An in-depth look at BLK Cosmetics by Anne Curtis Smith

I wasn’t really expecting much when I heard popular actress Anne Curtis Smith had come out with a makeup line. My favorite cosmetic brands are mostly Japanese and Korean. Those brands have a lot of history, science, and experience behind them. I’ve never put a lot of weight on celebrity endorsements where choosing beauty products is concerned. I base my buying decisions on experience, personal research, and word of mouth from actual users. Anyhow, I got the entire line of Anne Curtis Smith’s BLK Cosmetics to play with.

With a tagline of Uncomplicated Beauty, BLK Cosmetics promises to simplify your everyday makeup routine.

BLK Cosmetics’ starting line up consists of 3 kinds of lipstick: All-Day Intense Matte Lipstick (P299), Velvet Lip Cream (P299), and Long-Lasting Liquid Matte Lipstick (₱349).

Then there’s All-Day Matte Powder Foundation (₱399), Contour, Blush & Highlight Palette (₱499), Brow Sculpting Pencil Duo (P249), and Long-Lasting Liquid Eyeliner (₱249).

Since I’m in a liquid matte lipstick phase, I tried out BLK Long Lasting Liquid Matte Lipstick first. There are a total of 5 shades, I got 3 of them.

It comes with the usual sponge-tip applicator.

I got Bold, Sophisticated, and Simple.

I also got 3 of 5 shades for the All-Day Intense Matte Lipstick.

It looks just like your normal bullet-type lipstick.

I got Fearless, Bubbly, and Charming.

Yup, also 3 of 5 Velvet Lip Cream shades.

If you don’t read the label, it’s easy to mix up the All-Day Intense Matte Lipstick and the Velvet Lip Cream. They look exactly alike.

Here’s Alluring, Flirty, and Refined.

Here are all of the BLK Lipsticks I have on my lips:

• Top Row from left to right: Long Lasting Liquid Matte Lipstick in Bold, Sophisticated, and Simple
• Middle Row from left to right: All-Day Intense Matte Lipstick in Fearless, Bubbly, and Charming
• Bottom Row from left to right: Velvet Lip Cream in Alluring, Flirty, and Refined

The Long Lasting Liquid Matte Lipsticks are actually okay. I’d say they are quite close in terms of quality to cheaper imported liquid mattes like Cathy Doll and Colourpop. I wore it through a full course Korean lunch at Grace Lee’s new restaurant (more on that soon) and it survived quite nicely.

The All-Day Intense Matte Lipsticks are more like semi-matte. They retain a bit of sheen even if I wait for them to dry completely. Pigmentation is not bad, but if I really wanted matte lips I’d just go for the Liquid Matte Lipsticks.

The Velvet Lip Creams live up to their name. They glide on smoothly like butter. I’m not a fan of overly creamy and slick lipsticks though because the transfer rate is crazy. I don’t like getting my lipstick all over everything. These stay slick and wet the entire time too.

Next up are the eye products. I got the Brow Sculpting Pencil Duo in Natural Brown and the Long Lasting Liquid Eyeliner in Black.

The brow pencil’s tip is angled to make it easier to draw hair-like strokes. There’s a spoolie on the other end. The eyeliner has a flexible felt tip like most liquid liners.

Swatch time… I got the right eyebrow pencil shade. The other available color is Taupe and it’s a lot darker than this one. The eyebrow pencil is kind of hard to blend because the pencil leaves um… telltale clumps when you try to draw. I don’t know why the eyeliner sort of spread out after I swatched it. I tried it on my eye and it didn’t spiderweb like this. It did however take a longer time to dry compared to my other eyeliners. It finally settled to a glossy black finish on my eyes.

Let’s check out the face products now.

There are 2 Contour, Blush, & Highlight Palettes.

Flushed is more rose/pink toned while Sunkissed is coral/orange/peach toned. I actually liked the Flushed palette. The blush, highlighter, and contour powder are pretty okay in terms of pigmentation and texture.

Thank goodness they sent me the correct All-Day Matte Powder Foundation Shade, 01 Light Beige. There are only 2 shades to choose from and the other one is darker, 02 Natural Beige. I found this product so-so. First I’m not a fan of the scent. It smells like makeup from times long past. You know the heavy powder smell of your mom’s makeup from the 80’s? That’s how it is. I’m spoiled by Japanese and Korean face products which always smell light and fresh. Then there’s the texture. The powder is not as fine as I’d like. It goes on thick and dry, so it tends to highlight lines and dry patches if you apply it straight to your skin.

This is my BLK Cosmetics FOTD. I used the eyebrow pencil, powder foundation, blush, highlighter, and contour powder. Oh and also the liquid matte lipstick. I did however use a BB cushion underneath the powder so my face would not look overly dry and cakey.

This is my makeup some 5 hours later. No retouch, plus I had a full course Korean lunch at Grace Lee’s new restaurant. Not bad, especially considering the very affordable price points.

Okay so here’s the verdict: I’m not a fan of the Foundation Powder, Eyebrow Pencil, and Velvet Lip Cream. The eyeliner actually worked when I tried it on my eyes, but I have yet to subject it to several hours of wear. The All-Day Intense Matte Lipstick is reminiscent of L’oreal Color Riche Lipstick but is cheaper than the latter. Among all the products, I liked the Liquid Matte Lipsticks and the Flushed Contour, Blush, & Highlight palette best.

Affordable, uncomplicated, and cruelty-free, BLK Cosmetics is a promising brand with room for improvement.

You can order online from the BLK Cosmetics Flagship Store on Lazada.

Like this post? Subscribe to this blog by clicking HERE.

Let’s stay connected:

• Animetric’s World on Facebook
• Animetric on Twitter
• Animetric on Instagram