Whether you’re new to the brand, or you used them long ago, this post is designed to be an at-a-glance summary of the best Bobbi Brown formulas and shades. Bobbi Brown is a brand that does emphasize and focus on more “natural” beauty, so you’ll find plenty of basic shades of beiges, browns, and the like within the range. You won’t find an extensive range of bright and neon hues, but you will find some. A lot of the brighter colors get launched seasonally in limited edition collections, so if you like a formula, you might see a vibrant neon pink during the spring or summer.
Eyes
When it comes to gel eyeliners, Bobbi’s Gel Eyeliner ($24.00) is a cult favorite, and for good reason–it comes in a variety of shades, applies easily and fluidly, and lasts all day long. You have the classic black, Black Ink, along with fun colors like Ivy Shimmer Ink (deep emerald green) and Violet Ink (violet purple).
Her Metallic Eyeshadows ($21.00) are really plush; soft, smooth, and lots of color payoff with a frosted, metallic fiinsh. Shades like Forest, Burnt Sugar, and Cognac are lovely on warmer skin tones, while Mint, Midnight, and Velvet Plum are flattering on cooler complexions. For neutral eyeshadows with matte finishes, her regular Eyeshadow ($21.00) line is worth considering–pay attention to Bone, Caviar, Espresso, Hot Stone, Wheat, and Taupe.
From time to time, Bobbi Brown also releases eyeshadow and face palettes–some are amazing, others are so-so–but they’re usually worth at least a glance or two if you’re near a counter. My favorite Bobbi Brown mascara is Everything Mascara ($24.00), which results in really great everyday, natural-looking lashes.
Cheeks
If you love high shimmer, nearly metallic-finishes in your blushes and highlighters, you’ll find Shimmer Bricks ($39.00) right up your alley. Shades like Nectar can be used as blushers on light to dark skin tones as well as providing highlight. Each compact has five strips of color, which can be used individually or altogether.
If you’re into cream blushes, you might like Pot Rouge for Lips & Cheeks ($24.00), which is a multi-tasking color product that gives both cheeks and lips a soft tint of color. It comes in an assortment of shades (ten at the writing of this post). Calypso Coral is great for a pop of coral during the summer, while Chocolate Cherry is excellent for a bolder, darker cheek color. Raspberry flatters lots of skin tones, even deeper ones, as it has just the right level of intensity.
Lips
Rich Lip Color SPF 12 ($23.00) is pigmented, lightweight, and moisturizing, and it’s probably my favorite lipstick formula by the brand, though the regular Lip Color ($23.00) is rather good and her Treatment Lip Shine SPF 15 ($23.00) is great for a glossier (but still a lipstick) option.
High Shimmer Lipgloss ($23.00) may be my most favorite Bobbi Brown product, period, though don’t hold me to it, because it’s so hard to choose! They’re rich in sparkle and shimmer and look utterly dazzling on the lips (especially in the sunlight). Some shades are sheer with lots of sparkle, others are more pigmented with plenty of shimmer. My favorite shades are Canary, Electric Violet, Midnight Violet, Naked Plum, Pink Sequin, and Plum Gold.
Base
If you suffer from really dry skin and find most foundations emphasize dryness, EXTRA Tinted Moisturizing Balm is fantastic–it gives coverage and lots and lots of ongoing, all-day moisture. I wouldn’t recommend it for oilier skin types, because it would be too heavy. I haven’t tried her range of foundations very much–not enough to make recommendations–but check reader comments for possible options.
Skincare
I have normal-to-dry skin, so I do review and speak from that perspective for the most part, but of course, sometimes a product that isn’t hydrating enough for me but otherwise has a good texture may be a good fit for someone with oilier skin. I have tried and quite liked Hydrating Face Cream (thick but never heavy, nicely hydrating), Hydrating Gel Cream (quick-absorbing, lightweight, moisturizing), EXTRA Repair Moisturizing Balm SPF 25 (creamy, hydrating, slightly heavy), and Hydrating Rich Cream Cleanser (creamy, removes makeup and dirt well, never drying).
Tools
Every Bobbi Brown brush I’ve used, I’ve been happy with, but I haven’t used the full range. I love the soft, dense feel of her Blush Brush ($50.00) and full, dense feel of her Bronzer Brush ($50.00), which really seems like a buffer brush with a longer handle.
What are your recommendations for someone looking to try Bobbi Brown products?
The formula is listed as “lightweight, soft shine lipstick that doubles as a rejuvenating moisture treatment.” It’s supposed to have both short-term and long-term hydration. It’s scent- and taste-free (no distinct SPF flavor!). It’s a soft, pliant formula that has some slip, but it doesn’t have any thick, creaminess, so it doesn’t slide all over the place.
The lipstick applies smoothly and evenly, and it deposits semi-opaque color without having to slather it on. The finish is lightly glossy, mega-shiny, but it doesn’t have a really wet look to it, so it’s not quite as glossy as a lipgloss. It’s moisturizing and feels good once applied, and while I did not wear this particular shade back-to-back, I did test out the wear of several shades back-to-back, and my lips were nicely hydrated post-wear. Orchid Pink wore for three hours when I tested it.
It is nicely moisturizing, yields good color, and feels comfortable and lightweight applied. This kind of shade will be most flattering on lighter skin tones, both warm and cool.
Product
9.5/10
Pigmentation
10/10
Texture
10/10
Longevity
8/10
Application
5/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
Bobbi Brown Ballet Sparkle Eyeshadow ($28.00 for 0.09 oz.) is described as a “light pink glitter.” It’s a smattering of rosy pink (with warm undertones) glitter suspended in a translucent base. I don’t really have similar shades to this, since it’s more of a glitter than it is a regular eyeshadow, but Bobbi Brown Black Ruby (which has a sparkle finish as well) came the closest, but it had more color and a little less sparkle/glitter.
This is one of four shades from the spring collection, and all four shades were described as sheer pastels over a translucent base, so they’re not supposed to be intense or opaque. They are supposed to be “crease-free” and “long-lasting.” Ballet was better than Silver Spoon, as it adhered to the lid better and had minimal fall out over the course of the eight hours I wore it on the lid. There wasn’t enough fall out during application to gripe over either. As I mentioned in my previous review, it’s hard to judge “creasing,” since there’s not enough pigment to give an even, opaque layer such that you know where the color ends and begins. The glitter didn’t gather in the crease, though, which is usually what a product like this would do if it was prone to creasing.
I will reiterate that these are more expensive than I would expect from Bobbi Brown, and I don't like that they contain less than Sparkle eyeshadows before them. I had much better luck with Ballet adhering and wearing throughout the day--none of the fall out issues I had with Silver Spoon.
Product
9/10
Pigmentation
9/10
Texture
9/10
Longevity
9/10
Application
4/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
Bobbi Brown Silver Moon Sparkle Eyeshadow ($28.00 for 0.09 oz.) is described as a “light silvery glitter.” The description is rather accurate: it’s a light silver glitter with large, chunky particles. There’s really no underlying color, just silver glitter that’s suspended in an almost clear base. The closest dupe I could think of was Bobbi Brown Tinsel.
Sometimes Bobbi Brown knocks it out of the park with her Sparkle eyeshadows (like here), but other times, they can fall flat and translate into high glitter, little payoff, and poor adherence. This particular hue is from the Brightening Nudes collection–ah, lo and behold, press release to save the day when the brand’s website has a poor product description–”Sparkle Eye Shadow is a featherweight formula that instantly lights up eyes with a unique combination of shimmering pearls and glitter in a translucent base. Creamy-soft powder shadow glides on smoothly and clings to lids for crease-free, long-lasting wear. The Brightening Nudes Collection includes four new, beautifully sheer pastel shades in pink, silvery white, grey and soft gold that illuminate eyes with subtle shimmer and shine.”
Silver Moon didn’t have a lot of fall out during application, but I did have residual fall out throughout the day to a noticeable, slightly annoying degree–not the worst offender when it comes to the glitter category, but it didn’t adhere as well as other shades have in the past. The consistency almost feels wet, though it’s definitely a powder, which enables it to apply really smoothly, despite the glitter content. It doesn’t feel too gritty, and it doesn’t have any rough feel when applied to the lid. Though the texture is similar to past Sparkle eyeshadows, the color intensity is not; it is supposed to be sheer and suspended in a translucent base. Honestly, it’s hard to detect any creasing because these are sheer and there’s no color base, just lots of sparkle, so there’s no opaque layer or really distinct area where it is and isn’t.
P.S. — I’m not pleased to see the price tag hiked to $28 and the product amount pulled down to 0.09 oz. — the last time I reviewed a Sparkle eyeshadow, which was about a year and a half ago, it was $24 and 0.13 oz. $28 seems rather close to designer high-end lines like Chanel, Dior, and the like. Most of Bobbi Brown’s eyeshadows retail for $21.
I'm a little miffed at the price tag, which seems rather steep for a Bobbi Brown eyeshadow, and I'm not crazy about the amount of fall out that happens while wearing the product. I would expect at least some minor fall out during application, as is the nature of glitters, but there was less fallout during application than there was during wear!
Product
8.5/10
Pigmentation
9/10
Texture
9/10
Longevity
7/10
Application
4/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
According to Bobbi Brown, the Shimmer Cheek Glow is a gel and powder hybrid, and it’s supposed to give a “just back from vacation glow.” I think the brand should have done a better job describing this product, particularly the texture and the overall effect of the product. It’s very, very sparkly. It’s not really shimmer–the particles are larger than that, and the way it looks against the skin is more like Bobbi Brown’s Sparkle eyeshadows. This feels a little wetter, more gel-like compared to the Sparkle eyeshadows, but I felt like they were comparable. Also, something I noticed while photographing the compact was that the product had separated from the edges, and it will slide around. I’d describe it as shrinkage.
On the skin, I’m not sold. It’s too sheer and ends up giving a sprinkling of sparkles but doesn’t evenly highlight the area. I kept focusing on my cheeks and seeing the attention being drawn to my pores. This–to me–is that disco ball effect that some worry about with shimmery, frosted, and more metallic highlighters. It gives a certain look that does appeal, but I don’t think it’s something I’d reach for regularly; it’s a glistening, almost wet-like sparkle and metallic glow. I love that look on lips, but not so much on cheeks, because I think it emphasizes imperfections on the skin. The sparkle also travels while you wear it, so you may find sparkle on your nose, chin, or even in your mouth. It wore about four and a half hours on me before it seems to have disappeared or traveled elsewhere.
I'm not keen on the short wear time (a mere four and a half hours), amount of traveling ("fall out" in a sense) of the sparkles, and the way it sits and lies on the skin--just seems to emphasize every pore and line on my skin!
Product
7/10
Pigmentation
8/10
Texture
9/10
Longevity
5/10
Application
4/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
Bobbi Brown Pastel High Shimmer Lipgloss ($23.00 for 0.24 fl. oz.) is described as a “soft pink with pink pearl.” It’s exactly as described: it’s a light, sheer pink with neutral undertones with lots of pink shimmer. There are a few silver and gold sparkles there as well, but it seems to reflect mostly the cool pink sparkles. MAC Superflash! is a bit similar though more opaque and has chunky flakes of glitter. YSL Golden Peony has more gold shimmer.
It’s one of the sheerer shades within the range, so it amplifies any natural pink hues in your lip color, but it’s not opaque nor will it add a lot of noticeable color. It has pink gold, and silver sparkle in it, though pink dominates. It can be worn alone without settling into lip lines, and it does make my lips look pinker overall. It can also be used to layer over your favorite lipstick to add glossiness and sparkle without altering the color much. Fans of sheer shades will like this, and those who prefer more opaque shades will be less enamored–I’m in the latter group, so I only need a few sheer glosses.
The High Shimmer Lipgloss formula is a favorite for me. I think at this very moment I have two or three shades in my purse (though I was testing them), but I haven’t bothered to take them out because I’ve been reaching for them even if it’s just to wear after lunch and through coffee (it’s about an hour and a half period where I don’t bother testing lip color, since most products will just transfer onto food/cups). It’s moisturizing, glossy, sparkly, longer-wearing (Pastel wore three and a half hours), and the sparkle doesn’t travel. This formula is non-sticky, not too thick or too thin in texture, and mint-scented.
It's not unique by any means, because it's so sheer. It's not my favorite within the range, as many of the other shades have a lot more shimmer/sparkle! The effect is less pronounced here, though it still catches light exceptionally well.
Product
9.5/10
Pigmentation
9/10
Texture
10/10
Longevity
8/10
Application
4.5/5
Login or Register to be able to add this to your Vanity or Wishlist! Plus rate and review!
Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
