Bobbi Brown 5-in-1 Essential Face Palette - Review and Swatches

I'm always on the lookout for perfect combination products, and I recently picked up what seems to be a holy grail palette for travel - the Bobbi Brown 5-in-1 Essential Face Palette. It has every base product you could need to create a flawless canvas! The palette is a Nordstrom exclusive, and it just launched online and in stores for $65 (a $135 value). A bargain for what you get, if you ask me. 

 This baby includes the following Bobbi Brown products:

• Corrector

• Creamy Concealer

• Skin Foundation Stick

• Sheer Finish Pressed Powder

• Bronzing Powder

The description on the Nordstrom website reads:

'Great for travel and touch-ups, this coordinated, five-in-one face palette contains all the products you need to perfect the look of your skin. Bobbi's Corrector brightens and neutralizes undereye discoloration, while her Creamy Concealer lightens and evens out the skin tone beneath your eyes. Skin Foundation Stick provides a seamless, natural, skin-like finish; Sheer Finish Pressed Powder sets makeup for all-day wear; and Bronzing Powder provides a touch of flattering warmth.'

This is offered in nine shades - 01 Porcelain, 02 Warm Ivory, 03 Sand, 04 Beige, 05 Warm Beige, 06 Natural, 07 Natural Tan, 08 Honey, and 10 Warm Almond. The shade refers to the stick foundation included in the palette, and the corrector and concealer vary to match. If you're familiar with Bobbi Brown's foundation range, you'll note that these shades are universal across the line between her stick foundation and liquid makeup. 

See below for my experience, swatches and pictures!

Packaging:

I was matched in-store to 04 Beige, and I'm testing out the color match currently - I feel like it pulls way too yellow on me, as you can see below in the pictures.

I've worn 06 Natural in the Skin Foundation before, but that tends to be a bit more sheer so the color selection is more forgiving than an opaquely pigmented product like this stick foundation. I will probably end up exchanging for a different shade, but I can tell that the quality of the palette is stellar!

Inside the box:

The box includes a step-by-step instruction card for 'How To Get Perfect Skin', along with a handy diagram of where each product is in the palette. 

Inside of palette and swatches:

Top row, left to right: Light Bisque Corrector, Beige Creamy Concealer, Beige Skin Foundation Stick
Bottom row, left to right: Sheer Finish Pressed Powder, Bronzing Powder

My palette is in shade 04 Beige, which includes these shades: Light Bisque Corrector, Beige Creamy Concealer and Beige Skin Foundation Stick

Left to right: Beige Skin Foundation Stick, Light Bisque Corrector, Beige Creamy Concealer, Sheer Finish Pressed Powder, Bronzing Powder

Left to right: Beige Skin Foundation Stick, Light Bisque Corrector, Beige Creamy Concealer, Sheer Finish Pressed Powder, Bronzing Powder

 Before and after pictures:

No makeup, indoors

Bobbi Brown 5-in-1 Essential Palette on left side, bare face on right

Outdoor, indirect light; wearing palette on left side

Outdoor, indirect light; wearing palette on left side, no makeup on right side

Final impressions - 

I really liked this palette in terms of functionality. The products are great quality and I found them to be good, easy staples for a quick flawless face routine. I do not believe that this is a good shade match for me, but I'll be exchanging because I'm in love with this overall!

One note - I have skin on the drier side, and I noticed that I really needed to moisturize and prime with a hydrating formula to give this the glowy finish I prefer and to minimize caking. I would be aware of that if you have similar skin!

Also, a cool feature of the palette is that all pans are removable - they click into place, so theoretically you could switch out as necessary!

Overall, I am a big fan, and I think this is a great investment if you can find a good shade match. 

What do you think of Bobbi Brown's new face palette? Let me know!

- Taylor

Summer Liquid Lipstick Bouquet - Swatches and Pictures

We've been having the sorts of days here in Texas that make me want to throw my face up to the sun and twirl in circles - gorgeous, bright. Hot as well, but I'm going to stay positive here.

In keeping with the beautiful days and shades of summer, I've been experimenting with all sorts of brights. In keeping with the hundred degree weather, I've been experimenting with long lasting liquid lipstick formulas. 

I'm calling my experiments successful! Just as walking in to a house and seeing a bouquet of flowers lifts my mood immeasurably, so does slicking on a pop of vibrant pink or coral before heading out about my day. 

See below for swatches and pictures of some of my favorite picks from my summer lipstick bouquet!

From left to right:

1. Smashbox Always On Liquid Lipstick in Blast Off - bright pink coral

2. NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in San Paulo - plummy pink

3. Maybelline Vivid Matte Liquid in Berry Boost - bright berry magenta

4. Stila Stay All Day® Liquid Lipstick in Fiore - hot pink

5. Bobbi Brown Art Stick Liquid Lip in Uber Red - bright blue red

From left to right:

6. Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick in Marvelous Mauve - true mauve

7. Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lovesick - mauve nude

8. Sephora Collection Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick in Blackberry Sorbet - deep berry

9. Bobbi Brown Art Stick Liquid Lip in English Rose - midtone rose

10. Stila Stay All Day® Liquid Lipstick in Patina - dusty rose

Swatches (direct sunlight) -

On lips (indirect sunlight) - 

My favorite pick for summer!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my summer roundup of bright and beautiful liquid lipsticks! What shades have you been experimenting with? Let me know in the comments!

- Taylor

The Wishlist - Eight New Beauty Launches To Try

1. Milk Makeup Blur Liquid Matte Foundation - $40 for 1 oz

From the brand: 'Blur’s got you covered. From blurring pores and fine lines to providing weightless full coverage, Blur Liquid Matte Foundation does it all. It’s vegan, oil-free, and silicone-free, and glides right onto skin with the Dab + Blend Applicator for a smooth, matte finish that looks and feels as light as air. Plus, it features airless, no-drip packaging to minimize air exposure and eliminate spills — allowing your foundation to stay fresh, the color stay true, and all of it to stay put. As always, this product is cruelty-free.'

This foundation looks creamy and amazing in the pictures I've seen. I have high hopes that this will work for my dry skin despite being a matte finish due to the lightweight texture. Already available online and just arrived at my local Sephora - if it isn't at yours yet, keep an eye out, it should be there soon!


2. First Aid Beauty Hello FAB Tripe Protection Skin Ting with Goji Berry - $34 for 1 oz

From the brand: 'This weightless complexion fluid instantly adds natural looking color to help even skin tone, conceal imperfections and create a flawless look, while helping protect against the harmful effects of the sun and urban pollution. The superfood-powered formulation includes antioxidant-rich ingredients, including Goji Berry, Astaxanthin and Vitamin C to help shield skin from environmental aggressors, along with anti-pollution active ingredient, Alteromonas Ferment Extract. Pure mineral Zinc Oxide helps filter out harmful UVA and UVB rays and helps protect skin from photo-aging.'

This reminds me of my absolute holy grail summer foundation/tinted moisturizer, Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue - heavy on the skincare ingredients, light and soothing in texture. I'm looking forward to seeing how the coverage compares - new foundation roundup will featured shortly.


3. Bobbi Brown Essential 5-in-1 Face Palette - $65 (Nordstrom exclusive)

From the brand: 'Great for travel and touch-ups, this coordinated, five-in-one face palette contains all the products you need to perfect the look of your skin. Bobbi's Corrector brightens and neutralizes undereye discoloration, while her Creamy Concealer lightens and evens out the skin tone beneath your eyes. Skin Foundation Stick provides a seamless, natural, skin-like finish; Sheer Finish Pressed Powder sets makeup for all-day wear; and Bronzing Powder provides a touch of flattering warmth.'

This looks like the most perfect set for travel I've seen in a while! Bobbi Brown's cult classic face makeup options rolled into one palette - corrector/concealer (I can personally vouch for both), foundation stick (have not tried this specific formulation but the colors are excellent), pressed powder (have tried and love for a non-cakey finish), and bronzing powder (not too warm or too grey, a happy medium that will suit most people). I usually end up packing way too many individual products to achieve a finished face when traveling, so I will definitely be picking this up. Another palette for the win!


4. Nars Powermatte Lip Pigment - $26 for .18 oz

From the brand: 'Potency and precision—the new power couple. An innovative concentrate of our most powerful matte yet. Fluid Pigment Complex, liquefied pigment with a zero-gravity feel, introduces infinite matte color saturation with ultra-flexible long-wear. Sensorial, lightweight texture that applies like an ink on lips. Dries down to lock in formula for a smudge-resistant, carefree wear. Matte. Empowered. 20 lip-sealing mattes.'

I tried this on in the shade American Woman and swatched a few of the other shades recently. The wear is very comfortable and not at all drying, and for the most part the colors in the range are fairly everyday shades with a few standout brights/darks. American Woman is a great everyday neutral for me, I would recommend! I will be adding a few of these to my collection.


5. Clinique Pop Lip Shadow Cushion Matte Lip Powder - $19.50 for .04 oz

From the brand: 'Clinique Pop™ Lip Shadow is a weightless matte powder that delivers bold, highly pigmented lip color.'

Although I haven't seen this in person yet, this looks very promising - I've been chasing that super matte but not drying look all summer, and you can't get more matte than a powder! An intriguing concept for the lips. I'll be picking this product up soon and doing an in-depth review.


6. Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Liquified Lipstick - $24 for .25 oz

From the brand: 'The liquid lip gets redefined with this handcrafted, moisture-rich, high-pigment formula. Bite Beauty’s most nourishing lipstick, Amuse Bouche, gets liquified, while offering rich, high-impact color and a creamy, comfortable application that glides on with unprecedented precision. Created by hand in small batches, Amuse Bouche Liquified Lipstick is made with natural monoi butter and coconut oil, which melts at the temperature of your lips to glide on for ultimate wear and a satiny finish. With 12 modern, wearable shades you’ve never seen from Bite Beauty, this collection gives everyday lip color an unexpected twist.'

Bite Beauty has always been very reliable for me. I love the concept (lipstick with ingredients safe enough for consumption), and the colors are just beautiful. The shade range here is smaller than their regular Amuse Bouche lipstick line, and mostly come in neutrals it seems. This isn't a launch that I feel I must run out and immediately grab, but I have a feeling I'll end up with at least one of these babies in my bag.


7. Farmacy Honey Drop Lightweight Moisturizer with Echinacea - $45 for 1.7 oz

From the brand: 'Designed to promote a vibrant, glowing complexion, Honey Drop delivers powerful antioxidants to help nourish the skin and glides on effortlessly to create a smooth, hydrated finish. A long lasting, lightweight moisturizer combining Echinacea GreenEnvy™ Honey, Triple Hyaluronic Acid Complex and Cupuacu Butter Beads.'

I'm excited to check this new moisturizer out purely because of my love for Farmacy's Honey Potion Renewing Antioxidant Hydration Mask - I've seen what they can do with honey in skincare, and I'm all in. Bring on the glow.


8. Fresh Vitamin Nectar Moisture Glow Face Cream - $42 for 1.6 oz

From the brand: 'Vitamin Nectar Moisture Glow Face Cream with a vitamin fruit complex is a revitalizing universal moisturizer that awakens skin for an incredibly vibrant, healthy-looking glow. The lightweight formula with an effervescent citrus scent helps to soften, smooth, and minimize signs of tired skin, so skin feels invigorated and recharged.'

More glow! Always more glow! As with the Farmacy launch, I was drawn to this through the gateway drug that is Fresh's Vitamin Nectar Vibrancy-Boosting Face Mask. I like using the mask before an event for a hydrated, even-toned canvas for makeup; stands to reason that using the moisturizer as well would only improve the situation! Very excited to try this out.




This concludes my current wishlist, although I add more products to it every single day (it's a real problem). Let me know of any upcoming launches you're excited for, and if you've tried any of these products already!

- Taylor