Bobbi Brown Brightening Skin Care

Bobbi Brown has introduced a new Brightening Skin Care set of products designed to make you fresh, radiant, and "lit-from-within." The line brightens skin instantly and over time with vitamin C, natural extracts, and licorice; retexturizes skin with glucosamine to gently remove dead skin cells; and hydrates with sodium hyaluronate and other ingredients to plump the skin and give it an instant glow.

Bobbi easily summed up her philosophy this way. "I believe beauty starts with healthy, glowing skin. Traveling through Asia, I’ve discovered that many brightening skin-care lines do not address women’s immediate need to cover dark spots. I used my makeup artist’s perspective to create this simple five-step regimen. It includes skin care to give you brighter, smoother, and clearer skin over time - and treatment makeup to give you a beautiful, even complexion instantly.”

When I saw the new line on Bobbi Brown's Web site, I immediately ordered the Brightening SPF 50 UV Protective Face Base ($38). I'm always on the lookout for good high-SPF sunsceens that I can wear under makeup, and I recognized the brightening benefits as an extra-added bonus! This soothing lotion helps shield your skin from the harmful effects of the sun with a high level of broad-spectrum UVA and UVB protection. It's extremely lightweight and quick-absorbing. It can be layered over your moisturizer to help prevent sun damage and help maintain a radiant, even skin tone. It contains Bobbi's unique blend of grape, mulberry, and scutellaria to even skin tone and provide radiance and caffeine to help calm and soothe the skin.

The first time I used this new protective face base, I was concerned that it might be just a bit too much, layered over my daily dose of heavy serum and moisturizer. I needn't have worried! It soaked right in, and my makeup applied perfectly over three layers of product. That's pretty cool. Some sunscreens can be gloppy. This one's perfect.

The other new products?

Brightening Hydrating Lotion ($50) to prepare your skin to accept the products you apply after you have cleansed morning and night. This lotion is loaded with ingredients to refresh, hydrate, reduce irritation, and brighten.

Brightening Intensive Serum ($95), the star of the line according to Bobbi, is a highly concentrated serum packed with a vitamin C complex and a unique blend of grape, mulberry, and scutellaria to help to diminish the appearance of dark spots and add clarity, luminosity, and radiance. Glucosamine exfoliates; licorice extract helps reduce irritation; caffeine and gentian root extract soothe and calm skin; sodium hyaluronate and sucrose draw and hold moisture into the skin; and macadamia extract, linoleic acid, and cholesterol help to strengthen the skin's natural barrier.

Brightening Moisture Cream ($70), a deeply hydrating yet lightweight cream, is enriched with sodium hyaluronate to quench skin as well as linoleic acid and cholesterol to strengthen your skin’s natural barrier, improve its ability to lock in moisture, and resist future damage. The cream has many of the same ingredients in the serum. I really want this one! I never met a great moisturizer I didn't want to try. I'm plotting my next purchase.

Brightening Spot Treatment Corrector SPF 25 ($35), available in six shades, is an opaque, full-coverage concealer. Bobbi calls this her secret to an instantly beautiful, radiant complexion. This unique, double-action treatment makeup product covers dark spots and discoloration immediately - and evens out skin tone over time. You are supposed to dab Brightening Spot Treatment Corrector SPF 25 onto dark spots and imperfections with its precision applicator and blend gently for targeted, all-day coverage.

The new line is getting great press from beauty editors. It has already been featured in Harper's Bazaar and InStyle. Generally, Asian women have been faster to pick up on the benefits of brightening products than U.S. women. Bobbi is going to show us the way!

The new Brightening Skin Care is available at Bobbi Brown's Web site and Bobbi Brown counters in the major department stores. I have seen it at Saks, Nordstorm, and Bloomingdale's.

Photos courtesy of Bobbi Brown