Bobbi Brown Holiday Palettes

I played with the new Bobbi Brown Chrome Palette (S$185) today at the Tangs Vivocity counter. When I first saw the promo picture of it online, it looked like a must-have of metallic smoky greys and silvery shades. But after swatching it in real life, I can safely say that this is a pass for me. Chrome is a mix of soft mattes and shimmery shades. Out of the 10 eyeshadows, there is really only one intensely pigmented smoky shade and that is Thunder. Some shades like Storm Cloud had more shimmer than actual color. The four lip glosses felt sticky to touch and were all quite sheer.

The Earth Metal palette (S$97) looks like a more worthwhile buy as you get 6 metallic shades with a more diverse range of colors and four lip shades for almost half the price of the Chrome Palette. I didn't get to swatch this as there was no tester but the shades all looked quite lovely. The eyeshadow pans are smaller in size than those in the Chrome Palette though but they should still last you quite awhile even with daily usage.

I asked the SA if they were getting the trio of Mini Shimmer Bricks but he had no info at all. A UK member of MakeupAlley found them at her local counter going for £42 each, which is plain nuts. The explanation she got was that it was due to the chrome packaging. Another MUA member did a live chat with Bobbibrown.com and was told that they would cost US$50 in the US (but not sure if that is for all 3 or just for one). Given the UK price, my guess is it will be US$50 for one. These are supposed to be exclusive to Neiman Marcus and will arrive by end-November but there is still no sign of them on NeimanMarcus.com.

Do check out Temptalia.com for her detailed reviews, pics and swatches of the Chrome and Earth Metal palettes.