Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick Eye Palette

I bought this Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick Eye Palette while in flight on route to the US of A from Tokyo several years back. I believe it was a 2006 Duty Free Exclusive then, before it was made available to retail as the Sandwash Palette. See what I mean with some things getting buried in my cabinet? Five years is a looooong time! *sniff* Good thing the eyeshadows is still works perfectly, probably because it was never even opened to begin with!

All pictures taken indoor with flash, unless otherwise noted.


I normally don't really pay attention to boutique brands like Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier. Not only the products are pricey, there are much better and cheaper similars out there. For example, why should I bother with the myriads of Bobbi Brown Shimmering Bricks when I have Clinique Shimmering Tones? And Laura Mercier is mostly (boring?) base makeup, which I don't use anyway.


That said, I reserve the rights to make exceptions :P I have caved a couple of times with Laura Mercier, for the Gilded Garden Shimmer Bloc (will post preview soon), and it's no secret I love her Metallic Creme Eye Colours, which I have multiple backups of.


With Bobbi Brown, the moment I saw this my exception is this Shimmer Brick Eye Palette (Sandwash) in Singapore Airline in flight shopping magazine, I snatched it up without thinking twice.


The palette has a mirror and also comes with a nice mini eye shadow brush instead of a mountain of crappy applicators. The compact itself is small, sleek, and weighty, giving it a very sturdy feel.


The palette comes in 10 baked pastels that can be used dry or wet, with the majority of them being metallic and are decently pigmented. All the colors are neutral enough for me to wear, including that bright metallic ocean blue, and I have been wearing them for the past few months. In fact, I've been having so much fun layering various colors over my liquid/gel/cream eyeshadows staples (Laura Mercier Metallic Creme, Lavshuca Eye Jelly, and Visee Aqua Shining Eyes) that I still haven't made the time to experiment with other items like Canmake Liquid Shadow & Base. And I can't wait until I get all my Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow-Liners - I'll try layering over those too!


Names of the shade as listed at the bottom of the compact.

From left to right: Sunshine, Glisten, Iris, Blush, Tangerine, Surf, Grass, Petunia, Bronze, and Peachy.


When use dry
Top row from left:
- Sunshine: metallic, low intensity, looks a bronzy orange but swatches a warm gold.
- Glisten: metallic, medium intensity, a bleach white that looks frosty but thankfully isn't, at least on me. I actually use this color to highlight brow bones and inner corners of the eyes a lot. And it is quite pigmented.
- Iris: satin pearl, low intensity, a gilded lavender with a prominent golden iridescent sheen. It looks more lavender in the pan but swatched more gold with a lavender sheen. It's a pretty color, but unfortunately the satin-pearl finish leaves it a tad dull.
Middle row from left:
- Blush: shimmer, low intensity, an airy pink that becomes somewhat indistinguishable once applied. It just looks like a pretty wash of...something. Not the best color in the palette, but it's not bad.
- Tangerine: metallic, medium intensity, looks more brightly orange than it actually is. Applies more on the peach side and quite pigmented too.
- Surf: metallic, high intensity, a very pretty metallic ice blue and is very pigmented.
- Grass: metallic, medium intensity, more like dried out grass and is gold with a slight green tint.
Bottom row from left:
- Petunia: metallic, medium intensity, looks rosier in the pan but applies a powder pink.
- Bronze: metallic, medium intensity, this color actually swatches true to the color in the pan, and it's really more of a pinky nude beige.
- Peachy: metallic, low intensity, a fleshy peach that blends right into my skin. I would say this is a more metallic version of my favorite Maquillage Eye Color BE263.

Dry swatches, picture taken in natural light without flash.

When use wet
Top row from left:
- Sunshine: metallic, medium intensity, the same warm gold but gains a bit of intensity and opaqueness.
- Glisten: metallic, medium intensity, the same bleach white but is surprisingly more translucent.
- Iris: metallic pearl, medium intensity, becomes metallic and opaque. This color is now definitely gold with the lavender sheen even more severely weakened.
Middle row from left:
- Blush: shimmer, low intensity, same airy pink, and while it doesn't gain any intensity, it does become more translucent.
- Tangerine: metallic, medium intensity, same peachy color and also gains some translucency.
- Surf: metallic, medium intensity, same metallic ocean blue, loses some intensity but gains some translucency.
- Grass: metallic, high intensity, becomes intensely metallic and opaque and is more of a cooler khaki gold now.
Bottom row from left:
- Petunia: metallic, medium intensity, same powder pink and gains some translucency too.
- Bronze: metallic, high intensity, this color turns more beigey and less pink. It also becomes more intensely metallic and opaque.
- Peachy: metallic, medium intensity, same fleshy peach that blends right into my skin, and although it gains some intensity it also becomes a bit translucent, nor sure how that's possible...or may be I was just seeing things... :X

Wet swatches, picture taken in natural light without flash.