As promised when I first began to contribute to Cosmetic Connection I aim to provide reviews on products which can be useful to African-Americans and other women of color. In this review I am focusing on two newer products from Prescriptives. Prescriptives is a very good place for women of color who are "left out" with many makeup brands to go for some instant gratification. The selections are so good that women of color who don't want to trek from counter to counter could make it their one stop shopping cosmetic counter. Their palettes are truly reflective of their "original" corporate mission to be an all-inclusive cosmetic line.

Camouflage Kit Full Coverage Concealer ($27)
Camouflage Kit comes in a compact which contains two shades of concealer cream and a pressed setting powder. The shades range from Level 1 to Level 6. The powder is the same translucent color at every level. I needed the golden brown tones of Level 4. One of the advantages for a two-color concealer is being able to blend two similar shades to create a custom color. The colors are perfect for me. However, the coverage is much too heavy. I think the creams are thick and no matter how light I was with my application using a concealer brush, fingers, or a sponge it was too much effort to make this concealer look soft. I suppose if it were a situation such as appearing on TV, a wedding, or an event where the day would be long and plenty of photos would be taken this would be the product you need, but for everyday it's too much.

Magic Liquid Face Powder ($32.50)
I was wondering what this was all about. How can a powder be liquid? Well, it's really a loose powder, but it does list water as its first ingredient. The water makes the powder feel very cool to the touch so there's a rather refreshing feel when you brush it on. The coolness only lasts a few seconds, but it's nice. The powder itself is very sheer and weightless which I love my powder to be. The other trick this powder is supposed to have is light diffusing properties. There is some glint to it, but it's so subtle you have to be in a spotlight to notice it. What I didn't like about this powder is it's poor oil control performance. I would rate its oil control as minimal (and after a few hours on me -- nil). I have other products I can use for oil control so I will use those when I wear this powder. However, that oil problem could prove to be a reason for me never to buy this product again. There are four shades and all are translucent. I chose the regular Translucent. The color looks like white beach sand with a sheen. You may ask how this works on my caramel skintone, and so did I, but it works. As stated Liquid Powder is very sheer.

The other three shades are Deep Translucent, Gray Neutralizer, and Red Neutralizer. Deep is an ideal shade for very dark-skinned women of color who must find powder selection very frustrating because so many powders (even the shades designated for darker skin tones) are too light which makes the wearer look ashy. This is the only shade I could not wear as an all over face powder, but it could be used to give a blush some pick-me-up or as a glamourous contour powder. Gray Neutralizer is a rather pinky beige. I actually used the Gray first and it was fine on me, but I preferred the sandy, more colorless tone of the Translucent as opposed to beige undertone. The fourth shade is Red Neutralizer and it is a yellow powder. Yellow is wonderful for reducing redness, so a lot of people of many skintones may love this shade. All of these shades are wearable and flattering.

Both products in this review can be purchased at QVC.com, Gloss.com, and Prescriptives counters in department stores such as Saks, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Marshall Field.