This week I am pleased to share a new review from Clara for Black Opal. Clara is a 48 year old marketing professional from Chicago. Clara is African-American with a golden brown skintone (the color of candy caramel) which is oily and prone to acne. Her hair is dark brown with great "natural golden" highlights which she wears in a closely cropped afro curly style. She is always on the prowl for haircare items which work well with curly/kinky hair textures. Clara has been fond of cosmetics since she developed her skill making up dolls as a little girl using her mother's makeup. In her free time, Clara enjoys spectator sports (especially baseball) both in person and on TV. Have a question for Clara? Email her here.

Black Opal
Black Opal has been around for a few years now, but they are still considered a newer entry into the category of makeup and skincare aimed at African-Americans. The thing that sets them apart from some of their competitors is that they seem to understand that even though women of color need rich pigments they don't want masks. The skincare features a full line of products from cleaners to specialty items such as fade products and AHAs. I remember trying their Dual-Fade Cream several years ago, but that item is not part of this review. The price range is very reasonable as most products are under $10, so women on a tight budget who feel compromised in their choices should definitely take a look at Black Opal. Black Opal is sold at drugstores, and cosmetic outlets such as ULTA.com.

Daily Fade Lotion SPF15 ($8.89)
I had never seen this product before. It is a hydroquinoine-free fade product. I must use a fade product regularly because I tend to have acne on my face and back and the pimples always leave a dark spot behind which requires special treatment to correct. I tried this product on my face, but it has an odor which didn't agree with me and a bit of a sheen which I didn't care for on my face. I have been using it mainly on my back which always needs extra attention before donning the shoulder and back exposing tops of summer. So far I can't say this is a product which works as well for me as many other hydroquinoine-based products I've used. Noticeable results take much longer than I'm accustomed to. Please note there have been some scientific arguments over the safety of hydroquinoine, so if that is a concern to you then this treatment product may be one to experiment with for an hydroquinoine-free alternative.

Color Fusion Mosaic Pressed Powder ($8.99)
LOVE IT!!! This product is listed as a bronzer, but let's be truthful: adding color to the face is not really something most women of color need since the natural color is the beauty of the dark face. This item is best used as a blush or a soft highlighter. Fairer skinned women of color may opt to brush the color all over especially if they are experiencing redness from sun exposure and want to balance it out.

I chose the shade Shimmer Bronzer because I wanted to use this as a soft blush. It serves that purpose very well. Unlike a lot of multicolored bronzer products this one does not have high sheen or a frosty look and it's not too flat (which looks colorless on dark skin). I use a fluffy brush and swipe the apples of my cheeks and I'm done. That is exactly what I expect from my blush as I'm fortunate enough to have had Mother Nature do an adequate job of giving me good cheekbones and they only need a tiny amount of accent when it comes to color.

Patent Lips Liquid Lip Color ($5.29)
As you know these liquid lip colors are all over the place in all price ranges. Black Opal has succeeded in bringing their customers some decent colors. I love a bronzy look so I chose Copper Tone which is a shimmery rusty shade. I've been wearing this color alone as well as blending with other lip products. The shimmer makes it perfect for shaking up some dull matte browns and neutrals yet the copper color allows me to retain the neutral hue of the lipstick I'm spicing up. It's very pretty on my caramel skintone alone and I usually wear it that way. Another good point is this product wears much longer than a typical gloss so if your lips hold color well then this one should work without using a lot of tricks of the trade.

Perfecting Powder Makeup ($10)
From checking out the foundation selections Black Opal seems to offer more up-to-date formulations than their competitors in the makeup targeted to the Black customers market. One of their latest is Perfecting Powder Makeup. I thought Perfecting was a true powder foundation such as M.A.C.'s Studio Fix, however it is a light cream base product making it similar to Black Opal's Cream-to-Powder foundation. The difference is Perfecting is lightweight and listed as oil-controlling and matte, whereas Cream-to-Powder is not. I chose the shade Truly Topaz and quite honestly the cream turns into powder instantly as it is being brushed (with foundation brush) or sponged on. Given the great color and reasonable price, I really wanted to like this foundation, however I cannot give it a true thumbs up for oily skin. On me it did not wear well as I had more shine than I would like and extra oiliness is not a good thing for my sensitive acne-prone face. I suspect the foundation may have had a hand in a breakout I experienced while I was using it to compile my review. However, while my experience was not good, the texture of this product is very light and skin reaction to product being so individual, it may be a very nice choice for many. If you're a frustrated woman of color foundation wearer and don't want to spend $20-30 for foundation, I would give it a try.

You can find Black Opal in drugstores and online at stores like Walgreens.com and ULTA.com.

Thanks, Clara. I hope you enjoyed this issue of The Cosmetic Report!