The celebrations continue! Bobbi Brown has released a very special palette to celebrate its 25th anniversary… The Nude Library features 8 of Bobbi Browns most-loved and best-selling nude eye palettes. For all those neutral eyeshadow lovers out there, this is a dream come true! This is going to be a picture-heavy post as I swatched all 40 shades and created 2 full makeup looks for you. I will try to keep the chatter to a minimal, but do stay tuned to the very end as I reveal how you may WIN this amazing palette along with 4 other Bobbi Brown best-loved items for yourself!!
Bobbi Brown The Nude Library comes encased in a beautiful silver metallic palette that is amazingly compact considering it contains a whopping 40 eyeshadows totalling 32gm of product inside. The Bobbi Brown emblem is engraved on the front cover, and the compact stays shut with a magnetic closure.
The metal is highly reflective, doubling up as a mirror if needed, but it is a major fingerprint magnet. The eyeshadows are embedded on the inside of both the covers, with a swing partition between them.
Here are the shades on the 1st page….
And some swatches for your reference:
At first swatch, Bobbi Brown The Nude Library surprised me with the soft and almost creamy texture of most of the shades. Whilst I seldom have problems with the performance of Bobbi Brown eyeshadows in general, I have found them to be drier and less pigmented than other luxury branded eyeshadows on occasion. Thankfully, The Nude Library surpassed my prior experience and all my expectations by having nicely pigmented shades that are easy to apply, no blending required!
Where The Nude Library fell short, was in the darker shades, which were dry and sheer across the board. However, they still worked well when applied with a brush – the best effect would be to use a stiff flat-topped brush and push the dark shades in firmly as liners. To demonstrate the point, here is an eye look featuring the Navy & Nude shades:
For this eye look, I started with the medium warm-toned pink all over my lid. Next, I used the dark navy as a liner on both my upper and lower lash lines, and then blended it upwards and outwards towards the outer half for a slight winged effect. Blended it out with the medium taupe shade into the crease, and topped everything off with the shimmery white in the center of the lid and inner corner.
Here is the full look in context:
And when you flip the center partition of The Nude Library, you are presented with more on the 2nd page!
Swatches of these 4 series of eyeshadows are:
Clearly the darker liner shades are problematic when swatched, but that is only 5 out of 40 shades so I can give it a pass. The other matte and satin shades are all creamy and smooth… and the metallic shades are outstanding! There are also a few glitter shades thrown in for good measure, these have a slightly translucent base so they work well with any of the other shades within The Nude Library.
Here is another eye look I created using Nectar & Nude. As you can see, the dark brown though sheer and dry when swatched, builds up perfectly with a brush when applied on the lid. And the full look in context:
As the name suggests, Bobbi Brown The Nude Library features mainly skin-like tones that are designed to work seamlessly on every skin tone, to hone your natural beauty without detracting from it. When swatched together, it all seems very much the same, and whether we really need 40 shades of nude… that is entirely subjective. On the other hand, you really can’t go wrong with any of these shades, and when packaged in such a sexy case, I find it completely irresistible!
Bobbi Brown The Nude Library is limited edition and retails at USD200 for 32gm of product. The sad news is, The Nude Library is not available for sale at all in Singapore! BUT, before you start carting it out online, you may stand a chance to WIN it for yourself!! Simply make a purchase at any Bobbi Brown counter or boutique in Singapore before 31 October, and every $100 purchase entitles you to 1 entry in the grand draw to win The Nude Library, 1 Lip Color, 1 Skin Foundation Stick, 1 Long-wear Gel Eyeliner and 1 Shimmer Brick! The full set is as depicted in the image at the very beginning of this post… there is no better than now to start doing some Christmas shopping! Good luck!!
This post featured products that were generously provided for my consideration. Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.
Her darker shades are always stiffer, but they make a great powder liner. I use a tiny smudge brush and push it against my lash line, and it stays on for a long time. My go to powder liner, for that undone smudgy look. Love it! I was interested in this palette, but who am I kidding? I don’t need that many nudes in my life. HAHAHAHA!
Thanks for the tip, Lily! I know, who needs that many nudes really? Sigh… but it’s just sooo pretty!!! One for the collectors, I guess!
Very lovely!!
Yes indeed!!