Summer makeup is a tricky realm to maneuver. Sure, it's the season of golden skin, so a great bronzer is essential, but even that feat can prove Herculean as we wonder whether to opt for a golden brown, rose copper or deep bronze shade; whether to invest in a high shimmer or baked, matte option; and whether to consider a powder or cream pigment. Eye shadow options are even trickier since, in the sweltering heat, most powder pigments tend to drip, drip, drip down to the floor and cream colors crease and run leaving your visage looking like the streaked pigments on Van Gogh's "Scream" painting. Fortunately, the new Bobbi Brown Beach Club collection makes navigating the summer beauty milieu smooth sailing.
The collection includes: a limited-edition Beach Shimmer Brick compact, featuring five bars of sunny colors in varying intensities which can be used individually or swept together to create a rosy gold glow; four new shades of Metallic Long-Wear Cream Shadow, ranging from an opalescent white to a shimmering pastel blue hue; and a new matte shade of Long-Wear Cream shadow, Shore, which is a subtle, flesh-toned hue.
Below, you'll find details on all the products in the collection, as well as swatches of some of the colors and photos of what they look like on!
METALLIC LONG-WEAR CREAM SHADOWS
In keeping with the current metallic craze, Bobbi Brown released four new shades of her Metallic Long-Last Cream Shadow s part of this collection: Surf, a pale Robin's Egg blue packed with shimmer; Opal, a practically sheer pale pink saturated with white and pink glitter particles; Moonstone, a pale, almost olive-like green with a vintage gold finish; and Pink Oyster, a light cherry blossom pink with a lustrous finish. Like all of BB's Metallic Long-Last Cream Shadows, these stay in place throughout the day and are remarkably crease-proof (which is beyond hard to find!).
Though it's probably the least intriguing of the new shades, I had the chance to check out the Opal cream shadow and was a bit perplexed by it. The color is extremely sheer so that all you'll detect when you apply it is the sparkling pink and white glitter particles in the formula. If you're fair-to-medium on the skin tone spectrum, the color probably won't look quite right unless it's worn atop a more vibrant matte shade (it washed me out completely!). Then again, I'll admit I'm much fonder of brighter, more nuanced hues so I probably would've been way more satisfied with one of the other three shades. That being said, when the Opal color is worn along a vibrant matte cream shadow shade, it adds the necessary spunk and sparkle to your look.
Check out the Opal shade below (at top):
Here's the Opal shade again (below, right):
Here's what the Opal shade looks like on eyes (without any base color):
Bobbi Brown Metallic Long-Wear Cream Shadows, $22 each. Available at BobbiBrownCosmetics.com
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LONG-WEAR CREAM SHADOW
Bobbi Brown just added a new matte cream eye shadow to her stable: Shore, a pale nude with yellow-ish brown tones. I absolutely love this cream shadow — it lasts all day long (even when it's 90-something degrees outside), won't crease or smear, and will add just a wash of color to lids. If I'm having a really laid-back day (maybe going to the beach or taking my little boy to the playground), it's the perfect eye makeup since it's understated but still livens up my face and removes any oily shine on my lids. And, if I want a more dramatic look, I can always use this as this color as the base, building upon it and layering on the desired color.
Check out what the Shore Long-Wear Cream Shadow looks like on skin (at bottom, below the Opal shade):
Here's what the Shore Long-Wear Cream Shadow looks like on eyes:
Bobbi Brown Shore Long-Wearing Cream Shadow,$22. Available at BobbiBrownCosmetics.com
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BEACH SHIMMER BRICK
The new Beach Shimmer Brick compact is a brickhouse! The compact features five strips of color that range from a pale champagne gold to a slightly more intense rose gold and work all the way up to a deep mauve bronze. The five shades can be worn individually (I love using them on lids to brighten up the face) or blended together and brushed on cheeks, forehead, decolletage, and more.
Even when you blend the colors together, you can choose whether to swirl your brush along the top of the compact, which features lighter shades, or gravitate towards the lower extremity for a deeper tint. That way, you can choose between a nice flush or a deeper tan. The amount of shimmer, meanwhile, manages to add a sultry sparkle without ever venturing into over-the-top, rave-ready territory.
Here is another photo of the strips in the Beach Shimmer Brick, swatched one by one:
Want to see what the shades look like blended? Check out these photos:
Lastly, here are some photos of me wearing the Beach Shimmer Brick color on my cheeks and all over my face, as well as the Shore Long-Wear Cream Shadow on my lids:
Bobbi Brown Beach Shimmer Brick, $38. Available at BobbiBrownCosmetics.com
