A key trend in beauty worldwide right now, is glow. Skin is beautifully highlighted, and luminous, without glitter – but a perfect glow to the skin. New makeup that achieves this perfectly is the Illuminating Nudes Collection from Bobbi Brown, including the CC Cream, Brightening Brick, and Long-Wear Gel Sparkle Eyeshadow.
Each product in this collection – from a brand well known for its clean, natural faces – is formulated to deliver a lifted and illuminated complexion. Rather than a heavily made up face with a bright lip, this is all about flawless skin, defined eyebrows and a natural lip with a hint of shine. Eyes are the area that carry the sparkle and give the face a lift.
Did you know you can get free mini makeup lessons at Bobbi Brown counters? There are loads of topics – I did an eyes lesson before I had a party to go out to so I looked pretty – and you can drop by or book by phone at the counters.
Pictured above: I’m wearing this today on my lids, blended up to the crease line. The Long Wear Gel Sparkle Shadow + Liner in 05 Smokey Topaz is a 4g pot of lidded solid gel eyeshadow you use a liner brush to apply. You can do a thick line and use it as a liner along the lash line, or apply as a wash of shimmery eyeshadow as a base lid colour. Smokey Topaz is a fawn grey-brown shade with high shine.
Pictured below: A swatch of Long Wear Gel Sparkle Shadow + Liner in 05 Smokey Topaz. Either side of the eye-gel sparkle, are shades from the Brightening Brick palette. You can see how much more sparkly the eye gel is than the Brightening Brick.
CC Cream SPF35 ($75) is a beauty balm with the added benefits of a colour corrector and treatment for the skin. The light tinted cream blurs slight imperfections, illuminates skin, and colour-corrects, while the SPF35 protects from UVA/UVB sun damage. I found it very sheer coverage so I would still use a foundation or tinted moisturiser over the top for added coverage. I think it’s strength was in illuminating skin as it added a lovely luminosity, and also I was impressed with its high SPF factor of 35 as many only go up to 15 or 20.
Pictured below: Here’s the CC Cream swatched in Blushed Nude. It has a very pink undertone, as opposed to a yellow tone. The CC Cream comes in five shades, from light to dark: pale nude, blushed nude, warm nude, golden nude, and rich nude.
Brightening Brick powder is a brand new addition to the Bobbi Brown line of popular bricks – we all know and love their Shimmer Brick and this new product combines bronzer, blusher, and highlighter colours in one. It retails for $105 and comes in six shades: pink, coral, pastel peach, tawny, pastel pink, and cranberry. Pro: it is exceptionally creamy in texture which is lovely to blend. Con: it is quite sheer so if you want a light colour this is ideal, but if you are used to a stronger hit of pigmentation on your brush, you will find this pretty sheer. I think though the Bobbi Brown customer is usually after a subtler, natural look, rather than disco ball!
Words and photography by Megan Robinson
12th February 2015
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