Bobbi Brown Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:00:18 +0000

Bobbi Brown Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette

Bobbi Brown Black Ruby Sparkle Eye Palette ($45.00 for 0.28 oz.) consists of four Sparkle Shadow shades: Pink Rose (pink multi-colored pearl), Crushed Silver (light diamond pearl), Black Ruby (black plum with pearl), and Onyx (plum charcoal with pearl). Onyx is the only shade that isn’t new (and exclusive) to the palette, and the palette itself is limited edition. Sparkle eyeshadows is Bobbi Brown’s take on glitter; it uses shimmer and fine glitter in a creamy, translucent base that is supposed to apply smoothly and never crease or travel. From what I understand, these are not opaque in color but should provide some color punch.

Pink Rose is a semi-sheer light pink with subtle yellow undertones and darker rose and white shimmer and sparkle. It’s similar to Cle de Peau #207 but glittery. Giorgio Armani #8 is less pink.
Crushed Silver is a sheer pale white with iridescent pink and white shimmer and glitter. Chanel Fantasme is whiter.
Black Ruby sheer is a brown-burgundy color base with iridescent pink and plum shimmer and sparkle. I couldn’t think of a shade quite like this one with all the shimmer/glitter it has going on. The base color here is a little dry, though, so it has an uneven look.
Onyx is a gray-mauve brown with silver sparkle. The color actually reminded me of Illamasqua’s Bacterium Nail Varnish, because of the way it shimmers. Urban Decay Bust is somewhat similar but less purple in the shimmer.

These eyeshadows feel almost wet and creamy, but they’re not like a cream. They have a wet-looking finish, because of how high the shine is. While they have a lot less fall out compared to your traditional glitter eyeshadow in powder form, there are still a few stray glittery bits found along the under eye area after eight hours. I don’t find glitter on my nose from it, though! Generally, the color payoff is semi-sheer but can be built up a bit if used wet or patted on.

Bobbi Brown’s formula could be more consistent, because I initially loved these when they first debuted, but I wasn’t impressed by last year’s holiday palette that included these. This year’s holiday palette is much better and more in line with the ones I do like. The palette contains around $51.69 worth of Sparkle Eyeshadows (normally $24 for 0.13 oz.).