• Bittersweet
• 70% Yum

While these shades will be fine for my skin tone, it’s pretty damn pale for a chocolate collection with the exception of 70% Yum. The B’ellegant collection is much richer and warmer. And frankly, I don’t see the point of making a chocolate collection that’s way too light for brown skin. I saw several people in Trendmood’s comments talking about this collection being “nudes for brown skin.” Issa no for me.

I really shouldn’t have expected much from this brand to begin with – To be fair, I do like the formula and applicator of the Infallible Promattes, but these shades leave much to be desired. If you’re interested, you can shop B’ellegant’s Melted Chocolate collection in matte and satin here.

And while you’re here, check out my swatch and review video of Mented Cosmetics’ nude lipsticks, which work on a variety of skin tones. I love them!

xoxo