Queen Latifah has been a Cover Girl for years now and she has a new makeup collection for women of color appropriately titled the Queen Collection.

I was given a few samples to try out for you gals, however, the makeup colors that were sent were too dark for me. So, I passed it on to my lovely cousin, Jennifer, who was MORE THAN willing to get free stuff help her dear cousin out. How sweet. Love ya Jen!

Therefore, instead of me wrting a bunch of stuff based on Jennifer’s experience why not just paste what SHE wrote of her time with the makeup? Here’s she is. Take it away, Jen!

COVER GIRL QUEEN COLLECTION LIP GLOSS - “Copper Bliss”

Iâ??m an addict. Blistex is my fix and I must have it several times throughout the day in order for my lips to survive the dysfunctional weather patterns of the East Coast. As (bad) luck would have it, I ran out of my medicated lip balm (or crack as I affectionately like to call it) on my way to my cousinâ??s house (Pascalle says: THAT WOULD BE ME!! ) one afternoon. She offered me all sorts of overrated substitutes (Pascalle says: Burt’s Bees, anyone?), all of which I refused until she pulled out a golden stick of lip gloss from Cover Girlâ??s Queen Collection. Intrigued (and a little desperate) I tried the balm and was amazed. I was able to subsist a whole 2 weeks without lip balm. Queenâ??s lip gloss was sheer in its application and smooth to the touch, leaving my lips feeling (pardon the commercial-ese) kissably soft (Pascalle says: OH REALLY???! So who ya been kissin, huh Jen? Huh??)

COVER GIRL QUEEN COLLECTION NATURAL HUE COMPACT FOUNDATION - “Sheer Expresso”

As a person with bad skin who has not yet crossed over to the Proactive fan club, I rely on foundation to even out my skin tone and hide my unsightly (though much loved) acne scars. I was pleasantly surprised with Cover Girlâ??s Queen Collection Natural Hue Compact foundation. Although the hue we were supplied with was 2 shades too dark for my skin tone, the sheerness of the color really allowed it to blend to my skin color without making me appear sallow or orangey red (only colored folk who routinely wear foundation can empathize). The only caveat in using this product, however, is that is it is not a standalone and must be used with powder in order to maximize coverage and achieve that flawless definition.

COVER GIRL VOLUME MASCARA - “Very Black”

I have no eyelashes. Plain and simple. So I look for a miracle in a bottle when buying mascara and I have yet to find one that really elongates my lashes to their full potential. This product, Iâ??m afraid, was no exception. Itâ??s great for those who have been blessed with long curly lashes, but for those people who like me, have stunted cilia (Pascalle says: Cilia???) in lieu of real eyelashes, Cover Girlâ??s Volume Mascara will simply give definition to your shortcomings without the added embarrassment of clumps. Itâ??s a good product, but due to my eyelash impediment, I can only say that itâ??s adequate.

(Here’s a close up of Jennifer’s eye w/the mascara on. Click to enlarge.)

Here she is with the Natural Hue Compact Foundation and Volume Mascara (only. No lip gloss–she forgot it in another purse! Don’t we all do that though?) Click to enlarge.

Thanks Jennifer!