A quiet surprise...

When the Burberry line first debuted in July I turned a blind eye and thought, "Great another design house dabbling in cosmetics....WHATEVER...I'm not even a fan of Burberry..." Well that was then and several other beauty reviews later I was smitten. Why was I playing hard to get with makeup when I didn't adopt that way of thinking when I was dating? Okay, that's neither here nor there but still why was I being a hater? Look how gorgeous this looks by itself on an othewise messy bathroom countertop.

The eyeshadow is Rosewood and the lipstick is also Rosewood. Now when I read that certain colors are universally appealing I tend to doubt it. I once bought the famed (universally appealing) Rouge Coco Mademoiselle thinking it was going to make me look good - not Vanessa Paradis advertising campaign good but at least decent. It also helps when the Chanel S.A. tells you "Lucky for you this is our last tube" somehow that justifies the purchase. Well that color pulled more coral than it did pink and it wasn't flattering on me at all - I looked like someone's butterscotch carrying Nana on their way to play a round of Canasta. Okay so fast forward to the Rosewood colors at Burberry. It looks smashing on Sabrina who is a few shades lighter than me. And also the fabulous Pink Sith who is a fair beauty - reviewed the Rosewood lipstick. However, Amy reviews this eyeshadow better than I could ever attempt. Here's a quick arm swatching on what it looks like on my NC42 skin:

It almost disappears into my skin. As you can see it's like a grey brown shimmery sheen. I know it sounds boring but it's a very subtle wash for those days when you have less than 10mns to slap on some makeup on your face or you're just lazy. I was plain lazy this morning and was in no mood to blend four different shadows together. Look how great it looks with just a highlight shadow under my brow and a bit of eyeliner:



Amy is right - it is my lid just better! I was also advised by Suzy, the S.A. at the SF Nordstrom Burberry counter, that it makes a great contour shade for smokey eyes. I will demonstrate that when I'm not feeling as lazy and I want to do a smokey eye for work. Other products used: Chanel waterproof eyeliner in Cassis, MAC Haute and Naughty mascara in Black, Two Faced Eyeshadow Insurance primer, MAC Sweetjoy - highligter and MAC espresso/#266 on brows.

As for the lipstick in the tube it's your typical brownish pink. But swatched on my arm it has just a hint of shimmer when it catches the right amount of natural lighting. It does not scream out "LOOK AT MY METALLIC FROSTY LIPS" it is a polished dark neutral pink that I can apply at my desk without a mirror. Yes, I do this quite often. I also want to mention that I have strangely sensitive lips. I cannot wear MAC lip products for long stretches of time. This includes all lipstick and gloss formulas. If I do dare to wear a Cremesheen glass one day I have to quickly trick my lips the next day and wear something moisturizing and calming like this Rosewood lipstick. It has enough slip and a good amount of pigment (I don't always feel that a lipliner is necessary to use with the Burberry lipsticks), although you will have to reapply after that second cup of coffee. Suzy did say another magical phrase that makes the Beauty Junkie drunk with power - "We just got a shipment in because it's been sold out for the past three months and I'm down to my last two..."Also it has a magnetic case that's fun to play with. I let my husband play with this when he's board waiting for me as I'm playing with makeup or shoe shopping at Nordstrom. It does have a bit of a heavy fragrance that does fade quickly. See how pleased I am with my Rosewood Lip Cover?

(for the record I did use a bit of liner - MAC's Whirl for the record)

I was also going to review my other favorite Burberry item - the Lip Glow (gloss) in Heather #02 but this is what happened to my tube:

Tis a tragedy and I'll have to pick up a new tube. I loved this dark neutral on me - just glossy goodness without any frostiness! I still have no idea what caused this to happen. I just tried to twist open my gloss and it came apart sadly! It's still a gorgeous gloss.

Next on my Burberry grocery list:
Blossom blush - Suzy described it to me (on my skin) "like NARS Orgasm without the shimmer"
#9  Sheer Luminous Fluid Foundation (did pick up a sample - light and felt like I was wearing a more pigmented tinted moisturizer. BIG WIN!!!)

The other new designer line that swept me off my feet:
Dolce and Gabanna...stay tuned!!!