Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eye Palette Review, Photos, Swatches
Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eye Palette
Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eye Palette ($52.00 for 0.28 oz.) contains seven eyeshadows with five matte eyeshadows, one Shimmer Wash eyeshadow, and one Sparkle eyeshadow, plus a dual-ended brush all held in a glossy black palette. The matte eyeshadows are nicely pigmented and have a soft, smooth feel to them, though all of them were so soft that they had a tendency to also be somewhat powdery. The two shimmery shades were much less pigmented and had a drier, stiffer texture that made it difficult to pick up color–I really had to jab at the pan to get anything to loosen. Luckily, despite being somewhat powdery, the matte eyeshadows still wore well on the lid–they were not prone to fading as powdery eyeshadows sometimes can be. They lasted well for eight hours with very minor fading along the edges but no creasing. Unfortunately, when two of the seven eyeshadows are disappointing, it may make the whole palette a no-go. If you really love warm neutrals, though, you may still be tempted.
Bone is described as an “off white.” It’s a light beige with a matte finish. It had good color payoff, though the texture was incredibly soft and silky, it was powdery. I highly recommend applying in layers to minimize excess powder fall out. This shade is part of the permanent range. Urban Decay Broken is warmer, more shimmery. theBalm Adagio is similar. Urban Decay Kinky is similar, slightly cooler-toned. Urban Decay Walk of Shame is more beige. MAC Vanilla is slightly warmer. L’Oreal Endless Pearl is yellower. bareMinerals Chance is cooler-toned. Inglot #355 has a slight sheen. See comparison swatches.
Stone is described as a “medium ash brown.” It’s a medium, neutral-toned brown with a matte finish. It had fairly good pigmentation though the texture was slightly powdery but very soft. LORAC Taupe is similar. bareMinerals Get Ahead is cooler-toned. Urban Decay Faint is cooler-toned, darker. MAC Moleskin is lighter. Inglot #342 is slightlyd arker. See comparison swatches.
Frappe is described as a “medium ash beige.” It’s a light-medium brown with soft, yellow-peach undertones and a matte finish. It had decent to good color payoff, but the texture was powdery. MAC Layin’ Low is a cream product, warmer. Inglot #337 is darker, more red-toned. Edward Bess Cosmic Bliss #1 is lighter. MAC Arena is shimmery. See comparison swatches.
Caramel is described as a “silvery brown sparkle.” It’s a silver-sparkled, medium-dark brown with warm, yellow undertones. The color payoff was incredibly disappointing as the product was stiff and dry, so even to get something to show up, I really had to scrape the product out of the pan. The sparkle doesn’t bind with the underlying powder at all, so the end result is a very uneven amount of sparkles. Burberry Pale Nude #1 has no sparkle. Bobbi Brown Praline is more shimmery, less sparkly. See comparison swatches.
Champagne Truffle is described as a “warm pink beige.” It’s a light-medium copper with warm, orange undertones. This was in a previous palette, and it looked much darker and was much more pigmented, so I don’t know why this iteration is so poor in comparison. It was semi-sheer, and the texture was stiff and hard to work with. Disney All Aglow is similar. Disney Wanderin’ Free is lighter. Urban Decay Moonflower is darker. bareMinerals Golden Iris is more golden. See comparison swatches.
Cocoa is described as a “warm ashy brown.” This shade is part of the permanent range. Bobbi Brown Bittersweet is a cream product and slightly shimmery. LORAC Sable is lighter. MAC Swiss Chocolate is yellower. Make Up For Ever #162 is darker, redder in tone. See comparison swatches.
Rich Chocolate is described as a “dark brown.” It’s a deep, dark, burgundy brown with a matte finish. It had really intense color payoff, but like the other mattes, though the powder was soft to the touch, it was powdery. theBalm Matt Batali is cooler-toned. MAC Set to Dance is darker. MAC Graphology is darker, cooler-toned.
MAC Embark is less red-toned. Make Up For Ever #162 is browner. See comparison swatches.
Rich Chocolate
LELimited Edition. $52.00.
Bone
PiPPermanent in Palette. $22.00.
Stone
LELimited Edition. $22.00.
Frappe
LELimited Edition. $22.00.
Caramel
LELimited Edition. $22.00.
Champagne Truffle
LELimited Edition. $21.00.
Cocoa
PiPPermanent in Palette. $22.00.
Rich Chocolate
LELimited Edition. $22.00.
Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eye Palette
Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eye Palette
Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eye Palette
Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eye Palette
Bobbi Brown Bone Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Bone Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Stone Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Stone Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Frappe Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Frappe Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Caramel Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Caramel Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Champagne Truffle Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Champagne Truffle Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Cocoa Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Cocoa Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eyeshadow
Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate Eyeshadow
I LOVE chocolate shades. I must have this! It’s already in my cart on Sephora.ca lol!
Ick! How disappointing! Ah well, it’s not like I REALLY need another brown/neutral palette anyhow! 😛
Thanks for this review. I don’t think any of us needs any more brown eyeshadows, I certainly don’t, so unless the quality was superb I was going to pass, tempted as I am. This helps!
not loving this, the shadows all look very powdery with the glitter shades being the exception because of the lack of pigment.
Yeah, they’re definitely the super soft, finely-milled, but kind of powdery, type mattes. I’d rather have a powdery matte to work with than a dry one, but obviously one that is closer in the middle is ideal 🙂
hi christine! thankyou very much for this review! i was going to buy this but, i really wanted to read your review first. i’m glad that i did. i feel i get almost “trapped” by bobbi’s beautiful imagery and streamlined packaging. i need really good quality neutrals that are effortless and hold up to a 12 hour or more work day. the last time i bought products from bobbi, i gave 1 eyeshadow away and tossed the rest! i never have good luck with her things but, still remain hopeful. could you please recommend some good neutral pallettes. i read your review on tom ford’s she wolf. i’m tempted because i love taupe. i believe i’m about 3 shades or more lighter than you however. looking at collections coming out, i’m not really seeing any great neutrals especially, for fair complexions. i’ve never worn mac and loved the image of the model for the new paint pots collection. any suggestions would be very much appreciated and thankyou for having me same my $$$$. happy sunday! xxxxxxooo to you!
Hi Wendy!
What about the LORAC PRO palette? I know it’s versatile for many skin tones, has lots of neutrals, and it is a mix of matte and shimmer (and they play off of each other, so you can always use the matte version to take down the shimmer to a satin).
thanks christine!! i will definitely check out lorac!!! xxxxxxx
I also second Mariella’s suggestion of the Power Neutrals by bareMinerals. I totally forgot about that one since it’s LE (LORAC is permanent!)!
Wendy, another suggestion for a palette you might want to check out is the Bare Minerals Power Neutrals palette. I’ve had it for about 2 weeks and really love it. BM’s “Ready” shadows (which are their pressed shadows) are such good quality – I find them long-wearing (with primer) and ever so easy to apply. They have a beautiful finish too – mostly mattes and a few with a bit of satiny sheen but no more than that.
thankyou!! i know where i can find this too! i will check this pallette out!! xo.
I hope you will like it too, Wendy. The problem I always have with recommending something with high praise is that the other person may hate it or find it just “so-so”. Christine did a review of the palette a month or 2 back so you could search here to find it and see if it appeals to you.
I actually really like this palette. I have been reaching for it on a daily basis, which is unusual for me. I think the really sparkly shade is supposed to be used as like a “pop” shade. You are supposed to pat it on to the lid. I like to use it as a finishing touch when I want to amp up the look. I take a paddle brush or my finger and just pat it onto my lid.
Lemme just say that from a personal POV, I’m glad this is a somewhat mediocre palette and that the colours I liked best (Caramel and Champagne Truffle) are actually really poor quality and the others quite dupe-able. I have purchased SO many palettes in the past month or 2 that it’s not even funny, so being able to skip this one is probably very good for my mental AND makeup health! For anyone interested, this palette is $60 in Canada.
L.O.V.E.!
I bought this palette myself, and had big, holiday makeup dreams for those shimmer and glimmer shades (Caramel and Champagne Truffle). They swatched great on my arm, but good lord, those shimmers were awful on my eyes – and really, “on” my eyes is a generous statement. That shimmer was everywhere on my face except my eyelid. I do like the mattes in this palette, and I find that many of the matte shades are idea crease colors for everyday looks. However, I think I’m going to have to find some loose shadows if I want to get my chocolate holiday glimmer on!
How do you think this palette would work with darker skin tones, like NC50? I have been wanting to get this but don’t know if it would be pigmented enough or just the right nude look with mattes. Please advise. Thanks!
I think the mattes are pigmented enough, but I think some of the colors will get lost – not enough contrast.
Aw, I had hoped to see an A rating, because it looks like a lovely palette! The colors really appeal to me
This just seems like a revamped ‘Chocolate’ palette that Bobbi released a while back – same ol’ dupable browns that make a big hole in your pocket. The quality needs to be so much better to justify the hefty price tag, IMHO.
This looks nice even though the shimmer shades aren’t great – BB did a chocolate themed palette many years ago, I wonder how close this one is to the old version.
The old version has the shades Bone, Caramel Toffee shimmer wash, Frappe, Champagne
truffle shimmer wash, Cacao shimmer wash, Stone and Chocolate. I thought it seemed familiar so I dug out my palette.
This is a re do of that old chocolate palette. The only difference is the additon of the sparkly caramel shade to replace a light, shimmery gold shade. Also, there was a cocoa shimmer and now there is plain cocoa. I have cocoa though, and the version in the palette is much lighter than the regular one. Its almost identical to the stone. I just got this palette becuase my old chocolate one was getting used up and it was great for travel and everydat neutral looks. I really liked the two light shimmery shades for my lids. However , only one is repeated in the new palette. I love the champagan shimmer shade, but the stone and cocoa are too similar, the rich chocolate is very dark and powdery, and the caramel sparkle looks gorgeous on my hand, but does not show up on my eyes. I think this one is going back. It just doesn’t have the quality that I associate with BB shadow. I also got he warm palete from the holiday collection. The blonde shade in that onel is similar to the stone and cocoa in the rich chocolate palette, and it has a beautiful gold shade and a beautiful shimmery brown shade. I think this will be my neutral palette for the year, although I am quite sick of her ivory and expresso shades. She puts them in every palette and one is too light and one is too dark for me. I wish I could stick to individual shades, but I have no more room in my bathroom and the palettes are so hard to resis! But if I return rich chocolate, I can try the Lorac one, which may meet more of my needs. Thanks everyone for your input! I’ve been a loyal BB fan for a very long time, but I have to become a more fussy consumer.
I’m so sad and disturbed that a lot of the LE powder products seem to be of pretty poor quality lately. I have a palette from around Christmas of last year and think I have a couple of those colors in it (if not the same shades, ones that are very close). The shadows are kind of chalky in the palette that I have. I probably should have returned it. It’s in my drawer where I keep items that I might get around to. I have a bad habit of keeping items that I bought with a gift card, even if they are not amazing. LE or permanent, customers deserve to have nice quality products when they are paying a lot.
I have the same bad habit, Liz – I am unlikely to return unless it’s just HORRRRRRRIBLE! But usually I keep 🙁
I really like this palette, but I wish there was another shimmery shade in it.
I was seriously considering this palette, but now that I see swatches, I know I can pass on it. I love me some brown eyeshadow, but most of these run warm or neutral, and I’ve got plenty of those lying around. (C’mon, cosmetics industry, give me a cool-toned neutral palette. Too Faced can’t be the only brand that thinks we exist! :P)
I could easily wear this palette to death.. However, I have a significant number of these in single form so don’t feel the need to grab this particular palette. I find BB eyeshadows work best over a thin wet base.
Hi Christine! is Rich Chocolate part of the permanent range? I absolutely ADORE it, but I don’t think it grants the purchase of the palette, cuz BB is really expensive in Mexico. Many thanks!
Hi Monica,
It is limited edition – not part of the permanent range!
I have it as a single, so it must have been part of the permanent line at some point. I think BB has shrunken her permanent line of eyeshadows, maybe because she brings out a new palette every few months. I love the fact that you can make your own palette with her pre-make 3 and 6 pans. I just wish I could find 6 shadows ranging from light to dark that worked for me. As others have said, I already own many of her staples like chocolate, sable, taupe, cognac, etc. Its the medium shades I was looking forward to in this palette, those got the worst reviews, and have no dupes within her line.
I bought this b/c I love all things neutral esp from Bobbi. However, 4 or 5 of the colors in this were in a chocolate e/s palette she had out about 6 years ago – which I’m still using – and the matte colors applied really chalky, so I returned it. I did just get the Bobbi & Katie palette and like it heaps more!
What a shame that the quality isn’t there. I’d love to have a palette that isn’t all frost or all matte. Nice mixture here, but I’m less than impressed with the color payoff. I LOVE that last brown. Beautiful! Thanks for saving me some $$, Christine. I so appreciate all your efforts.
Happy to help, Melissa! 😀
Working with matte e/s is not easy for me, but I have to say this one works very well! Suprisingly I love it even more then the Brown Armani Quad I have.
What made it perfect for me – the mattes shades slightly fade but they stay put all day – I am a bit elder then you 🙂 so my skin is drier. I did not expect that to be honest, because right now most e/s turn into a mess on my skin unless they are waterproof. So thumbs up for this one – of course not really usefull if you have another 12 ob brown palettes in your stack 😉 (yes, I have – still love this!).
I’m sooo planning of getting this despite the mixed reviews. I find that girls/women that are a bit older like in their 30’s and over love this palette much more and as I am over 30 and I have started to love matte shadows I will be getting this! They are actually just launching Bobbi Brown in my country so I’m super excited as it means I no longer have to acquire the products while travelling and I can also get my hands on this collection. 🙂
This is one of my favorite BB palettes of all time! I am with you on the umpteen nude/brown palettes from BB…lol and maybe it is an age thing with liking this one.
I prefer cooler browns, so I’ll be passing on this one. Thanks for the review and swatches, Christine! 🙂
Thanks for this review! Very helpful as always 🙂
This is one of my all time favorite palettes from Bobbi Brown! I have them all…lol I do find that asall of her sparkle Shadows are a bit sheer which is by design as they give a lovely glimmer without being overpowering. This palette is very versatile and can go from day to night easily. I prefer this over the smokey warm pallete which is repetitive if you have the Old Hollywood palette. Thanks for the review Christine!
I had a similar color palette in the Living Palette days…say 5 years ago? Seems like a repromote with chocolate theme instead of bone, espresso, cement, etc. USD52 for this? BB products are beyond my wallet tolerance now.