Is the LORAC I Love Brunch Collection Brown Girl Friendly?
Pastels have always reminded me of Easter. Which is when I intended to post this. Whoops! I’ve been a little under the weather lately but I’m bouncing back. Full force, baby! Anywho! It’s just something about pastel colors that intrigues me and makes me feel like a little girl all over again in my big frilly pale pink and cream dresses with the huge ruffle trim sock on Easter Sunday. Oh how I hated those socks sometimes, but those were the days!
When I first saw the LORAC I Love Brunch Collection, I felt little flutters in my heart and stomach because it took me right back to those days all over again. I could just taste the Easter candies as I cracked open the metallic white boxes filled with pastel eyeshadows, lipstick, glosses and more. Such a yummy, sweet treat!
Let’s face it, the LORAC I Love Brunch Collection is serious eye candy! The soft metallic white packaging with that gorgeous iridescent rainbow shift draws you in from the bat. Then you see all that pretty pastel makeup and go crazy. It’s all so beautiful! But is it brown girl friendly though?
I love pastels as much as the next girl but when it comes to pastel makeup things get a little sticky. My shade of melanin doesn’t always allow me to rock pastel makeup the way I want. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it looks a hot, ashy mess. If you’re a dark skin diva, you’re probably sitting there thinking, “So, is this collection a hot, ashy mess?” Well yes and no.
I know that wasn’t entirely helpful but hear me out. The entire collection isn’t an ashy mess. But there’s a few pieces you may want to avoid altogether. And a few that you may absolutely want to check out if you love pastels and LORAC as much as I do. The LORAC I Love Brunch Collection is a bit of a mixed bag for WOC depending on the product and your skin tone of course. Lighter skin beauties will probably have a ball with the I Love Brunch Collection through and through. While my dark skin divas, may want to steer clear of some of the lippies, blush and maybe more.
The breakout star of the LORAC I Love Brunch Collection is the I Love Brunch PRO Palette which features 16 pretty pastel brunch inspired shadows that’s incredibly fun and girly. You get a little bit of everything with the I Love Brunch PRO Palette. From electric, neon green and vibrant baby blue to shimmering olive and matte lavender, there LORAC I Love Brunch Pro Palette is an endless world of pastel possibilities.
At first, I thought the the LORAC I Love Brunch PRO Palette was going to be a white based ashy mess but the shadows are absolutely beautiful in true LORAC fashion. Even the mattes are just as buttery, smooth and pigmented as the rest of LORAC’s palettes. The quality is definitely there! However, it’s the same whimsical, colorful theme that makes the I Love Brunch PRO Palette a little tricky for deeper complexions. I didn’t have any issues getting any of these beauties to show up on me but I’m still too dark for any of them to be used in my crease to create definition and add balance. Which means, the LORAC I Love Brunch Palette can’t stand on its own to create complete looks. Is the I Love Brunch Palette a fun palette to have? Hells yeah! You won’t find a collection of colors like this anywhere. So it is a good palette to have if you’re into pastels. If you’re not that crazy about pastels, then I’d say you can safely skip the I Love Brunch Palette and get your pastel kicks somewhere else for less.
The lipsticks and glosses are a little better though! There’s 4 Alter Ego Lipsticks and Alter Ego Glosses in the I Love Brunch Collection and they’re actually not too bad on us chocolate cuties. I’ve grown to love 3 of them including:
- Brunch Queen Alter Ego Lipstick lilac lavender
- Brunch Queen Alter Ego Lip Gloss lilac lavender
- Pastry Chef Alter Ego Lip Gloss pale bubblegum pink with silver shimmer
- Foodie Alter Ego Lip Gloss pale peachy beige with silver shimmer
Naturally, you’re going to need a good lip liner with these beauties for them to look their best on dark skin. Especially Foodie. It’s quite pigmented so it can easily come off as pale and Ashy Larry like if you go a little overboard. Pastry Chef and Brunch Queen (both the lipstick and gloss) are a bit more forgiving and require a little less effort as they seriously pop on darker skin and make a beautiful statement. If there’s any piece of the LORAC I Love Brunch Collection that’s safe it’s definitely the lippies!
You can’t release a collection and forget about the cheeks! Of course, LORAC had to round out the I Love Brunch Collection with a couple of blushes and a highlighter too. When it comes to us dark skin divas the blushes are a complete fail. I own Luma, a pale pastel peachy pinky that fares better as a very subtle highlighter than as a blush. To be honest, Luma does look beautiful as a soft, everyday highlighter on brown skin. But it’s not a highlighter. It’s a blush. A blush that gives off absolutely no color and costs $23? Nope! It’s a fail. Sorry LORAC!
On the bright side, the Limelight Light Source Illuminating Highlighter is much better! I like to be a little bold and try fun colors but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous to try a pastel green highlighter. It could either look really cool or really crazy. Turns out, Limelight is actually gorgeous on brown skin! Hell, Limelight would look good on anybody! Once applied, Limelight is very subtle appearing to be more of a soft, lit from within glow than a pastel green glow. In fact, you can barely see the green on your face. Only when the light hits Limelight from a certain angle will you notice a subtle funky green shift. It’s actually pretty cool!
Thanks to my lateness (sorry!) the LORAC I Love Brunch Collection is pretty much all sold out at Ulta. But I still made it in time for you to get your pastel on online and in stores at Kohl’s. Happy hauling!
Valet, Sorbet, Pancakes, Jelly Donut, Hot Sauce, Gluten Free, Eggs Benny and Lavender
Sunday Sunday, French Toast, Smoothie, Mimosa, Avocado Toast, Moonlight, Blueberry Scone & Bloody Mary
Brunch Queen Alter Ego Lipstick, Brunch Queen Alter Ego Lip Gloss and Pastry Chef Alter Ego Lip Gloss
Limelight Highlighter and Luma Blush