Each Holiday season Bobbi Brown hits us with a bag full of gifting solutions. The packaging is always spot on and there’s treasures a plenty be it gifting to loved ones or ‘gifting’ to ourselves.
As last year, i’m back with a complete swatch set of all the goodies in Bobbi Browns gifting collection (the Wine & Chocolate colour collection will be blogged separately) & of course my thoughts on the selection available and top picks.
2016 marks a special year for Bobbi Brown. Earlier this month we celebrated 25 years of Bobbi.
In order to commemorate this special occasion there’re amazing collectibles included in the holiday collection as well. If you are a die hard Bobbi Brown fan, these would be must have pieces you wouldn’t want to miss out on.
Starting with, the stunning lipstick vault seen lower left lined in gorgeous burgundy.
The Original 10 25th Anniversary Lip Collection – SGD 170
This includes the iconic ten that started it all! Shades range from pale nudes to rich plummy hues and everything in between. A kit of mini lipsticks that’s bound to steal your heart!
Glow to Go Blush & Illuminate – SGD 55
A cheek palette comprising of French Pink Blush & Platinum Sparkle Illuminator. Possibly my top pick for gifting. Partially due to it’s dinky size and superbly flattering shade.
Golden Eye Palette Shadow & Mascara – SGD 63
Golden Eye palette is a simple fool proof eye palette that features a trio of shadows, an eye liner brush & a mini Smokey Eye Mascara.
Party to Go Eye and Lip Palette – SGD 63
An eye quad of versatile neutrals paired with a mini True Rose Lip Colour. All your essentials to create a sexy holiday look. I love that the palette itself includes this mini lipstick. Easy to travel with and there’s no danger of misplacing it as it comes with it’s own little slot!
Cool Dusk Eye Palette – SGD 90
A mix of neutrals to take you from day to night. This one’s in the cooler spectrum of things.
Brightening Brick – SGD 78
One of Bobbi’s new-ish products, the Brightening Bricks now come in a festive, limited edition gold packaging. A medley of rose gold and pale gold & Ivory checkered pattern to bring on some radiance.
Party All Night Eye Opening & No Smudge Mascara (not seen here) – SGD 71
A simple mascara duo including Bobbi’s Eye Opening Mascara for amped up volume and a No Smudge Mascara for layering to instantly waterproof.
Travel Brush Set – SGD 260
Another exciting release is these stunning brush kits we see during Christmas. And this year it’s a 6 piece set with gold ferules & burgundy handles. Luxurious, elegant and perfect for your travel bag.
(Set includes a Full Coverage Brush, Angled Face Brush, Eye Sweep Brush, Angled Eyeshadow Brush, Eye Liner Brush, Dual-Ended Definer & Groomer brush.)
Bobbi to the Rescue Detox & Hydrate Set – SGD 115
An SOS kit to help combat the after effects of a late night celebrating.
This kit includes, Long Wear Makeup Remover (cos you should NEVER go to bed without taking off your makeup), Rich Cream Cleanser, Hydrating Face Tonic, Instant Detox Mask (full size), Hydrating Face Cream & Hydrating Eye Cream. The mini travel size products make useful gifts for jet-setting friends or even as a trial kit to dip your toe into Bobbi Skincare if you haven’t already!
Party Prep Skincare Set – SGD 135
A mini sampler of Bobbi essentials to help you prep for glowing, party ready skin. This includes a mini Extra Illuminating Moisture Balm, Hydrating Eye Cream in a tube, Lip Balm SPF 15, Mini Radiance Boost Mask & Extra Hand Cream.
Onto some swatches I took at the preview. The lighting is never perfect but I managed to come home with decent pics which I hope would prove useful to make your list!
The Glow to Go Kit contains a little vial of liquid highlight in dropper style packaging & a pretty mid tone pink blush. If you are familiar with Bobbi Brown blushes, the quality is pretty similar to that.
The shadows range from matte to satin to shimmer, with everything swatching smooth with good pigmentation. The only exception was the matte black that always seem to swatch a bit patchy but perform well with brushes.
The lipstick included here, True Rose is a richly pigmented shade that compliments the kit perfectly. I’d recommend this as a well curated palette for gifting which creates a signature Bobbi Brown look with neutral eyes and luscious lips.
The Bobbi Brown Brightening Brick is a radiant setting powder with noticeable shimmer. Not my favourite Bobbi product as the shimmer is more noticeable than i’d like. Though I know some of you LOVE and swear by this product for day to day use.
Best suited for fair to light-medium skin tones.
Bobbi Browns Party picks (4 products) in a handy burgundy pouch.
Party Alice lipstick, a warm coral-y rose swatches creamy with beautiful payoff. Opal Glow highlighter, a dusty pink, more of a shimmering pink rose when swatched (formula seems less intense and silky in comparison to the highlighters from the summer collection) , a mini gloss with multi coloured glitter & lastly a Mascara.
A palette that creates a signature Bobbi Brown neutral eye look.
There’s a matte ivory, shimmering mid tone neutral brown, taupe-y warm grey, a matte dark slate & a sooty black. The formula & pigmentation is very much in line with the regular Bobbi Brown shadows if you are familiar. Not as pigmented as i’d like but works well with the overall Bobbi Brown look which is more of a conservative makeup look rather than BAM! colour.
On to some better swatches (I swapped out the pics from the preview for ones I took at home to show you how better lighting do these palettes & kits justice)
Truly impressed with the overall quality of this tiny palette of essentials to create an easy party look. It contains a matte ivory, a shimmering muted gold and a matte black. I swatched these heavily over a freshly moisturised hand to help the shadows adhere better as the Bobbi Brown shadow formula I noticed can be a little dry. Specially so in the deeper matte shades.
And as mentioned before, these perform perfectly well with brushes.
Lastly the 25th Anniversary Lip Collection!
Absolutely STUNNING! And a must have piece for any makeup junkie.
The collection consists of a well edited range of shades that would suit most skin tones and pretty much cover every occasion. All except one swatched beautifully with a soft creamy formula and great payoff. The shade that missed the mark was Blackberry. Lacked in pigmentation and applied slightly patchy. Overall though i’d rate this as a killer set!
Bottom Line
I find the quality across the palettes more consistent in comparison to last year. They swatched better and had very few ‘misses’. Most I can recommend without any hesitation.
I also like that the pricing of this years collection has improved as well! I recall last years brush palette being quite the luxe buy, so it’s nice to see this years one more ‘affordable’. Palettes are also more on the ‘easy-to-swallow’ price tag. They start from SGD 55.
My faves of the collection were the small, stocking stuffer size gifts and the ultra must have 25th Anniversary Lip Collection. It’s definitely worth buying for oneself just to own such a lovely collectible, and of course the colours are beautiful too.
Overall I think Bobbi did well with this years holiday offerings. I would recommend looking at the Golden Eye Palette, Party to Go kit and the Glow to Go Cheek palette. All three swatched really well and perfectly sized for travel. Something important to consider when buying these types of goodies as gifts or for personal use.
Collection to be launched in Bobbi Brown boutiques & counters on the 1st November.
