I had been coveting this palette for several weeks when I finally took the plunge and bought it. The Old Hollywood Eye Palette by Bobbi Brown came out in their Holiday Collection for 2013. I am a sucker for anything that is "Old Hollywood" when it comes to fashion or makeup. Especially makeup....Why did I wait so long to buy it, you may ask? The answer is simple: the price. This palette is $87 Canadian and is $75 U.S. That's a lot of dough for 9 smaller eyeshadows in my book. When you look at the size and quality of palettes that were out for Holiday 2013 by some of the other big names in makeup, which were less than $87, what Bobbi Brown is asking for this is kind of incomprehensible.
I was so floored by the price, that I actually made mention of it to Bobbi Brown. I got a couple of responses from them. They seemed to genuinely care that I found the price horrifying. They explained to be that the price point was partially due to taxes and duties etc. to bring the product into Canada. That aside, I still think $75 U.S. is quite steep for this palette when the taxes and duties are out of the mix. Once you add sales tax in Ontario to $87, well this palette is basically $100 my friends.
So did I shell out the $100? Nope. I had a bunch of points at the Bay and used them to get this palette for half price. That's right, I couldn't bring myself to spend $100 on this. Nor do I think you should. If you can get this in the States for cheaper or a Sephora V.I.B. sale or get it discounted somehow, then yes it's a good buy. At $100, I can't possibly justify the price.
Okay, on to the good stuff. Most of these shadows are very long lasting. I wore Opal over some clear eyeshadow primer one day last week and it was still still in full sparkle mode 18 hours after application. Wow! All of the eyeshadows blend beautifully and are easy to apply. Some of the Metallic ones take a bit more work, but they are lovely too. There isn't a colour in this palette that I dislike. It is a neutral palette after all. The only eyeshadow that I really think is a bit sub par is Ivory, which is from their permanent line. The pigmentation is awful. You really have to pack it on to be able to see it.
I am really enjoying experimenting with this palette and putting some looks together. The pigment is especially good on the matte eyeshadows (except Ivory). The matte eyeshadows in here are divine. I didn't own any Bobbi Brown eyeshadows before I bought this palette. Now I may go and buy a single or two that I have my eye on. Did you know that Estee Lauder owns Bobbi Brown and MAC? I didn't know either until recently.
Okay, swatch time.
I hope you can see some of these. I highly recommend using a MAC Paint Pot or eyeshadow base with these eyeshadows, especially with the Sparkle and Metallic ones. From left to right we have Ivory, Golden Pink, Gold, Opal, Fog and Beige. Gold and Opal did not show up on my arm as much as I would have liked, but they do pop on the eyelid with a base. I am not wearing any primer or eyeshadow base on my arm.
Finally, the swatches are from left to right, Chocolate Bronze, Candlelight Gold and Eclipse. If you were to twist my arm, I would have to say that they best eyeshadows in here are Opal, Fog, Beige, Chocolate Bronze, Candlelight Gold and Eclipse. Ivory, Golden Pink and Gold are not as good.
The total eyeshadow weight of this palette is 0.51 oz. or 14.7g . If you were to buy a single eyeshadow from Bobbi Brown each one is 0.13 oz. 3.8g, just to put that in perspective.
Packaging: 9.5/10
Pigmentation: 7.5/10 (a couple of the shadows bring down this score) Easy to Work With: 8/10
Longevity: 9/10
Colour Stays True: 10/10
Texture: 7/10 (some of the Metallic and Sparkle eyeshadows are a bit coarse)
Price: 3/10
Ingredients: 7/10 (the Metallic shadows have worse ingredients than the rest)
Travel Worthy: 10/10
Attractiveness of Product: 9/10
Overall Rating: 8/10
Would I buy this again? For the price, this one is the only one I'll be getting
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