As I’m sure you’ve already heard, Burberry has added a cosmetic line to their long standing clothing and accessory lines. I have been greatly anticipating its arrival, said to have been available mid-July. Then I saw in print it was going to be available mid-June (wasn’t true). It’s only available in 5 Nordstrom stores and the closest one to me in the midwest is the Michigan Avenue store in Chicago. It was available online starting in July, but the store release date was pushed back to early August. I’ve heard a variety of dates – August 2, August 4, August 16th – so we’ll have to wait and see which date it actually goes “live” in the few stores.
But I’m guessing as this became available online it was a bigger hit than anticipated because the pieces I ordered July 14th trickled in to my home from 4 different shipments. First being told all would ship the 16th, and then 10 days later being told it wouldn’t ship until sometime in August, but I ended up getting the pieces I ordered before August. Hmmm – miscommunication problems?
Since I knew it was going to be in the Michigan Ave store I called to talk to someone about the line. Julianna was very helpful, as I can be skeptical about colors shown online not being true to form. I explained my coloring and I told her what I was interested in and wanted help describing some of the colors. The “Warm Glow” Bronzer was a piece I was interested in as well as the glosses, lipsticks and eye shadows. She suggested with my skin coloring that the Bronzer in Warm Glow #1 would be right for my skintone, the shadows Gold Trench and Taupe Brown were recommended as well. I wanted to try the gloss in #4 Blush and also a lip color and gloss that would give me a tad richer than a nude-pinkish brown lip. It was decided on #4 Rosewood lipstick and #5 Tea Rose gloss.
As you can see from above images the packaging is beautiful and classy. The box has the Burberry logo and the eye shadows and bronzer are wrapped in the felt fabric pouch with the Burberry pattern imprint. The actual compact is heavy with the Burberry plaid pattern as well and when you open up the product, that too has the pattern cut out on the product. Shown above is the Bronzer in Warm Glow #1. I do really, really like the color and soft warm tone it gives my skin. Not super-bronzy, but a nice warmth. It is heavily fragranced though. I was surprised by how much fragrance it had. Once it is on my face I no longer could smell it, nor did it irritate my skin, but I could imagine with some people that would be bothersome.
Above, this eye shadow shade is Gold Trench. Described to me as the classic Burberry trench coat color with a hint of gold, and that really is right on target for a description and it’s sheer with an ever-so-slight hint of shimmer. This is a wonderful, multi-use shade. I’ve worn it alone with some eyeliner and mascara and with other shades for building more color.
This is Brown Taupe shadow. It’s a deep taupe with some brown, almost mud color. I really like it as well. This is great in the crease of my eye used with a fluffy brush to get soft definition or on my lid for a darker more intense look. This shadow is matte and goes on beautifully. I did not detect any fragrance in the eye shadows. I am very pleased with these products above, except for the fact that this shade was shipped in a padded envelope and the lid arrived broken.
On to the lipstick. This is shade #1 Nude Beige. But wait! Do you recall I told you I ordered #4 Rosewood? Yes, but I received #1 Nude Beige. It’s not a shade I would have EVER picked. It was way too light in the online color and in person as well. But I thought I’d give it a try. Well, it was worth a good laugh! It has almost a silvery shimmer to it, so not only does the color look bad on my skin, the odd shimmer tone makes me look dead. Yep, like I’ve been put in the freezer for a month and my lips are that grey/silvery dead color. It might work if I was trying out for a part on CSI as a corpse. Needless to say, I was really disappointed in not getting the right shade, but I do love the creamy texture of the lipstick. I know Best Things in Beauty didn’t like the fragrance, but to me there was barely any fragrance detected. Everyone has their own sensitivities and likes/dislikes and this didn’t bother me. She also felt she was shipped the wrong color in the lipstick. I see #1 shade is sold out online at Nordstorm for now - maybe because they were shipping everyone that color whether they ordered it or not!
And last but not least are the two lipglosses I ordered. Again, I really like the glosses. Shown on top is #4 Blush, but on the bottom is # 2 Heather – which again, I swear I did not order. I thought I ordered #5 Tea Rose. #2 is sold out on Nordstrom as well – so it only strengthens my theory that they were shipping #1 lipstick and #2 gloss to everyone by mistake???? Just kidding.
I love the #4 Blush shade and it can be worn alone with a soft hint of pink glow to the lips. #2 is OK, a bit deeper brown than my natural lip, and again, definitely not a shade I would have picked out but it certainly is wearable. I think it’s growing on me.
Overall the quality of the product is beautiful and I would put it right up there next to other high end lines like Giorgio Armani, Dior and Chanel. However, I was extremely disappointed in the disorganization of whether the products are available, will they ship, and then getting the wrong product when it actually shipped. I hope they get the kinks worked out quickly, because mistakes like that can only turn customers off. I probably will return the lipstick, just because I know I will never wear it ever, and for that price it needs to be corrected. That’s the good thing about this happening with Nordstrom – the return will be accepted without any hassles, and Julianna was the best!
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