After many requests, I am happy to bring you a review of Interface Cosmetics. After writing my first article on cosmetic lines for women of color, I’ve been getting requests and questions about Interface. I know they are a fairly new company, with products designed specifically for Women of Color. As you may recall from my first article, I don’t usually seek out lines for women of color, because of the dated, tacky packaging, and even more dated colors (fuschia and orange and plum, Oh my!).

I’m more than happy to say that Interface abolishes my pre-conceived notions. The packaging is modern blue, black and gold. The look of the counter intrigued me at first sight. I had gone there a few times at two different places: Macys, where there is a counter, and the Soho makeup mega-store Sephora. (This store is a cosmetics junkies dream come true. All of the products are so accessible, you can play with everything. They have stations of many of the higher end brands like Shu Uemura, Prescriptives, Christian Dior, Lorac, Urban Decay, and Stila. I could go on and on about this store, but I digress.)

I went to Macys a few times. The first time, the counter guy was really busy, and there was a long line of customers, so I decided to come back. The second time I came, it wasn’t too busy. I looked at the foundations and played with the lip colors. They offer all the usual foundation formulas, liquid, creme to powder, and stick in 15 colors ranging from "Sand" to "Espresso". I tried Free Weight oil free liquid foundation. I liked "Toasted Almond" but the woman at the counter suggested the next lightest shade. I went with the Toasted Almond and was happy with it. The coverage is a bit heavier that my usual favorite, Prescriptives Virtual Skin, and it felt very nice on my skin. I didn’t break out from it at all and it didn’t smudge or slide all over my face. I don’t like a lot of coverage, but I felt comfortable with this medium coverage product. There was also a product that I was very interested in called In the Mix ($15). It a light tinted lotion in five shades for very oily skins. You shake it a and apply with a cotton ball. I had never seen anything like it, but I did not try it because my skin is more combination than oily (although lately my nose has got more oil than the Persian Gulf!).

Upon first looking at the more than 35 shades of lipsticks ($12.50), I wasn’t overly impressed. Their color selection was definitely a step above the other African-American lines, but I also found that a few of the modern colors were just unwearable. For example, "Pewter", a silver/white shimmer - I couldn’t imagine where one would wear this, except on Halloween. There was also a dark blue shimmer (the name I can’t recall) that I had the same opinion of. Colors I did like included "Berry Bare" (sheer color), "Hypnotic" (a creamy berry brown which I picked up), and "Crystalline" (I was told at Macys is their best seller). I had mixed feelings about this one. It was a great color in theory, but it inspires that dark lip liner, light lipstick thing I see many women doing, and I’m not a fan of that look. I would use it over my favorite lipstick for a shimmery effect, but not alone. I also picked up "Chilled Champagne", a shimmery light pink. I never thought I (or any black woman for that matter) could wear pink lipstick, but since it’s so popular now I figured I’d jump on the bandwagon. The color is suprisingly wearable on me, but I need to get used to it. I’ll try it on the weekend when I feel a bit more daring.

A majority of the colors were a bit ordinary and many were in the same color family. I couldn’t tell which color was which. I liked the colors, but I couldn’t understand why so many of their neutrals and browns looked so much alike. For example, "Melt Down", "French Kiss" and "Earthly Delight" - all nice, but not very distinct from one another. Scattered among the 35 plus shades were those dreaded brights I hoped I wouldn’t see - bright classics reds and oranges, but they were not nearly as dominant a force as lip colors of other lines. I was glad to take note of that. On another positive note, the moisturizing matte lipstick is one of the best feeling lipsticks I’ve ever tried. Creamy, smooth texture. You don’t even need lip balm underneath (like I do with MAC). And it feels great all day long. I was in love.

I also checked out their Cheek It Out powder blush ($12). I liked "Henna", but I thought the other 6 colors were too unnatural and bright. The single eye colors ($10) were very nice but the eye duos ($13.50) were freakishly bright (yellows and pinks and purples, oh my!) and not my cup of tea.

I think Interface is a step in the right direction for Women of color Cosmetics. I highly recommend their products, as long as you choose your colors wisely. You could end up with fire engine red on your lips and orange on your cheeks!