Here Are All The Things BuzzFeed's Beauty Team Was Obsessed With This September

We try alotta stuff. Here's what's worth it!

Taylor Miller / Hannah Wong / BuzzFeed

UMMAGAWWWSH, Essence, Dani, and Patrice here, and we are SO excited to bring you the first of of many reviews by us—BuzzFeed's beauty team!!! We get so. much. shit. It's literally our job to try all this stuff, so we thought we should totally be giving you the tea on some of our favorite products and whatnot.

Daniela Cadena

Get to know us a bit:

Essence is the beauty editor at BuzzFeed. A G.A. girl, but she's been working in NY for six years now. She loves Black Jesus, family, food, and beauty. At least once a week, she vows to lead a healthier life in diet and exercise... but she be lyin'. Here's some of her work.

Daniela is a beauty and style writer. She was born in Venezuela and raised between Caracas and Miami, in other words, multicultural AF. She loves cheese (even though she's lactose intolerant), artsy fartsy things, and makeup products that make her ~lazy girl~ routine easier. Here's some of her work.

Patrice is a beauty writer at BuzzFeed. She's a petite Jamaican-American gal living her best life in the big city. She loves shaking her ass, listening to The Read, confusing her friends and fam with new wigs, and celebrating all things #blackgirlmagic. Here's some of her work.

Hannah Wong / BuzzFeed

'Cause we're real and transparent AF, you should know that we get a lot of stuff for free. Perks of the job. BUT, that does not mean, whatsoever, that we a) are required to write about any of it, b) have to write nice stuff about any of it, or c) get paid to write or mention any of it. In the event that we do collab with a brand and get any dollar or cent from them, we're required to let y'all know. These are our real and honest feelings and experiences.

1. Sleek Make Up's Brow Kit is my savior when my brows look like caterpillars ran over in a drive-by shooting.

Essence Gant

So the side-by-side photo basically speaks for the product. On the left is one brow undone, looking like a caterpillar on its death bed. On the right is the other brow, sleek'd, fleek'd, and ready to live its best life. The Brow Kit by Sleek Make Up is like the Dr. Miami of brows. You start off one way, but by time the kit works its magic, you've completely transformed and you're ready to take bomb selfies like you didn't just have a hot mess patch of supposed to be brows five minutes prior.

The kit comes with a shaping wax and a setting powder, along with tweezers and a blending brush. I don't use the tweezers or brush, though, because they're tiny. I instead use a full sized NYX angled brush. But to apply, I actually work backwards and shape with the powder, filling in gaps and spaces, and then I finish off with the wax. I've found that starting with powder helps me to use less wax, and it looks a little more natural to me.

Availaible in four shades. (I use Extra Dark 819!) —Essence Gant, Beauty Editor

Get it on Ulta for $11.99.

2. HI Wildflower's Botanical Matee Lipstick in Shona had me feeling like the 24K ~kween~ that I truly am.

Patrice Peck

I first came across the Brooklyn-based makeup and fragrance company HI Wildflower at the Project Beauty Expo last month. And ya’ll, I am SOOO glad that I wandered over to their booth cuz I’m not sure how else I would've discovered the fierce metallic gold lipstick that is Shona. Founder Tanwi Nandini suggested that I try on the shade, which is part of the Botanical Matte Lipstick collection, and it hadn’t even officially launched at that point. I said "UM, YESSS!!!" cuz my melanin usually pops extra hard with anything gold. The payoff was even bigger than I expected!

A smooth AF application? Yep! Full, rich coverage? Yessir! AND a moisturizing feel? YES, MA'AM!!! To get that nudie lip effect, I outline the side corners of my lip in ColourPop's Lippie Pencil in Pitch, apply Shona, and then blend the two colors a bit with my lips and finger tip. The best part? Shona, like every HI Wildflower product, is paraben and sulfate-free, cruelty-free, and made from a moisturizing blend of waxes and nourishing essential oils. I honestly could not ask for more!!!

Formula available in 10 shades. —Patrice Peck, Beauty Writer

Get it on HI Wildflower for $27.

3. Every time I wear Au Naturale's creme highliter stick in "The OG," people stop and ask me why I'm glowing.

I LOVE HIGHLIGHTER. It's such a simple, easy way to literally brighten up your face and I'm all about it. It doesn't take a expert to apply highlighter, but sometimes it's tricky to find the perfect product that will make you look nice and shiny as if you just stepped out of a Jennifer Lopez music video.

I tend to go for powder highlighters, but I came across Au Naturale and I am a changed woman. Not only did it make me reconsider stick highlighters, it also pushed me out of my rose-colored comfort zone and made me learn to love gold highlighter.

I wore this backstage at fashion show recently, and several makeup artists and models asked me if I was wearing Trophy Wife by Fenty Beauty (which is also incredible btw). I love this product because you can dab a little bit for a subtle glow, or you can build it up for crazy pigment if you really want to outshine everyone in the room. Plus, the brand only uses ethically sound and naturally-sourced ingredients.

Get this highlighter from Au Naturale for $35. —Daniela Cadena, Beauty Writer

4. Not even joking, I'm strongly considering proposing to whoever formulated this Black Moon Cosmetics matte lip in Ghost.

Essence Gant

So first, you should know that as a beauty editor, I get A LOT of beauty products. Like, basically every single day. That being said, I'm not that easily impressed by products because I've seen a bunch. So the fact that I've been writing about Black Moon's Liquid to Mattes since I was first introduced to them two years ago says a lot. They are simply the shit!

The formula's everything you want in a matte: moisturizing, smooth application, long-wearing, pigmented, flexible, and so on. What I particularly love about this shade Ghost, is that even though it's this soft lavender situation, it still doesn't have to be worn super girly or feminine if you don't want it to be. It has this sort of gray/"ghostly" tint that gives it an edge that can easily look grungy and badass AF. Ghost is one of the new shades, and I'm so ready to wear it this fall in my fro and head-to-toe black.

Formula currently available in 12 shades. —E.G.

Get it on Black Moon Cosmetics for $18.

5. If you're extra AF and damn proud of it, you need a pair of TNEMNRODA shades in your life ASAP.

Patrice Peck

Most of my shades have been bought either on some random street corner for $5 or from a trendy retail store like H&M. Why? Cuz I always lose them. I never understood the point of indulging in designer shades until I tried on a pair of TNEMNRODA at this year's AfroPunk Festival. Founded by designer Samantha Smikle, this luxe eyewear and jewelry company has something for everyone, from the badass, to the wild spirit, to the diva.

Samantha's personal style is #goals and I wanted to step outside my comfort zone, so I asked her to style me in three shades at the festival: (left to right) I'll Be Rich Forever, At Your Best, and Crush on You. I may or may not be writing this from the afterlife because I pretty much died after Samantha gifted me with Crush on You, which are my absolute fave. You can't tell me NOTHING when I'm wearing them, which is pretty much 24/7. Long story short, TNEMNRODA has THE coolest shades that I'll make damn sure I never, EVER lose! —P.P.

Get them on TNEMNRODA for $98.

Other prices vary by style.

6. Reina Rebelde's Rebel Eye Paint is everything you need if you're into natural-looking brows that aren't aboard the hot mess express. Frida Kahlo would approve.

I have naturally dark brows which means the early 2000s were terrible for me, but now I'm finally on trend!!! But it's not all sunshine and butterflies over here. I have a couple of problems with my brows:

1) They have little bald spots.

2) My hair is very straight, so my brows are always out of place and I constantly have to brush them up.

In the past I've used Anastasia's brow pencil, and Glossier's Boy Brow, but I was looking for one product which would fill them in and keep them in place since they wild out from time to time. I've been a fan of Reina Rebelde for a while. Their red lipstick is my everything, and I love to support Latinxs doing great things in the beauty industry. I recently tried their Rebel Eye Paint brow pomade in the shade "Frida," and I'm happy to announce my brows have found their soulmate. This brow product makes them look darker and fuller, it conceals the bald spots, and it gives them a natural look that I love. I am personally not a fan of perfect Instagram brows, so I love how using this product alone makes them look great, but not so perfect they look photoshopped. Also I am lazy AF, so the less products, the better.

Eye Paint is a versatile product and it can be used as eyeliner too. It comes in two shades: "La Doña" (it means Mrs. in Spanish), which is named after María Félix, a Mexican actress with iconic brows, and "Frida," named after the chicest unibrow badass there ever was, Frida Khalo. —D.C.

Get it from Reina Rebelde for $16.

Don't be shy. Let us know in the comments below which products, brands, apps, treatments, and anything else you want us to try!

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