Bobbi Brown | Brightening Finishing Powder

When I first heard of Bobbi Brown's Brightening Finishing Powder, I was intrigued to say the least. It sounded like my perfect product - I much prefer a subtle, healthy glow as opposed to an obvious highlight, so a product that promises an natural, all-over brightening effect quite tickled my fancy.  Said to instantly illuminate the skin with a healthy looking glow, this powder is infused with a skin brightening blend of Mulberry and Grape extracts to keep skin fresh and smooth looking.  It won the award for 'Best Finishing Powder' in the Elle UK Beauty awards in 2012 and has been highly rated and reviewed online.  It's safe to say I couldn't wait to get my mitts on this beauty...  

Firstly, I have to say that there's no doubt that Bobbi Brown gets packaging spot on the mark - I fell instantly in love.  In a sleek, mirrored compact encased in a luxurious, black pouch and white box, the finishing powder is really quite something.  The product itself feels luxurious and weighty, and the mirrored finish is so pretty. The powder itself is simply stunning in the pan - containing a mix of 6 different shades which, when blended all together, work towards brightening and correcting the tone of the skin.  I have the shade 'Brightening Nudes', which consists of a mix of lilac, brown and neutral shades perfect for pale to medium skin tones. 

The powder is finely milled and super soft to the touch, making it amazingly blendable and smooth to apply - there's no denying it's an amazing powder when it comes to texture -    your skin is left feeling baby soft after a couple of sweeps. One thing I noticed when it came to application was the shimmery finish the product has.  As much as I do like a slight sheen, I was slightly worried about whether or not this product would be far to glittery for me. As a powder that can be used all over the face, you'd expect something with a light sheen as opposed to a full-on glittery appearance.  I reserved my judgement at first, thinking that once I'd swept the top layer off, the underneath wouldn't be quite so full-on in the glitter stakes...

The colour itself is very subtle and pretty - it gives a soft-focus sort of finish to the face and provides a natural 'lit from within' effect. But (and I'm afraid there is a but) I find the glitter ruins it for me. I really wish it didn't contain as much as I think the pigments in the powder give a nice finish on their own - I personally don't think the extra shimmer is needed. I simply couldn't get away with this product in natural daylight as I find it a little too obvious for my liking - in bright lighting, you can see the individual flecks of shimmer on the skin.   There's no denying that the lilac/mauve hues work really well on my skin tone and they do give a nice finish to the skin, but if I wanted an obvious highlight or a bit of shimmer, I'd have been better off opting for one of the infamous Shimmer Bricks.

I just didn't expect it to contain as many flecks of shimmer for a product that's supposed to be used all over the face and I know i'd have loved it more had it not contained so much. Believe me, I really, really wanted to fall head over heels in love with this but I'm still trying to fathom it out.  It sort of works as a highlighter along the tops of the cheekbones but as an all-over brightening powder, it just doesn't quite hit the mark for me. It's such a shame as I think the concept is fantastic and it's something I really would have gotten so much use out of as I have nothing like this in my collection.  I've since read a few reviews and it does seem that a lot of people love this product - so maybe I just need to apply it in a different way? Is there some sort of knack to this?! I reckon I'll persevere with it as there's no doubt it's a beautiful product, but for now - I'm not sure it's for me.

The swatches above show each individual shade along with the combined effect on the far right. It's nice that you're able to use each shade individually which makes the product slightly more versatile - the pale pearl-white shade would make a nice little highlighter and I'm drawn to the lovely pink colour in the pan too. Overall, although there's no denying this is an absolutely stunning product, I'm not sure that it's going to become a firm favourite of mine.  Like I said, I'm going to keep trying with it - I think it might be a nice one to dust over the decolletage area when I have a bit of a tan going on!  I have to say I think I would have gotten along much better with the 'Porcelain Pearl' version (seen here) - which contains a mix of colour correcting tones to combat dullness and, from a little bit of googling, seems to contain less shimmer.   For £40.00*, it's well worth doing your research before you invest - I can see it being very hit and miss.  You can buy Bobbi Brown makeup from Harrods.com here, where you'll find the range of Brightening Powders in a number of different shades. 

Have you tried the Bobbi Brown Brightening Powder? What did you think?