I’m taking a break from the Monday Mashup this week because I got SO excited when I saw this new Beauty Insider perk from Sephora! I typically do not cash in my points, but this new “Bobbi To Go” 500-point perk grabbed my attention so much that I made an order for cotton rounds ($4) in order to cash in my points and get this perk. Don’t judge me. I actually did need the cotton rounds, and with the Flash shipping it was worth it. ;)

The kit includes a mini palette, a sample of mascara, and a sample of eye cream. I haven’t tried the eye cream or mascara yet, but I had to dig into the palette the very next morning after it arrived!

Let me preface my thoughts & swatches with reminding you this is a Bobbi Brown palette. Bobbi Brown is not known for having bright, vivacious colors. I typically do my makeup pretty naturally, and I like Bobbi Brown. If you are more into Sugarpill, Urban Decay, etc. you probably wouldn’t be interested, but I really like my Bobbi! I have several of her other palettes.

Here she is. It’s definitely a mini – roughly the size of a credit card.

The palette contains 1 blush, 4 shadows, and 1 mini brush. The brush is kind of floppy and would be useful for blending but not placing shadow or forming shapes, in my opinion.

The blush color included is called Pale Pink. It’s from the regular core line and can be purchased in a full size for $25. Unlike the name would imply, it’s pretty bright!

The 4 shadows. They’re pretty tiny, but great neutral colors. Clockwise from the top right they are Heather Mauve Shimmerwash, Saddle, Mahogany, and Bone. All of them are available in the core line for $21 each, however Saddle is not yet available on Sephora’s website.

Here are the colors swatched. The Pale Pink blush is quite pigmented. Bone does have pigmentation but it pretty much matches my skin so you can barely see it right below Pale Pink. Heather Mauve shimmerwash is a shimmery taupe. Mahogany is a dark ashy brown. Saddle is a dark matte brown that also leans toward ashy rather than warm.

I’ll admit the mattes do not swatch well at all. They are kind of annoying in that way. However when working with them on the eye I kind of appreciate that you have to build the color up rather than it showing up full-throttle at first swipe. It gives you more control. Because of that though if you have a deeper skintone you probably would find these annoying. They’d take a lot of building and layering to show up with enough contrast. For pale-skinned me, however, it’s a plus.

Overall, I like this perk and I’m glad I got it. This is definitely a palette for someone who is already a Bobbi girl and knows what she is getting formula-wise. I look forward to trying the eye cream and mascara, and will certainly post reviews of those too.