A few weeks ago I headed down to Bobbi Brown’s concession in John Lewis Oxford Street for the exclusive launch of their Retouching Pencils, to see what all the fuss was about. I’d heard a bit about them online and wanted to test out for myself if they were really worth the hype. And what better way to do that than to book in for an expert advice lesson with the brand’s Pro Team..?
Now a personal beauty nemesis for me is my under eyes. I’ve tried all sorts of highlighters, correctors and concealers to mask those dark, baggy areas over the years and feel like I’m still not getting it quite right when it comes to the products I’m using. So I didn’t have much hope held out for yet another wonder product that promised to undetectably lighten shadows and cover dark spots, whilst still looking natural.
Turns out I was pleasantly surprised by the claimed #NoFilterRequired product, and thought it held up quite well throughout the evening without turning cakey and sinking into my more-and-more-prominent-by-the-day creases around my eye area. Plus it was used along the bridge of my nose and onto my cheeks, as well as a darker shaded Retouching Pencil being used to lightly contour my face.
They are quite expenny for my budget, so I haven’t managed to get my hands on any to try out again at home just yet (hurry up pay day!), but I thought in the meantime I would run you through the make up look by the lovely Amy from BB’s Pro Team. She was a real doll, and took me through each step of the makeover with tips and advice for my skin type and fair complexion which was great!
She first used Soothing Cleansing Oil to remove my own make up, and then prepped the skin with Bobbi Brown’s Hydrating Face Tonic, Eye Cream and Gel Cream which left my face feeling super moisturised and dewy. She then started off my base with the Corrector in Porcelain Bisque and Concealer in Porcelain as well as foundation in the same shade. She used a mixture of fingertips and brushes to achieve a really smooth base, and then went over the top of this with the Retouching Pencil, again in shade Porcelain.
The pencil felt creamy to the touch and didn’t drag across the skin like I expected it might. Amy drew this underneath my eyes, across my cheeks and down the centre of my nose to highlight, and then simply patted it in with her fingers. It transformed the light coverage base into a more medium coverage and mattified those areas without being cakey at all. It left a more flawless finish which I was really impressed with!
Next she applied the Retouching Pencil in shade Deep in small strokes along the hollows of my cheekbones, my jawline and up onto my temples and again blended this in with her fingertips. This made for a subtle contour look that I really wasn’t expecting but was so pleased with. Then with a third pencil in Illuminate, she highlighted my blush area and underneath my brows for a little sheen, and finished off the look with a dusting of setting powder and a gorgeous lip colour in Blondie Pink. Not a lippie kinda gal nornally, but definitely need to get my hands on that one!
And there we have it, the final look! I was really impressed with the highlighting and shadowing properties of these pencils, and will 100% be purchasing at least the Porcelain and Deep ones to practice with at home. Especially on those pesky eye baggies!
I got so many compliments that evening on how flawless my skin looked, so huge thanks goes to Amy and the Bobbi Brown Pro Team – you really did work wonders!
