Fables in Fashion

Catching up with the Holiday 2011 collections, introducing you to Bobbi Brown’s Party Shimmer Brick. I already own one of their “normal” shimmer bricks in a pink shade, so I was curious to know how this would fare.

The product comes with two distinct sides, a strong gold shimmer and a more white silver shimmer.

However when both sides are swatches separately I can tell that the silver side actually is tinged with gold, and isn’t a “true” silver or white… maybe we can just call it white gold ;D

Blended together, you get a much more yellow based highlighter. I used this product on my cheekbones, but as with all highlighters you can use it anywhere else you want to reflect light from e.g. inner corner of your eyes, brow bone etc.

General comments I have to say about this product is that the texture is very smooth, not velvety butter smooth, but close. The amount of shimmer this product gives off is pretty strong, so be sure to go light if you only want a “dewy” finish. But not surprisingly this works great for parties or clubbing

I purchased this product for $40US online, I’m not sure if it is still available at counters, but it’s worth a shot if you’re in the market for a new highlighter. This retails for $85AU in Australia… yeah :/

My most favourite time of year with regards to makeup is the holiday season. I love the new palettes, products and collections that flood the market. I’m a sucker for palettes and gift sets, you know, cause of the visual prettiness of them all (don’t look at me that way, it’s called being shallow!).

First up is the Ultimate Party Palette by Bobbi Brown I’m actually surprised how compact this palette is, at about 8cm by 7cm by 2cm, much smaller than last year’s “main” Bobbi Brown palette. Unfortunately that also means less product, I found the eye shadows to be surprisingly small!

They look sizeable in the photo, but they are about 0.2g less of product per pan for the eye shadows and 0.4g less product for each of the lip glosses in comparison to last year. And while the price is about $10US / $30AU cheaper than last year, last year’s palette had ten eye shadows rather than just eight.

For comparison, this palette retails for $65US / $130AU, last year’s was $75US / $160AU. But ultimately (pun not intended) I’m providing the swatches below to help you make an informed decision on what sort of gifts you either want to purchase for yourself or others.

I found the eye shadows to generally be very good quality, easy to work with and the shades when applied lightly can be used for every day, with the option to change into a more night time look. Bobbi Brown is the master when it comes to sensible colours, I can imagine the majority of my co-workers and my less colourful makeup friends loving the variety of shades here.

The only shadow I found difficult to work with was Crushed Granite, very sheer and packed with rough shimmer. A real pain. It’s worth noting too that the darker matte shades such as Plum Navy and Black Topaz are good at adding shadows and deepening your eyes, but don’t expect intense pigmentation from these two. Typical of Bobbi Brown, they are designed to give your eyes an elegant “natural” ease into smoky eyes, rather than anything dramatic.

I found the lip glosses to be more on the disappointing side this year in terms of variety and pigmentation.

The first shade “Rave” is probably my favourite, it has the most pigmentation. In fact, I love how the gold shimmers in the pan actually transfer into the swatch! It’s truly gorgeous. However the remaining three is where my disappointment settles in, far too sheer to really see a difference on the lips. On my bare skin you can see each gloss has a different tint, but on my lips, especially those with more naturally pigmented lips, all three are likely to end up almost looking identical.

Don’t get me wrong, great quality, slightly sticky, soft and applies wonderfully. But it would have been even better if there was a more distinct colour range.

All in all, it’s a very cute palette. Probably not the most useful one out there, but you have to give it to Bobbi Brown for usability. Keeping the lip and eye products separate is essential to stop your lip glosses from picking up eye shadow fall out (and yet soooo many companies still put them right together). The additional applicators are actually useable and the mirror is the perfect touch.

Would make a great gift, and I know I’d personally love to receive this! But practical? Probably not.

Pros:

• Non-gritty texture
• Minty flavour
• Leaves lips feeling refreshed / slight tingle
• Visbily high shimmer / micro glitters

Cons:

• Semi sticky formula
• Requires several applications for one wear

Price: $42AU / $23US

Rating:

Where: Bobbi Brown, Myer and David Jones.

One of the newer glosses released from Bobbi Brown, though as per usual, I’m probably a little late to the party. Despite appearing pink in the tube, this gloss is pretty sheer in terms of pigmentation. No surprises it’s name “Bare Sparkle” rings true to the product formula. I found the formula to be relatively sticky, but not as bad as Lancome’s Juicy Tubes. Not as thick in formula either.

Check out the amount of micro shimmer packed into this gloss below. Unfortunately to really get the full blown effect you do need to re dip your applicator several times to get a decent amount, something I always hate doing.

Despite the high level of micro-shimmers, this formula is not at all gritty. I was expecting to feel a sandy texture when I pressed my lips together, but nope. Smooth as a crème formula.

All in all, a good gloss. It doesn’t have any outstanding features to really highlight, nor is there anything terrible about it. I am however sure a gloss like this is relatively dupe-able for less. I’d only personally consider this gloss if you love Bobbi Brown or want a gloss with a minty feeling.

As you know, whilst in Hong Kong….money was exchanged for goods…. repeatedly… I had only then read about the new Bobbi Brown Makkakesh Fall 2011 Collection online. So I was pleasantly surprised to find the same collection available in Hong Kong and knew I had to take home a few with me.

One of the items I purchased was the eye shadows, in total there are 8 shades, 4 which caught my eye. Today I’m going to be reviewing and featuring Sand Dune, Pink Silk, Rich Kashmir and Royale.

Basically Bobbi Brown claims that these shadows are intensely pigmented, creamy texture, easy to apply and long lasting.

I can’t honestly say it lasted for 12 hrs, I actually haven’t worn them for that long. I did make it to about the 6-7hr mark before washing it off and it hasn’t budged at all (keeping in mind I did use a primer).

The texture is very creamy, almost feels a bit like velvet when pressed against my fingers and applies smoothly to the eyes.

The only gripe I have with Bobbi Brown’s description is the pigmentation; these shadows in my experience are not at all “intensely pigmented”. To get the pigmentation you see on my swatches, it took about 2-3 swipes and you can see how light the application is on my eyes below.

Sand Dune

Pink Silk

Rich Kashmir

Royale

However to me personally this is not a bad thing. Bobbi Brown isn’t a brand I look too for strong pigmentation, to me they are fair more neutral, natural and everyday friendly. And I like the fact that these shadows are not too pigmented as it gives me more control to build the colour up. I never use heavily pigmented shades for work / everyday despite what my Book of Fables gives off, just because my makeup needs to be subtle and if the shadows are too pigmented, it’s very easy to over apply.

This is exactly why I have different makeup for different purposes. Bobbi Brown, Chanel, Dior etc are fantastic for my everyday “I’m in a rush can don’t have the mind / mental morning ability to apply this correctly” mornings for work. And then I turn to brands like MAC, Inglot, NYX, Coastal Scents etc for when I do have the time to concentrate on what I’m putting on my face or when I actually need extreme pigmentation for a particular makeup look aka Book of Fables.

_{Sand Dune all over the lid, Pink Silk above the crease and Royale in the crease}

I wouldn’t say these are the best products ever released by Bobbi Brown, but they relatively easy to work with for people new to makeup / those who lack confidence with their makeup skills and as always, anyone looking to do more subtle neutral looks. Bobbi Brown is certainly a known brand for neutrals and everyday makeup.

_{This little palette came free with my purchases}

These eye shadows are limited edition and I can’t seem to find them on the Australian Bobbi Brown website (so perhaps not available in Australia?). They are available on the American Bobbi Brown website for $24US each though.

I remember watching Sophie Ellis Bexter perform Murder on the Dance Floor on TV as a teenager and I was completely in awe of not only how amazing her voice was, but how pretty she was! I loved the chicness of her look and makeup, and over 10 years later here we are~ I tried to replicate the look to a degree, I even cut my hair to get the straight pony tail lol. All I did was try and replicate her makeup, I’m well aware I’ll never match up to the beauty that is Ms Bexter <3

MAC Prep + Prime – Skin Visage Base
Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect – 71
Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer – Beige
NARS Bronzer – Laguna
Canmake Cream Cheek – 02
Canmake Highlighter – 01
e.l.f Eyelid Primer – Sheer
Savvy by DB Luxury Liner – Shimmering Slate
Coastal Scents Brow Tones
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil – Rocky Mountain Green
Coastal Scents 88 Mirage Palette
Coastal Scents Glitter Powder – Emerald Green
Maybelline Define-a-Brow – Clear
Face of Australia Liquid Eyeliner – Black *
DUO Eyelash Glue
Too Faced Shadow Insurance Glitter Glue
Maybelline Pulse Perfection Mascara – Blackest Black
MAC Lip Pencil – Cherry
MAC Lip Glass – Clear
MAC Lipstick – Russian Red

Products marked with a * were sent for consideration

I grew up watching Disney, and loved all the Disney princesses~ My favourite is probably Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but for cosplay purposes I thought I suited Snow White much better If you would like to view the entire costume I made for my Snow White cosplay, please view the gallery here.

I absolutely loved cosplaying Snow White I’d love to do more princesses in the future, enjoy the tutorial

Bobbi Brown Brightening SPF 50/PA+++ UV Protective Face Base
Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation – 71
MAC Studio Finish Concealer Palette – Light
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural – Light
NARS Laguna Bronzer
Tarte Amazonian Clay Long-Wear Blush – Natural Beauty
NYX Mosaic Powder – Highlighter
Coastal Scents Brow Tones
e.l.f Eyelid Primer – Sheer
Maybelline Define-a-Brow Gel – Clear
Coastal Scents – 88 Warm Palette
Prestige Eyeliner – White
Lancome Hypnose Mascara – Black
DUO Eyelash Adhesive – Dark Tone
MAC Fluidline – Blacktrack
Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara – Black
Savvy by DB Lipliner – Poppy
Revlon Colorburst Lipstick – True Red

MAC 130
Sigma Angled Top Kabuki – F84
MAC 209
Sigma SS252
Sigma SS266
Lancome 17
Art brush
Revlon Lip Brush

I must have short term memory, because I always want to shoot up in the Dandenong, and constantly look forward to it…. until I get there and FIND A LEECH ON MY LEG!

I really need to schedule all my “forest” related projects to Spring and Summer, because not only was I attacked by bugs, I was absolutely freezing! Serves me right to be prancing around the forest in sleeveless clothes during winter. (Though now I’m thinking of a shoot I’d like to try during winter on the beach….wow, I must really hate myself)

That aside, I’m really glad I managed to get this video done. I think I created the makeup more to suit the theme, rather than building a theme around the makeup, which is what I usually do. I’ve always wanted to do a simple “Rambo” inspired sort of look, short of rubbing dirt on to my face I think I managed pretty well lol!

Favourite aspect was just filming the intro and outro for this tutorial, so be sure to check those out

Bobbi Brown Brightening SPF 50 / PA+++ UV Protective Face Base
Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation – 4
MAC Studio Finish Concealer Palette – Light
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural – Light Medium
Rimmel Natural Bronzer – 022 Sun Bronze
Coastal Scents 78 Eye Shadow & Blush Combo Palette
NYX Mosaic Powder – Highlighter
e.l.f Eyelid Primer – Sheer
Revlon Custom Eyes Mascara – Blackest Black
Coastal Scents Brow Tones
Savvy by DB Lipliner – Poppy
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil – Cherry
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil – Milk
Prestige Eyeliner – White
Revlon Colorburst Lipstick – True Red
Savvy by DB Luxury Liner – Shimmering Slate

MAC 130
Sigma Angled Top Kabuki – F84
MAC 209
Sigma SS252
Sigma SS266
Lancome 17
Revlon Lip Brush