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Tag Archives: bobbi brown
Dollface Reviews: Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Alabaster (Foundation for pale skin)
Some of you may remember me talking about Bobbi Brown’s Long Lasting Foundation last month, and wondering if the ‘Alabaster’ shade might be a good match for my pale skin. Well, this month I decided it was time to stop wondering and find out: the Bobbi Brown corrector I use had reached critical levels, and while I was replacing it, why, a bottle of the Natural Finish Foundation just so happened to slip into my online shopping cart along with it. Fancy that!
It arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I’m just going to answer the critical question right away: YES. It’s a perfect match for my skin. I hardly ever get to say that, so this is kind of a big deal for me. I’d actually been worried that it would be TOO pale: I already use Bobbi Brown concealer/corrector in the shade up from this, which is Porcelain/Porcelain Bisque. It’s very pale as it is, so I wondered if Alabaster might turn out to be one of those pure white shades that are really only useful for editorial looks, or mixing in with existing foundation to lighten it. I needn’t have worried, though, because as I said above, it’s pretty much perfect:
This was really hard to photograph, so apologies for the quality of these swatches. The first one is the “right out of the bottle” product, the second shows – or tries to show – it once it’s been blended in. As you can see (or, er, can’t see), it blends in so well it’s almost indistinguishable from the surrounding skin. What you may or may not also notice from these photos is the yellow undertones. I’d worried a bit about this, too, as my skin is pink toned, but it’s actually worked out really well for me: yellow is great at cancelling out dark shadows under the eyes and other areas of discolouration, so it’s helped with that, while not being yellow enough to make me look sallow.
For the benefit of my pale skinned friends, I did a couple of comparison shots with some of my other foundations:
L-R: Bobbi Brown, Dainty Doll in Ivory, Lancome Renergie Lift Foundation in Porcelain, Revlon ColorStay in 110 Ivory, Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in RF120. (Some of these are swatched here.)
And swatched:
These have all come out a little darker than they are in real life, with the exception of the Dainty Doll, which is pretty true to colour. As you can see, though, this isn’t quite as pale as Dainty Doll but it is paler than the other three, and the difference is much more pronounced in real life. I was actually wearing it in yesterday’s photos , so I won’t bore you with more photos of my face, but if you’ve arrived at this post via a Google search and want to see what it looks like on, you can see it here.
Enough about the colour, though, what about the foundation itself? Well, in that respect, it’s very true to its name: a natural finish. The bottle has a pump dispenser, and when I first used it, I didn’t think I was going to like it, as it’s runnier and lighter than I’m used to: lately I’ve been using my own mixture of Revlon ColorStay combined with Illamasqua 105 (a pure white) to make it pale enough to wear. Those are both heavy duty, thick coverage foundations, and, in comparison, this is more of a medium coverage, although it does layer up nicely. What I noticed as soon as I started to apply it, however, is that it truly does have a natural finish: it basically seems to melt into the skin, so you don’t look like you’re wearing foundation – there’s none of that “caked on” look, and it doesn’t settle into fine lines either. I was really impressed with how natural it looks on, and that, combined with the great colour match has really made a difference to me – I feel like my foundation looks much less like “makeup”, and more like skin, which obviously a big point in this product’s favour.
My one small criticism of this would be that it’s not quite as matte a finish as I usually like. My personal preference is for very matte foundations, and my usual ColorStay/Illamasqua combination really soaks up any excess oil on the t-zone. I don’t normally have to use powder with Revlon, but I have been having to use it with this from time to time, depending on just how shiny my skin decides it wants to be of a morning. This is a small price to pay for such an otherwise fantastic foundation, though: to be honest, I can’t really think of a good reason for me to want to switch from this, although, in the interests of “research” I’ll probably try some of the other foundations from the Bobbi Brown line too, as they all come in this Alabaster shade.
This is £29 at Bobbi Brown. Expensive, yes, but worth every penny for the colour match alone…
Beauty Wish List: Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Alabaster
My foundation supplies are starting to run a little low, so I’ve been looking around for my next purchase, and think I may have found it: Bobbi Brown’s Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation in Alabaster – a shade paler than pale!
This particular shades is actually available across all of Bobbi Brown’s foundations (I picked this one to add to my Wish List because it has a matt finish, and promises to soak up moisture – perfect for my shiny t-zone!), and is the main reason for my interest in this product. I’ve written before about the difficulty of finding foundation pale enough for my skin, but this shade is designed with us palefaces in mind. In fact, my only concern is that it may actually be too pale: I have a Bobbi Brown concealer in Porcelain, which is the next shade up (and used to be the palest Bobbi Brown offered. It’s actually about to run out too. Why must all of my products choose to die simultaneously?), and it’s very pale itself, so I’m both very impressed that the brand has thought to release a shade even paler than that, and a little worried that it might be pure white!
I don’t have a Bobbi Brown counter near me, unfortunately, so it may take me a bit of time to get round to testing this. Anyone else tried it and care to give me your opinion?
(Click here to buy it for £29)
Bobbi Brown Exclusive Deluxe Beauty Trunk
Every year at this time, I look forward with much excitement to the arrival of Bobbi Brown’s annual deluxe beauty trunk. Not the literal arrival, you understand: that’s an “only in my dreams” kind of thing, and I don’t think I’ve been nearly good enough this year to expect something like this under the tree. I do enjoy admiring it from afar, though, and imagining the sheer joy of unpacking such a treasure-trove of beauty products from one of my favourite brands.
This year’s trunk is black and shiny, with an opulent red interior:
Inside, meanwhile, you’ll find this little lot:
- Instant Long-Wear Makeup Remover
- Hydrating Eye Cream
- Hydrating Face Cream
- Protective Face Lotion SPF 15
- Natural Creamy Concealer Kit
- Red Lip Color
- Crystal Lip Gloss
- Pale Pink Blush
- Pink Truffle Pot Rouge
- Medium Bronzing Powder
- Pink Quartz Shimmerbrick
- Ivory Eyeshadow
- Velvet Plum Metallic Eye Shadow
- Bone Long-Wear Cream Shadow
- Denim Ink Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner
- Black Ink Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner
- Black Extreme Party Mascara
- Ultra Fine Eye Liner Brush
- Eye Shadow Brush
- Face Blender Brush
- Bronzer Brush
- Cream Shadow Brush
The downside, of course, is that it costs $1,000, which is why it’s destined never to be mine. If it IS destined to be yours, though, you can click here to buy it.
Bobbi Brown’s ‘Pretty Powerful’ campaign uses “real” women rather than models
The phrase “real women” is one that’s bandied about a lot at the moment in the world of fashion, with an increasing number of magazines choosing to use non-models for their shoots, in the belief that readers will find them easier to relate to.
Bobbi Brown has used a similar approach for her latest campaign, which is called “Pretty Powerful” and which also uses “real” women as opposed to professional models. Bobbi says:
“Pretty Powerful symbolizes my belief that all women possess natural beauty, and with the right tools, are empowered to a higher level of pretty: Pretty Powerful. After so many years of seeing similar ‘cookie-cutter’ beauty and fashion images in the media, I do hope that we will start to see a cultural shift towards a more realistic potential for all women.”
I will admit to having some issues with the phrase “real women” as it’s currently used in fashion magazines, where “real” is often just synonymous with “curvy”, and fails to acknowledge that women come in ALL shapes and sizes, but I do love the idea expressed here that we can ALL feel beautiful, and find something to celebrate about ourselves, regardless of our age, size or perceived flaws.
There are some more images from the campaign under the jump. What do you think?
Bobbi Brown’s new Makeup Facelift collection
Makeup that makes you look like you’ve had a facelift? Sold, to the Dollface whose birthday is coming up quicker than she’d like, and whose can’t afford Botox…
Bobbi Brown’s latest collection contains everything you need to make you look like you just had a solid 12-hours worth of sleep, aparently. OK, so that’s not quite the same thing as a “facelift”, but it sounds pretty darn good to me anyway, and as well as the cosmetics shown above, there’s also a new eye cream
Extra Eye Repair Cream – £35
Designed to target wrinkles, dark circles and puff iness, this can be used both morning and night.
Tinted Eye Brightener – £22
Bobbi’s Tinted Eye Brightener, now in a portable pen format, and available in 8 different shades.
New Brow Pencils – £13.50
Creamy pencils in five shades, each with their own sharpner.
Brightening Lip Gloss – £14
Introducing two new shades of Brightening Lip Gloss, the sheer, reflective formula wakes up your face and helps create the illusion of fuller lips.
These are all available now from Bobbi Brown.
Dollface Reviews: Bobbi Brown creamy concealer kit and under-eye corrector
I mentioned a while back that I’d made only two beauty purchases during my December holiday, and it’s a good job I DID only buy two things, because although these two items are small, they’re not exactly cheap, and by “not exactly” I mean “not at all, really.”
In fact, let’s just get the bad news out of the way first: the Corrector (right) is £16.50. The Creamy Concealer Kit is £23. Just under £40 for the two, then, but it was a price I was willing to pay because these two items promised to cover up my under-eye shadows, and by that point I’d probably have sold one of my limbs for that.
The dark shadows under my eyes are currently the absolute bane of my life. They’re caused purely by lack of sleep: if I get enough of it, they disappear, but when I don’t, it shows all over my face – or under my eyes at least. The two products you see above are designed to send the bags packing (Sorry!), and they’re designed to be used together, although you can, of course, use them separately if you wish (or if your shadows aren’t quite as stubborn as mine).
On the left of the image, then, we have the creamy concealer kit, which is actually two products in one jar. On top, the creamy concealer that gives the product its name; on the bottom, a loose powder which goes over the top to set the makeup. For those with very dark shadows, meanwhile, the product on the right of the image is used as a base, to neutralize the shadows before the concealer goes on top.
So, how well do they work?
Bobbi Brown Exclusive Black Plum Beauty Trunk
OK, so it costs $1,000. There is that. But let’s just imagine for a moment that Father Christmas shops at Neiman Marcus, and money is no object. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to wake up on Christmas morning to this much makeup, all presented in a fabulous case? Imagine the fun you’d have going through it all and trying it on!
I’m not going to list everything you get with this, but you can read the full details at the Neiman Marcus website, and order it too, if you happen to have a spare $1,o00 you don’t know what to do with.
Bobbi Brown ‘Eyes & Cheeks To Go’ set
The Korres Lip Scrub I featured earlier today may be easy enough to use “on the go”, but eye shadow? Not really something I’d ever want to apply while I was out and about to be honest: I much prefer to apply that kind of thing in the safety of my own own, where it’s easily washed off if I make a mess (which I almost always do), but the fact that I wouldn’t necessarily use this palette “on the go” doesn’t stop me wanting it, and nor does the fact that I’m not generally a fan of palettes.
This one, though, looks like it contains some really useful colours, and ones that most people would probably get a lot of use out of: there are all of the classic “smoky eye” shadow colours, some lovely nudes and browns, plus Bobbi Brown’s Pot Rogue, which is a creamy stain for the cheeks and lips. (So maybe this should have been called the “Eyes, Cheeks and Lips to Go” set, even although that’s not quite as snappy?) As I said, some very useful products there, and this would be perfect if you were travelling and wanted to have a lot of choice, without having to cart around a whole lot of makeup.
Bobbi Brown Eyes and Cheeks to Go Set, $60< Nordstrom
Bobbi Brown Lip Crayon: lipstick in a pencil
Not a lip liner, as I’d first assumed, these are actually a lipstick-like formula, in a pencil form. Sounds like a great idea to me: I’m forever using lip-liners as lipstick (the colours always seem to suit be better, and the application is much more precise), but because they’re not designed to be worn that way, they tend to be very drying.
These Bobbi Brown Lip Crayons ARE designed to be worn over the full lip, so should feel much more comfortable, and each one comes with its own sharpener which is also good news if, like me, you’re prone to losing these things.
All I’d ask would be a wider selection of colours: at the moment there’s only six to choose from, but if one of those six works for you, you can buy these at Neiman Marcus, where they’re $22.
Bobbi Brown Brush Cleaning Spray for clean cosmetic brushes
How often do you clean your makeup brushes?
Let me be the first to answer that with "Not nearly as often as I should." Ahem.
When I do clean them, though, I generally just use good ol' soap and water, which gets the brushes clean, but does mean that they end up lying around the bathroom for hours drying off.
This Brush Cleaning Spray from Bobbi Brown is quick drying and easy to use, and while it's not supposed to be a substitute for a proper "shampoo", it should keep things looking and feeling fresh. Or so they say, anyway. What do people think about things like this? Do you think a special cleaner for your makeup brushes is necessary, or do soap and water do the job?
BUY: Bobbi Brown brush cleaning spray, $22
