Today it is a bank holiday in Stuttgart, so I got to enjoy sleeping a little longer. While I enjoy the coffee after a long breakfast, I was thinking about this...
Have you ever robbed a bank?
The question doesn't have to do with "make-up addiction", although we know it may also lead there... Today I ask it as more of a rhetorical question for my short rant. I hope you don't get tired of me doing this. Last time I received so many lovely comments, I thought there is a real potential of high quality discussion. This is something which bothers me since a week so I would like to share it with you right after the product review.
Bobbi Brown recently released Sandy Nudes Collection for Summer. Huge sized Bronzer Duos caught me attention. I got to try Face & Body Bronzing Duo Telluride / Elvis Duran last week, and here are my thoughts.
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| Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duo Telluride / Elvis Duran and some other products I have been enjoying |
Calling Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duo huge would be an understatement. It comes in a sleek plastic compact, which is not bulky in any means but it feels heavy. Once you check how much product is in there, you see that it has a generous amount of 16.1 g of bronzer. There are four options in the States and only two of them are available in Germany, all consist of existing colors. All in all it is a good value for money if you were considering to get Bobbi Brown Bronzers. Just to give you an idea, one of the bronzers, which has 9 g of product retail for $40 while Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duo is only $48 for two shades and almost twice as much products. That said bear in mind that the combinations are set, so you can't mix and match as you like.
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| Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duo Telluride / Elvis Duran |
The idea behind the duos is that, Bobbi Brown likes combining a bronzer shade with a touch of blush undertones to give a naturally sun kissed look on the face. She then uses Bronzers on the body, such as neck and shoulders to complete the look. You can also combine both of the shades on the face, contouring with the bronzer and adding a touch of the blush+bronzer shade on the apples of the cheeks.
As pretty as these Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duos are their photos online are very deceiving. They look much pink and light compared to the real product so here is another photo to show you the real deal. The Duo I have is a combination of Telluride Bronzing Illuminating Powder and Elvis Duran Bronzing Powder.
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| Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duo Telluride / Elvis Duran |
Here is a swatch to show you the colors on my NC20 skin. Illuminating Bronzing Powder is not a satin or shimmery one as you would expect from its name. It is a really matte brownish blush shade. Telluride is beautiful bronzer if bronzers turn orange on you. This one won't. Bronzing Powder Elvis Duran (designed for the TV host Elvis Duran by Bobbi Brown) is one of the deepest shades in my collection. The undertones of it is warm but not too much. I can still see it turning orange on lighter complexions though. So if you are lighter than me, you might want to check the other Bronzer Duo, called Antigua and Golden Light.
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| Swatch/ Close-up: Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duo Telluride / Elvis Duran |
Here are some comparisons for your reference. Elvis Duran is a little deeper than Guerlain #02 Original Terracotta 02 Natural (Blondes) but it is cooler. Elvis Duran is also deeper and cooler than Chanel Lumber D'Ete. Bobbi Brown Telluride is deeper. more brown and matte once compared to Tom Ford Ravish and Tom Ford Savage.
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| Comparison swatches: Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duo Telluride / Elvis Duran |
Although I was a little afraid when I see how dark Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duo Telluride / Elvis Duran looks in the pan, I like the effect it gives with a light hand. Especially Telluride is very pretty. If you don't like Elvis Duran, I would recommend you go and check out a single pan of Telluride.
Below I used Elvis Duran for contouring and Telluride on the apples of the cheeks. Now that I see myself, I think I needed a bit of Elvis Duran on my neck *cough* this sounds like such a strange thing to say. Anyway the quality of the powders are superb. They feel silky to touch, almost creamy. They don't kick much powder either. The powders last all day on me from morning to the evening.
Rest of the makeup: Tom Ford Golden Peach (reviewed here) and Sisley Havana (reviewed here) on the eyes. Clinique Berry Pop (review coming up) on the lips.
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| FOTD with Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duo Telluride / Elvis Duran |
Please feel free to skip the below portion if you don't like me ranting ;-)
Back to robbing a bank...
I was checking out a beauty blog of one of the friends (who I thought is a nice gal... Until that point). It occurred to me that there is something fishy going on. There is a counter on the main page and it shows over 6 million, which is... maybe possible... But then 25 people online at 3 am? I observed her counter to find out that she (presumably) receives half a million page hit each month while she ranks much below a million at Alexa and she doesn't even post more than twice a week.
It didn't take me so long to google how to trick Word Press counter and there it was...
This almost stabbed me with a knife until I was told by a very trusted friend "ooh that is nothing, check XyZ, she purchased 5000 Facebook friends".
Wait a minute, I need time to digest all these. I was about to write a sarcastic fun post about blogger/PR-relations and all of a sudden, I see all the normal looking people doing dirty tricks. Is this where competition brings us?
And I ask myself for what? To receive two more lipsticks for free while showing everyone else who work their back off inferior? How is it different than robbing the bank and steal other people's hard-earned savings?
And it hurts even more as some of us are trying to make Beauty Blogs a professional, trusted platform while others destroy the image to get a few more products for free.
*deep sigh*
Alright so back to....
Final thoughts: Bobbi Brown Face & Body Bronzing Duos are a good value for money, especially if you were eyeing one of the bronzing powders of the brand. The duo Telluride / Elvis Duran is most suited to medium to deeper complexions although since the powder quality is superb, you can control and sheer it out easily. All in all thumbs up, especially for matte bronzer with pink undertones, Bobbi Brown Telluride.
Have you checked out Bobbi Brown Sandy Nudes yet?
Disclaimer: The product in this post is provided free of charge for my consideration.
I am not paid for this review. All opinions are honest and my own.
