Bobbi Brown Cabana Corals Collection - Part 2

At last, the Cabana Corals Collection for Spring 2010 has arrived in stores (I have seen it at Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom)! It's also front and center on Bobbi Brown's Web site. I'll be writing about the collection in several posts, starting with the two Shimmer Bricks this morning.

The collection gives us a beautiful selection of coral shades perfect for eyes, lips, and cheeks. The shades range from fresh new pink corals to universal nude corals and on to true coral shades. Almost every woman will find one or more shades right for her.

This collection enticed me, even though I'm not a "coral" natural. Many makeup artists try to lure me out of my comfort zone with peaches and corals, and they insist I look good in them. When I finally got my hands on the collection yesterday at Bloomindale's, I found that some of the colors have a pink tone and are great for women with cool-toned skin. The true corals (warm and with an orange tone) are better for women with warm skin. There are also nude corals that will work for everyone.

Let's start with the two Shimmer Bricks. If I could give awards for all-time makeup bests, Shimmer Bricks would get an award. There are two new ones, Pink Quartz (I will need two of these) and Nectar. Each is $38.00 - so reasonable! You may remember that Nectar was one of the colors introduced as a Mini Shimmer Brick Metal Compact at Neiman Marcus in December.

Nectar creates a soft, coral-peach glow. It works well with neutral and peach blush shades, or can be used alone as a blusher. It's pigmented, so I will use it as a blusher, with a light hand and a fluffy brush, when I want to warm my skin tone.

Pink Quartz was made for me! The shimmering, brush-on powder creates a soft, warm pink glow and works well with neutral and pink blush shades - or can be used alone, like the other, as your blusher.

I sweep through all five shades of Shimmer Brick Compacts with Bobbi's Face Blender Brush ($45) or a fluffy blush brush and dust lightly on my cheekbones as a blush or after blush, depending on the shade. If you focus on applying shimmer on the top of cheekbones - where light naturally hits the face - you will get a very flattering look. You can also selectively use the colors with a small brush.

The great news is that these Shimmer Bricks are not limited editions. If you fall in love with one, you will be able to find a second!

Look for them at Bobbi Brown's Web site or your favorite Bobbi Brown counter. They are gorgeous.

Photos courtesy of Bobbi Brown