Bobbi Brown Luxe Lipstick “Brocade” | Review

Hello friends!

As you read in my Year of Lipsticks post, I’m making it a goal of mine this year to test as many lip products as I can!  I’ve had this lipstick for about a year now and have always admired it, but never tried it out.

Color: Bobbi Brown’s Brocade is described as a “bright purple plum” on the Sephora website. I would describe it as a bright warm purple with a reddish magenta undertone.

Packaging: First off, the packaging is so stunning and it looks expensive.  It’s a beautiful gold with black accents, and has an insignia on the top of the lid.  It’s feels heavy, and looks like it would be worth the $37 price tag from the packaging alone.

Application: The application is a little difficult because the actual bullet is incredibly large.  I have pretty large lips and it was still difficult for me to apply cleanly, which you can see in the lip swatch. I can imagine if you have thin lips it will be even harder to get a decent application.

The formula of the luxe lipsticks is incredibly pigmented and soft.  It has one swipe pigment, so there’s not a lot of building that needs to happen.  It’s a very shiny formula and feels incredibly comfortable to wear.

Transfer: While Brocade is a really beautiful color, I think that this formula doesn’t do it any favors.  Because it is so creamy and moisturizing, I had a huge problem with this color transferring everywhere.  The lasting power is poor, which wouldn’t be a bad thing with a lighter/more neutral color, but because this is a bright purple, I really didn’t like it.

This is the kind of color that definitely needs a lip liner, as when it went on it looks patchy.  You can’t really tell in the lip swatch, but in some lighting there are definitely parts of my lips that looked darker than others, and I couldn’t quite get it to even out. That’s why I would highly recommend a lip liner under it, and that should also help with the lasting power.

As someone who prefers low maintenance lip products, any time I have to work with something to make it look okay, it automatically makes me want to use it less.  However, if you’re someone who loves to wear this color and is okay with using lip liner and doing regular check ups, I do think you would like this product. It’s so comfy and really is beautiful; I just own so many other options that I don’t have the patience for babying it, pretty or not.

So, is it worth the $37 price tag?  Not particularly, and especially not this color.  If you really wanted to invest your money in a quality lipstick that looks and feels luxurious, that’s definitely what you’ll get from this!  I just don’t feel like I can recommend it for the average consumer.  It’s quite pricey and is too much work in my opinion.  Again, if this type of purple is your power color and you’re up for taking care of it, you may have a better time with it than me!

Are there any other colors you would be interested in trying in this formula?