Bobbi Brown Holiday: Crystal Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette ($45.00 for 0.20 oz.) is a newly released, limited edition holiday palette featuring four shades of eyeshadow:  Amethyst (deep violet), Diamond (light purple silver), Star (white silver), and Peacock (aqua green).

• Amethyst is a deep reddened violet with soft sheen. It has a metallic finish. It had an incredibly soft, smooth texture, and it applied very opaquely.
• Diamond is a purple-tinged silvery white with a frosted shimmer sheen. It has a shimmer wash finish. Like Amethyst, it was very smooth and packed a good amount of pigment.
• Star is a semi-sheer silvery white–it is more white than silver. It has a sparkle finish. Though it has a glittery finish, it is still quite smooth, and I didn’t experience any fall out.
• Peacock is a pop of aqua-green teal with flashes of green-gold shimmer-sheen. It has a metallic finish. It was pretty smooth, but a touch powdery. The pigmentation level was good but not as nice as Amethyst.

When it comes to value, it’s a wash–you get almost what you would expect based on a price/ounce comparison against full-sized, individual shades, but you do get to have four different shades for the price of about two individual shades. Bobbi Brown’s Metallic Eyeshadows go for $20.00 for 0.10 oz., Sparkle Eyeshadows for $24.00 for 0.13 oz., and Shimmer Wash Eyeshadows for $20.00 for 0.08 oz. This palette contains 0.20 oz. in total, but it’s not broken down per shade, so we’ll just assume it’s 0.05 oz. each. You’re getting $20.00 worth of Metallic Eyeshadows, $9.23 worth of Sparkle Eyeshadow, and $12.50 worth of Shimmer Wash Eyeshadow, for a total of $41.73–plus a miniaturized bristle-based brush.

I’m much more impressed by this palette than I was the Beauty Rules Palette.  The consistency of these eyeshadows is soft, smooth, and almost buttery with good pigmentation in nearly all four.  I also think these work together to create wintry cool-toned looks.  I would also like to give props to Bobbi Brown for including a real eyeshadow brush that’s usable!

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• Product: 28/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: I think it’s definitely a worthy item for your holiday wish list — especially if you like the texture and quality of Bobbi Brown’s eyeshadows but have always wanted a little more zip in the color department.

AVAILABILITY: Bobbi Brown

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Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette: Amethyst, Diamond, Star, Peacock

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette: Amethyst, Diamond

Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette: Star, Peacock

I really wanted to use Bobbi Brown’s Pewter Chrome Eyeshadow, and I figured I might as well incorporate her Earth Metal Palette, too… so, I did! Let me tell you one thing about pewter-colored eyeshadow: it can be difficult figuring out how to pair cheeks and lips with it!

You will need the following…

• Eyes: MAC Soft Ochre paint pot (neutral beige base), Bobbi Brown Pewter Chrome Eyeshadow (pewter shimmer), Bobbi Brown Autumn Eyeshadow (light greenish gold), Bobbi Brown Antique Gold Eyeshadow (coppery bronze), Bobbi Brown Earth Metal Eyeshadow (plummy brown), Bobbi Brown Sunset Gold Eyeshadow (melon-gold), L’Oreal HIP Silver Lightning Chrome Eyeliner (silver), L’Oreal HIP Black Shock Chrome Eyeliner (black), MAC Zoom Fast Black Lash Mascara (black)
• Face: Guerlain Parure Gold Foundation
• Cheeks: MAC Stark Naked blush (plum-berry)
• Lips: Chanel Santal Rouge Allure Laque (peachy), Guerlain Rubis Rose KissKiss Gloss (brownish plum)
• Brushes: 266 (firm, angled brush), 226 (fluffy crease brush), 219 (pointed crease brush), 214 (smudge brush), 249 (flat, firm brush), 239 (fluffy shadow brush), 129 (dense blush brush)

Directions: Define brows using a coordinating powder shadow applied with the 266 brush. Apply Soft Ochre paint pot all over the lid as the base with the 249. With the 239, apply Bobbi Brown Pewter eyeshadow on the inner half of the lid. Apply Bobbi Brown Autumn eyeshadow to the middle portion of the lid. On the outer third of the lid, layer on Bobbi Brown Antique Gold eyeshadow with the 239. Darken crease with Bobbi Brown Earth Metal eyeshadow using the 226. Sweep Bobbi Brown Sunset Gold eyeshadow underneath the brow bone to highlight. Finish with L’Oreal HIP Silver Lightning and Black Shock Liner (layer on Silver Lightning first, then smudge Black Shock on top) on lower lash line.  Finally, smudge Bobbi Brown Pewter eyeshadow on the lower lash line with the 219.  Apply a few coats of MAC Zoom Fast Black Lash mascara on lashes. Sweep apples of cheeks with MAC Stark Naked blush using the 129, then buff out color with the 182. Apply Chanel Santal Rouge Allure Laque to lips, and then top with Guerlain Rubis Rose KissKiss Gloss for color and shine.

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