Hey y’all! Here are some frequently asked questions about the page – I thought it would be helpful to post and have them archived for everyone to see if needed.

Q. What type of lighting do you use for your arm and lip swatches?

A. I try to use natural indoor lighting for my swatches as much as possible to ensure the picture is true to the live color. However, at times I may use a ring light on some lip swatches depending on how overcast it is outside to ensure sharpness of the pic. In those cases, I try to get the best angle to represent the true color. If I notice slight differences, I am sure to go over that in my caption.

Q. Why are most of the swatches taken on a light/white person if the page is called “dupeBLACK”?

A. When I started this page, I wanted to increase awareness about black-owned brands and provide alternatives for people who prefer to buy black or do not support brands that seem to ignore black women in the beauty industry. I am a light skinned black woman and most of the swatches are from my own makeup collection. I frequently check the #dupeblack hashtag on Instagram for swatches on various skin tones so I can share those on the page.

Q. Are you going to include swatches on brown skin?

A. I often search Instagram for swatches of shades on deeper skin tones, as I know that is a very important aspect of the beauty industry that has been overlooked for far too long. However, I am an individual influencer, and it’s really up to the brand to provide customers with swatches on a variety of tones and include brown skin. Many times, brands use influencer pictures on their sites or on IG, and it’s really not my job to provide diverse swatches for them to promote their brand. The brands I feature are black woman friendly and most of them do provide multiple swatches on their pages.

Q. Why don’t you post price comparisons between products?

A. The point of my page is to promote black-owned businesses and feature their products, not provide alternatives that are necessarily cheaper. For instance, if I do not support a drugstore brand, the BoB might cost more, but that is the product that I would prefer to buy. If the BoB is less expensive than a brand I share, I often do note the price, but I would prefer the focus be on supporting the brands in our community.

Q. Why do you post some comparison swatches without live swatches of both products?

A. I would love to have all of the products I compare to do live swatches – that would be amazing! Unfortunately, there are some brands that I have withdrawn support from and I will not buy their products, even just to dupe. Furthermore, buying everything I compare would be super expensive!

Q. I’m a beauty blogger. Can you send me products to review?

A. I am not a brand and do not sell products, and do not have anything to send for review.

Q. How can I have my products featured on your page?

A. All products featured on the page are selected at my discretion. I frequently check the #dupeblack hashtag or posts I am tagged in for potential reposts. You may also contact me at dupeblack@gmail.com if you are interested in sending products for a feature.

Q. How do I request a dupe?

A. DM or in a comment – just let me know!

Q. How can I send you products for review?

Please contact me at dupeblack@gmail.com and we can go from there!

Q. Do you have discount codes?

I sure do! My list is located here. Please note, these are not all black-owned brands.

Q. Why isn’t [insert brand] on your black-owned brands list?

A. I only include brands on my list that I can “vouch” for because a lot of the time people ask me about their customer service or product quality. If a brand is not included, it’s most likely because I haven’t tried it yet.

Q. I see some brands on your page or in your highlights have a descriptor, such as inclusive, drugstore, cruelty-free, indie, woc-owned, latin-owned, etc. What’s up with that?

A. Awhile back, I did a poll and asked people if they would like to see other products that I’m currently digging or are a favorite, even if they are not from a black-owned brand. While this is a small percentage of the brands I feature, I use the indicator to let you all know what type of brand it is if not black-owned. Most of my makeup purchases are from black-owned brands, but I definitely like other brands as well!

Q: You just featured [insert brand] on your page – they’re terrible! What gives?!

A: Sometimes I feature dupes of brands that are persona non grata to some in the beauty industry to give you all an alternative on what to buy. While I don’t dictate how people spend their coins…I’m just letting you know! Also, I try to stay up to date on who is problematic, but I can’t always have the tea, especially since I don’t need that negative energy and don’t really search for makeup gossip. If you ever take issue with a brand I mention on the page, feel free to leave a (respectable) comment or DM and let me know – I’d appreciate it!

 

 

xoxo