NM’s $2,000 Bobbi Brown Case

Perusing the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book every year is, in itself, an act of decadence. I feel absolutely ashamed of myself as I “ooh” and “aah” over the gorgeous clothing and handbags.

But before I look at any of that mundane stuff, I flip immediately to the fantasy gifts—for someone out there, these gifts aren’t fantasies, but for 99% of us, they are—and immediately begin to drool. This year’s gifts are decidedly fantastic, including a $110,000 motorcycle, life-sized Lego portraits ($60,000), an 18,000-piece record collection ($275,000), actual medieval-era jewelry (beginning at $25,000), and the centerpiece, a 12-to-15-horse Thoroughbred operation ($10 million).

After I put my eyes back in my head, I find another treasure that, compared to the preceding uber-luxe gifts, is an absolute steal: A stately silver leather train case packed with more than 50 items from Bobbi Brown’s cosmetics line. The price for this little beauty? $2,000.

Photo courtesy of Neiman Marcus

I don’t want to bore you with the entire list of what’s in the case (though you can see that here), but here are some highlights:

• 3 pan palette
• 6 pan palette
• Extra SPF 25 Tinted Moisturizing Balm in Light to Medium
• Eye Shadow in Bone
• Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow in Rose Gold
• Metallic Eye Shadow in Lavender
• Long-Wear Cream Shadow in Galaxy
• Bronzing Powder in Light
• Pot Rouge in Pink Raspberry
• Shimmer Brick Compact in Copper Diamond
• Shimmer Lip Gloss in Pink Sugar
• Lip Color in Slopes
• Metallic Lip Color in Kir
• Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Chocolate Shimmer Ink
• Everything Mascara in Black
• Lash Glamour in Smoke
• Instant Long-Wear Makeup Remover
• Hydrating Eye Cream
• Overnight Cream
• Intensive Skin Supplement
• Almost Bare Fragrance
• Buffing Grains for Face
• Concealer Brush
• Blush Brush
• Face Blender Brush
• Ultra Fine Eye Liner Brush
• Eye Shader Brush
• Bronzer Brush

Do you have a best friend who loves Bobbi Brown? Is that best friend me? If anyone needs my address so they can send me this gorgeous gift, drop me a note.

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Beauty for Dummies

Makeup palettes and kits really take the guessing out of coordinating color for your face. Sometimes we like to experiment (and sometimes those experiments leave us looking like rejects from a MAC photo shoot), but sometimes we like someone to just spell it out for us.

Neiman Marcus, for instance, is ready to hand you your fall look on a silver platter. The nine fall beauty looks featured on their Web site include color from Becca, Bobbi Brown, Chantecaille, Clinique, Lancome, Nars, Shu Uemura, Trish McEvoy and YSL.

Not only does the site offers step-by-step instructions on creating the looks, you can buy a makeup package for each look, priced from $92 (Clinique’s “Modern Matte” look) to $191 (Yves St. Laurent’s “Smoky” look).  The sets range from natural, subtle looks to dramatic evening styles, and most include eye makeup, blush and lip color (but no foundation, concealer or powder). Some sets even include brushes (Bobbi Brown) or a makeup bag (Trish McEvoy).

See and buy the looks at NeimanMarcus.com.

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