Hi everyone! Today I’m reviewing the New York pieces from the Bobbi Brown City Collection for you. This limited edition collection is in collaboration with illustrator Richard Haines who has designed the beautiful packaging of the palettes. The collection is divided into 3 sections, one for each of Bobbi’s favorite cities – New York, London and Paris. There are 3 eye/cheek palettes, 3 limited edition shades of Luxe lipsticks and 3 limited edition shades of gel eye liners in the collection, one inspired by the colors and vibe of each city. I received the pieces from the New York collection for review and I’ve been loving using these these past few weeks! Here’s a closer look at the New York collection.
Firstly, lets talk about the packaging. The palette is beautiful and I love the illustration. The ever present yellow taxi cab and the chic New York woman in her all black attire is very iconic and distinctly New York. The palette has 2 sections, one the top we have an eye shadow quartet and the bottom section that slides out houses a blush. The lipstick comes in the regular Luxe Lip Color packaging – all classy and luxurious in black and gold. While the gel liner has a limited edition debossed golden cap instead of the regular black. In terms of looks, it looks luxurious and something I would want to have in my collection for a long time.
The New York palette contains a very balanced neutral mix of colors. The eye shadows in the palette are Cream (pale matte beige), Champagne Quartz Metallic (pearly champagne), Birch (matte taup-y medium brown) and Espresso (matte blackish grey). The blush in the palette is Tawny, a deep matte rose color. The overall color scheme is very modern, just like the cool New York woman. The palette is very wearable and you can do subtle day eyes or an effortless smoky eye with this. I love the mostly-matte theme of this palette. Except for the shade Cream, which applied a little sheer on my skin, all the shades have a buttery smooth texture, great color pay off and blend like a dream. Easily one of the best and most workable matte colors I’ve tried! The shades stay around 6 hours or so on my lids without a primer.
The blush has a very blendable texture, it feels silky smooth and you need to just barely graze the surface to get enough color on the cheeks. Matte blushes can be a little difficult to blend sometimes but this almost feels creamy in the way it just melts into the skin. The color is quite long lasting as well and it out did the eye shadows in the wear department. On my cheeks, it stays around 8-9 hours with little fading and would probably stay longer if I didn’t remove my makeup.
Even though all these shades are available separately in the permanent range, one can’t deny the convenience of having them together in a palette! And the packaging is quite lovely as well, which makes this a collectible item. The palette is priced at Rs 5200.
The Long Wear Gel Liner in shade Dark Chocolate Ink is a deep, almost black, brown which adds a nice definition without the starkness of black. Being a big fan of brown liners for everyday wear, I absolutely loved this! My first gel liner from Bobbi Brown was Caviar Ink which is similar to this, just a little greyer. I forgot to swatch this on my arm by I am wearing this in the looks below so you can see how it looks. The formula is creamy, pigmented and long lasting, just as Bobbi Brown liners always are. Price : Rs 1950.
The lipstick in this range, named after the creator herself, is a nude rosy pink which is very wearable and works with all looks. The Luxe Lip Color is the most hydrating lipstick formula I’ve used, and I have tried a TON of lipsticks in my nearly 6 years of beauty blogging. This is a treatment-infused formula, feels very rich and creamy on the lips and works like a charm on dry lips. Highly recommend this to ladies with dry lips! The wear time of this lipstick, being a nude shade and quite creamy in texture, is not super impressive though, and it stays about 3 hours on me. The lipstick is priced at Rs 3250.
This is a quick day look I created using the palette. I’m wearing a very light wash of Champagne Quartz eye shadow all over the lid, sheered down considerably so that its subtle and daytime-appropriate. I used Birch to define the outer corner and crease and Dark Chocolate Ink liner along the upper lash lines. I finished the look using the Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara which defines and plumps the lashes nicely without weighing them down. For the brows I used a mix of Espresso and Birch.
For the face, I used the Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in shade 4.25 Natural Tan (matches perfectly!) and Tawny blush from the New York palette on the cheeks. This is a fantastic rose shade for Indian skin and the formula is excellent, blends beautifully and despite being matte, doesn’t give a powdery look. Highly recommend this! And to finish the look, I used a swipe of Luxe Lip Color in Bobbi, which added the perfect nude pink color to the lips with a luxurious and comfortable cream finish.
And for the evening look, I added a touch more foundation stick in the under-eye area for a little more coverage and intensified the eye makeup using the shades Espresso and Birch from the eye palette. I also smudged a little more of the gel liner in Dark Chocolate Ink along the outer half of my lid, to add some smokiness to the eyes. I used the liner along the lower waterline and to finish off the eye, I added Espresso eye shadow along the outer 2/3rd of the lower lash line.
The cheeks, I just touched up the blush a little bit and for the lips, I just used my fingers to touch up the lip color. The finger dabbing method took off the excess color and the end result was a softer, stained lip!
Overall, this is such a beautiful collection and I find myself reaching for these neutral shades very often. The product textures and finishes are very comfortable to wear and easy to apply so putting together a look takes very little time and effort. With a high-end brand, beautiful packaging aside, I always look for formulations that don’t take a ton of effort in application and have a natural and clean looking finish and Bobbi Brown products always exceed expectations in that department!
If anything catches your eye, do drop by at the Bobbi Brown store to have a peek at this collection. The official launch date for this was September (sorry it took me a while to put this post together!) so I’m not sure whether all the pieces are still available at the store. Still worth a visit if you’d like to see the New York collection (or the London/Paris collection) in person. Did you know that they’re opening a second store in Mumbai? I was at Inorbit Mall, Malad, a few weeks back and spotted the new store, still under wraps on the ground floor!
Hope you had a good weekend!
Let me know your thoughts on the Bobbi Brown City Collection in the comments below!
