Eyes, Reviews

Review: Burberry Sheer Eye Shadow Part 1 – Pale Barley, Almond and Rosewood

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I love reviewing new stuff, but I’ve also got some oldies but goodies in my makeup stash that I love and therefore think everyone should know about. At the top of that list is Burberry Sheer Eye Shadow. I don’t have nearly the whole eyeshadow line (I wish!) but the post was starting to get really long so I’m breaking it up into three parts. Here’s the first one.

Packaging

Burberry Eyeshadow

The packaging for the eyeshadows is very similar to the Burberry blushes. The box is thick, textured cardboard printed with the Burberry name, product weight, etc.

Burberry EyeshadowThe compact comes stored in a little velvet pouch with the Burberry check pattern on it. I’ve never used them, but they’d be handy for traveling to keep the compact from getting scratched.

Burberry Eyeshadow

Burberry Eyeshadow

The compact is like a miniature version of the blushes – metal, shiny and etched with the Burberry check. The back side is labeled with the color and product info. The side that opens has the name etched into it, so I make sure to always face that side forward when I put the compacts away – otherwise I fumble around trying to figure out which side opens the next time I use them (I’m not a morning person).

Burberry Eyeshadow

Just for size reference, here’s an eyeshadow compact (left) next to a blush (right). The eyeshadows come with a small sponge applicator. They’re nice as sponge applicators go, but I prefer my full-sized brushes. I’m still of the opinion that Burberry has the nicest compacts out there. They’re a little heavy, but beautiful, and the aesthetics fit right it with their overall branding. The pans hold .088oz/2.5g of shadow, which is quite a bit compared to some similarly-priced eyeshadow singles.

Colors

I’ve decided to group the colors in the reviews the same way I store them – lighter neutrals, darker neutrals and colors. Yes, I’m a little bit obsessive about my makeup organization but that’s ok, right? Today we’ll look at the light neutrals.

Burberry Eyeshadow Pale BarleyNo. 22 – Pale Barley – I kind of hate to even put this one in here because it feels like a tease; this color was incredibly popular, and the company has reportedly had some manufacturing issues that have kept this and a few of their other popular products from being restocked. I actually missed it in the stores too, but I found one listed in a blog sale and pounced immediately. In any case, I’ll put it in here anyway in the hopes that it will be available again one day, and for comparison purposes. Pale Barley is a light golden sandy color with a pearl finish. I’m tempted to call it a shimmer, but this finish is much more subtle and sophisticated than what comes to mind when I hear that word. I use this one mainly as a lid color, though it could work in the crease for a nude eye or on lighter skin tones.

Burberry Eyeshadow Almond

No. 06 – Almond – Almond is a warm medium brown matte that works beautifully in the crease for a natural look. I think it would also work well as an all-over base or blending color for skin tones a little darker than mine. It’s probably dupeable (color-wise), but I’d say something close to this shade is a staple that everyone should have.

Burberry Eyeshadow Rosewood

No. 09 – Rosewood – This is one of my favorite eyeshadow colors of all time. It’s a light taupey beige shimmer that pulls toward pink or purple. It picks up a little bit on the colors around it, making it easy to use in a wide variety of looks. I use it as a lid or crease color.

Texture & Wear

Burberry Eyeshadow Swatches - Pale Barley, Almond, Rosewood

Left to right: Pale Barley, Almond, Rosewood

Burberry is one of my favorite eyeshadow formulas for sure. The colors are extremely pigmented. Between the fact that they have a lot of product in them and you only need to use a little bit at a time, one eyeshadow should last quite a long time. They glide on smoothly and don’t really need any effort at all to blend, which makes them my go-to when I don’t have time to fuss with my eyeshadow (in other words, almost always). The texture is very soft but not powdery, though some excess product can get kicked up if you really dig your brush into the pan. The pearl (shimmer?) shades feel almost creamy. The mattes are a little drier in texture, but not stiff, and still easy to apply and blend. Burberry also has the distinction of being the only shadow that would last an entire workday on me without creasing before I discovered NARS eye primer. With NARS primer, it doesn’t budge or fade until I take it off.

In Short: These are definitely products where I feel like I got what I paid for (in a good way!).

Burberry Sheer Eye Shadows ($29) are available at nordstrom.com and saks.com

4 Comments

  1. Samantha M

    October 24, 2013 at 11:00 am

    Gorgeous shade! I’ve never tried burberry’s shadows but i’ve heard that the formula is fantastic and so blendable.

    1. niccigilland

      October 25, 2013 at 8:29 am

      I definitely recommend them!

  2. Jillian

    October 25, 2013 at 2:58 am

    Love their shadows! I can’t wait to get their blush in “Tangerine” once it’s restocked. I’ve heard they’re just in the process of switching distributors rather than manufactures so there shouldn’t be any changes in the product formulas. I have to admit… I’m considering selling a non-vital organ in exchange for “Pale Barley”. I’ve been stalking blog sales too so hopefully it shows up eventually.

    1. niccigilland

      October 25, 2013 at 8:31 am

      Meh, that second kidney seems a little redundant anyway, right? But it looks like Nordstrom has Tangerine in stock online!

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