Raleigh's Bobbi Brown cosmetic store

After my Bobbi Brown makeover in the new Raleigh store!

Are you familiar with Bobbi Brown cosmetics? WARNING: this is really meant for women eyes only as it’ll probably put you men to sleep. Like the Oprah show.

Okay, if you’re still with me. Here’s how I discovered Bobbi Brown makeup. I’ve been wearing eye make up since my early teens. Not uncommon. But I’ve never really had a brand that I’ve stuck with. I bought most my makeup from CVS and Target (when the chain first hit the scene).  Brands like Maybelline, Cover Girl and Almay were my picks…

…But none of them had eyeliner that: 1) stayed on all day, and 2) didn’t stop working like it should before its end. Lemme explain. For eye makeup wearers, you know that most eye liner comes in pencils or pens which often is a liquid with a brush. While pencils are more natural looking, the liquid eye liner is more precise. But I have found for my eyes, that both have to be re-applied throughout the day. Who has time for that?

The other thing is that the pencils seem to harden after awhile so I have to throw it out before it’s done. Trying that ‘ol trick of heating it up doesn’t work for long either. WHAT… I have to having a heating process for my eye liner every day? OMIGOSH…Forget it!

So then one day I was at the mall. This was probably about a decade ago. And I noticed this make up counter. It didn’t seem like some of the other ones. Like Mac with the dark dark blues and purples. I’m sorry I went through a phase of drag queen drama makeup… but in my late 20’s I was looking for something a ‘lil more natural for daytime wear. Something I could actually go to work with and not look like a clown. Clinique was one that I liked for some stuff but still they didn’t have any good eye liner solution…

…So anyway, back to where I was. I went up to this honey brown wood counter with a subtle sign that had white Bobbi Brown words against a black background. I was just curious and looking. I saw the gel eye liners that come in a little pot, and one of the girls at the counter came over and picked one up, opened the top, and explained its benefits to me. One being that it would last all day. C’mon! I’ve been looking for something like that for 10 years or more…so SHUT UP…there can’t be something out there. It’s just another gimmick. Next thing I knew, she sat me down and put some on me. I thought I’d give it a try, be disappointed and then go back to my old non-solutions. At the time there were only like 5 different gel eye liner colors. Today, there are about 20. Anyway, she suggested that I wear the granite ink which is like a dark gray, or off black color is probably more accurate.

I noticed she only had eye liner along her upper lid. I tend to wear eye liner on both my upper and lower lids. I think I just look more awake. When I’m not smiling hard, my eyes are naturally big…strange for an Asian chick. I’ve gotten called Bugs Bunny eyes before. I thought that was funny. I think more accurately though I look like one of those Bratz dolls. Just the face. I never dressed that slutty.

So after I went home with the gel eye liner on, I went to go see if it was still on or if the 2 minutes I spent outside in the elements… leaving the mall, and getting in my car and then into my home… would have worn away some of it. The eye liner was still intact. I was impressed but not yet convinced. Later on in the day, it was still there. I was now in love! What other colors did they have? … I want them all!

By the way, in order to apply Bobbi Brown’s gel eye liner, you use one of their natural horse hair brushes made for their eye liner. One has a short handle and the other has a longer handle. I’ve got one of each. The shorter one I bring on trips. It takes awhile to learn how to draw a steady thin line, but you get used to it. It’s about as easy as learning how to ride a bike. And they’ve got a brush for every type of make up.

I’m now a Bobbi Brown makeup addict. I own everything…well, not everything. Bobbi Brown has grown her line exponentially. No one can keep up with that! But my fav’rites I do have, are her pale pink cream blush (love it!), light sheer foundation (the best!), eye shadow creams (awesome!), and vitamin-enriched moisturizer (love the subtle citrus smell!).

Bobbi’s main thing is natural looking faces. She doesn’t believe in hiding freckles. YAY! Quick story. I’ve got light skin color although I tan easily in the sun. I guess I’m lucky that way. Well, I didn’t have freckles on my face when I was born. But I took a spring break college trip to Key West and over did it one day in the scorching Key West sun. I got sun poisoning all over my face and shoulders with blisters and everything. Yuck! I survived that incident but it left me with many light freckles on my cheeks. I hated those freckles back then and regretted that incident. I was scarred for life! But now almost 20 years later, I think they’re kinda cute, and I love ‘em! I’ve grown attached to them (…plus, I don’t have much of a choice). And, I don’t try to cover ‘em up. Thanks Bobbi!

As with all department store make up, don’t expect Bobbi Brown cosmetics to be inexpensive. If you buy a few things, you’re looking at a hundred bucks. So unless you have carte-blanche, then you might wanna prioritize what you need right now. The brushes aren’t cheap either in case you’re thinking you just wanna get a makeup brush. Some brushes cost more than the make up itself BUT it is an investment if you take care of them. I haven’t had to replace any of my brushes yet except for my eye liner brush. But that’s only ‘cause it gets daily use.

A few times a year, I get invited to Bobbi Brown’s makeup events featuring their best artists. I usually drop in about once or twice a year to see what’s new and to get a free makeover! At Crabtree Valley, they’ve now opened another location in the mall. So you have your choice. You can go inside Belk. Or the free standing Bobbi store. It’s a corner shop not far from Belk, and it’s got hot pink walls. The Crabtree Belk store location, by the way, is the #1 selling Bobbi Brown Store in the entire east coast. Go figure! Here’s me with Bobbi.

Well…okay, she couldn’t be there in person for my makeover so she’s on the TV .

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Category: Raleigh Personal Care/Health Professional Services / Unique Raleigh Retailers