Hello everyone! Hope this week’s off to a great start!
As we approach the festive season, a few more collections will be hitting counters soon. And i’m here to catch up on all the reviews of what i’ve been testing. First in the blogging pipeline is Bobbi Browns second launch for Christmas, the Wine & Chocolate collection.
Complete with festive gold packaging (always a winner) & delicious tones, this collection is bound to please!
2 Eyeshadow palettes. Chocolate & Wine. Each containing 4 limited edition colours + 3 intense pigment liner shades.
4 Sequin eyeshadows. Single shimmer shadows for the ultimate sparkle effect.
2 Brightening blushes. Pearlised blush that delivers a soft wash of colour.
3 Luxe Lip Colour. Bobbi’s premium, ultra luxe lipstick formula in festive shades.
2 Nail Polishes in limited edition colours, Chocolate & Wine.
The most impressive of the collection, which struck most excitement were the palettes. Of course the colours aren’t exactly ground breaking, but as a makeup addict it’d be hard to resist a perfectly curated set of neutrals. And as proven time and again Bobbi IS still the master of neutrals.
My overall opinion is that the quality of the palettes are quite nice. In the past i’ve had some BB palettes that just don’t provide enough pigment or horribly dry, but these aren’t like that at all! In comparison to last years palettes, I’d say this Christmas they have in fact improved and much easier to work with and more consistent in terms of overall quality.
Of course you won’t be getting incredibly highly pigmented saturated colour as you would say, Urban Decay or Illamasqua, what’s expected is soft neutrals that beautifully define the eyes and enhance one’s natural beauty. It’s basically an easy to use set of colours that’ll get the job done!
On to some swatches, starting off with the Chocolate Palette. All taken in natural lighting with flash (a slight departure from the usual
since the sun’s been a bit shy these days )
This palette consists of 3 mattes, a shimmer shade and 3 highly pigmented liner colours ranging from sooty brown to navy.
The mattes had moderately good payoff with slight dryness to the touch. They applied well however and never looked powdery or patchy on the lids. The only shimmer included, Velvet Bronze was a better, silkier formulation in comparison and was great as a topper or single wash of colour. Together everything works in harmony to create a variety of looks.
For maximum intensity as seen in the final look I created with this palette, I used a smudged out chocolate brown kohl liner as a base. Not only did it help keeping the shadows in place, it also brought out the richness as well. My advice is, regardless of look you are planning on achieving, a primer is a must with these palettes. It helps the lighter shades adhere to the lid better without blending out to nothingness, or if you are tan like me, it also help colours show up more.
Overall I find these eyeshadows pick up wonderfully/better on a brush and apply with very little fallout. Something rare when creating smokey eyes! I’d say, this palette gets extra points for that feat alone!
The Wine Palette.
This palette would be your day to day essential neutral eye palette.
I found the payoff of the shades quite nice & great for everyday use. It’s also my opinion, that this would be the more popular choice. The warmer mix of shimmers are your average go-to mix when it comes to day to day.
All colours except one performed well. I found Pinot Noir wonderfully pigmented and delightfully easy to blend and Moon Glow the most loveliest soft shimmer. The only miss was Black Cocoa which was rather dry and difficult to swatch. The golden glitter felt gritty to the touch and didn’t quite hit the mark in terms of quality. Although I haven’t tried this particular one in an eye look yet, I can already see the gold glitter blending off and getting lost between application. Will update once i’ve given this shadow a fair chance. Let’s see :-)
Edit- Black Cocoa applies infinitely better with no sign of powderiness with a brush. However as suspected, the rose gold/bronzy shimmers never showed up when applied.
Moving on to more ‘festive’ offerings. These Sequin shadows are quite the little shimmer bombs. Packed with multidimensional shimmer that can be used on their own as glistening washes of colour or on top of eyeshadows to add that little extra sparkle. They are a holiday favourite that’ll add that extra ‘pow’ to your eyes.
My first impressions are, they feel quite dry and textured to the touch. The formula had no emollients that would help something so chunky adhere! Was it going to be a shimmery mess?
Not if you pick them up with your finger and press and drag to blend. I had next to no fall out and the shimmer actually lasted quite well.
On to some swatches!
Between the two shades Silver Heather & Rose Gold, I believe Rose Gold applied slightly more evenly. Though both quite lovely seen in person. Shimmery, pretty, pretty goodness!
Next up, the Luxe Lip Colours Ultra Nude & Tawny!
The very first Bobbi product i’d instantly fallen in love with, back when they were released (late last year). The payoff is incredible. Luxurious , creamy & long lasting. It’s a truly special lipstick formula.
Needless to say, I was over the moon when I saw the colours included in the Holiday Collection were all my kinda shades! Reds, nudes & browns.
Here’s are the swatches of the two in my possession. Must haves!
I like that Uber Nude swatched much warmer and peachier on the lips. Love the colour and payoff, as amazing as i’d expected.
Tawny, a more deeper shade of brown works well for an evening look. Glorious, rich colour to top off a soft effortless eye look.
Both colours give out cosy holiday vibes. Think sipping hot chocolate by a warm fire. My minds going crazy imagining all the scenarios I could wear these, lol. Minus the cold weather though. Hah!
Chattiness aside, here’s a quick look at how some of these products look worn!
A lot of you probably haven’t seen the palettes in action. And since i’ve had a few inquiries and concerns about the performance of the Chocolate palette I thought i’d create my look around that!
Here i’ve used just the three matte shades, paired with a kohl liner as base.
Here’s a closeup!
I love the lip colour Ultra Nude with this palette. So understated yet brings an edge of sophistication & polish!
Overall Thoughts
The collection on the whole is a very well thought out, wearable mix. Nothing intimidating or out of your comfort zone. It’s the kind of collection that’d make great gifts and also a nice luxurious treat to oneself.
My top recommendations would be the palettes. As weird as it sounds, an everyday staple, perfectly curated neutral palette without too many colour choices are actually quite rare. And I find that these fit the bill perfectly. (I also really like the handy size, they are so workable even for trips and things if you are looking for a palette to ‘throw n go’.)
I also am a massive fan of the Luxe Lip Colour formula. So any of those would also not disappoint and come highly recommended!
Collection Information
Launching at all Bobbi Brown counters islandwide on the 1st December.
Price List
Wine & Chocolate Palettes SGD 90 each.
Sequin Shadow SGD 53 each.
Brightening Blush SGD 78 each.
Luxe Lip Colour SGD 45 each.
Nail Polish SGD 25 each.
*Many thanks to Bobbi Brown Singapore for the beautiful sampling & preview of the holiday collection!
