Tracy Love - Copa Style Magazine's Beauty Consultant

Tracy Love

Vision of Beauty

As a child, sitting on the edge of my mother's bed watching her get dressed was truly memorizing. The way of which she would gently massage face cream into her skin for some reason it just always made me smile. It was truly as though she were transforming herself right before my eyes. The last step of my mother's regimen was fragrance. I could still smell her fragrance as if it were yesterday. At that very moment, I realized without a shadow off a doubt what I wanted to do with my life. Anything that had to do with beauty caught my attention. Whether it were a magazine, a television show, a book, it didn't matter. I knew my vision would someday become a reality. I have been truly blessed to work for some of the most prestigious lines in cosmetic in the industry. My dream had truly become a reality. After working for various cosmetic lines, there was one issue that was truly a big concern to me. Where were the foundation shades for my beautiful African American clients. If your skin were that beautiful caramel color or honey color, there was no issue in finding a shade of foundation for you. However, for the clients thay had the beautiful dark coffee colored skin, there were no shades available for you. This was and still is a big concern of mine. I observed women spending anywhere from 100 dollars all the way up to 500 dollars or more for skin care products but yet there were unable to purchase their foundation at that same counter. Here we are in 2018, and this still is an issue. On the bright side of this, there are cosmetic lines that have taken notice if this and gave added darker shades of foundation to their product line. And I say to this, it is definitely about time. Even though much progress has been made, there still exists more improvement that needs to be made pertaining to this issue. ​
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 It is very disheartening to me to observe darker skin clients purchase skin care at one counter and then have to be escorted to another counter to purchase her foundation. I find this totally unacceptable. However, all is not lost. There are actually brands in the drug stores that now carry darker shades for women of darker skin tones. However, there is a drawback because usually these lines of cosmetics do not offer testers so therefore it becomes a guessing game as to which shade is the correct shade for their skin tone. As women of color, we must begin to address this issue by writing to as many cosmetic companies as possible and allow our voices to be heard. This is the only way that this issue is going to be resolved at this time. However, on a positive note, I would like to share some of the cosmetic lines that now offer shades for beautiful dark skin tones. They are listed below: ​
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1. L'Oréal

2. Maybelline

3. Queen Latifah offers beautiful line for women of color

4. Black Opal

5. Iman

6. Clinique

7. Lancome

8. Bobby Brown


I would also like to offer a couple of tips when purchasing a foundation.

• Know your skin type (you do not want to purchase a foundation for dry skin when you have oily skin)
• Make sure there is proper lighting when purchasing a foundation
• Decide which type if coverage you want (foundations usually start at light coverage and extend all the way to full coverage)
• Invest in a foundation brush and sponges are tools you will need for a professional application My desire is for every women of all skin shades to feel confident that she can purchase a perfect shade of foundation regardless of what cosmetic line it is.

Hopefully, this article has been very educational and informative. I look forward to sharing others great topics from my beauty in a box column.

~ Tracy Love Beauty Consultant

​~Copa