Burberry Beauty Light Glow Natural Blushes – The Beauty Look Book

This month marks the two year anniversary since Burberry launched their Beauty Line at select Nordstrom counters. To celebrate, Nordstrom is offering a limited-edition set of Lip Glows featuring the top 3 sellers for their Anniversary Sale this year in Rosewood, Blush and Nude Beige. The glosses are all full-sized and will retail for $65. In addition, Nordstrom San Francisco is offering a special gift with a $125 purchase which includes a black Burberry cosmetic bag, mirrored compact, mini lipstick and mini Body fragrance (see the details and photos on Cafe Makeup ). You can ask for Adina at the Burberry Counter at Nordstrom San Francisco (415) 243-8500 ext. 1422.

Those who are fortunate enough to have visited a Burberry Beauty counter in person know first hand that everything in the line is of extremely high quality. The products are very well made and the packaging is heavy-weight and sturdy. The blushes, lip colors and glosses are lightly scented with a soft floral scent, but it’s something I find subtle for my sensitive nose. I’ve reviewed a number of Burberry items before, but since the brand is still rather exclusive to a select few counters, many have asked for a comprehensive post on all the blushes. Up until this month, I had purchased all except two of the blushes. Burberry kindly sent me two for review.

To recap: Burberry’s blushes are called Light Glow Natural Blushes. They retail for $42 each for 7g/0.24 oz. and are made in Italy. Each blush comes in a mirrored square compact and small angled brush. The quality and shape/cut of the bristles is very good the brush is big enough to contour the cheek. I personally prefer a full-sized brush, but the ones in the compact work for when you need a touch-up. Each blush comes with an embossed pattern in the signature Burberry check pattern. The texture of these is finely milled, almost powdery to the touch. When you swipe these with a finger or a brush, the texture looks so lightweight it appears they might apply chalky. Not the case at all.

At first glance, I did a quick pass-over all the blushes. In the compacts they looked so dark and when swatched on the hand it appeared they would be almost drab on the skin. I must advise you to have one of the counter artists apply this on your face. The application of these is absolutely flawless and the colors are easily layerable to control the intensity. These are among my favorites for blushes. I’ve already hit pan on Earthy and Peony (I’m on my second for each). Most of these have a matte finish on the skin but not flat. There are a couple shades that have some shimmer but it doesn’t really show up.

The description of the colors plus other resources (hope this isn’t too link-heavy):

• Russet 01 is a medium reddish burnt orange color with subtle shimmer. I thought this would be an unflattering color and too orangey but it’s surprisingly flattering. Much like Chanel Tempting Beige and NARS Lovejoy. This one provides a gorgeous contour. See it here, on Cafe Makeup, on Orange2LA and Temptalia.
• Rose 03 is a deeper warm pink rose. There is tiny bit of shimmer to this. Again, even though it’s on the darker side, it’s still very wearable and makes a lovely flushed pink blush. This color is very pigmented so I prefer a looser brush (versus a dense one) to apply. See Rose also featured on Cafe Makeup and crystalis007.
• Cameo 02 is a dusty classic rose. This was the first blush I tried from the line and thought it would be too dark. I don’t recommend this one for oily skin as it did darken slightly. Make sure your cheek area is well powdered (not too heavy but just well-covered) to help the color be truer to what you see in the compact. This one seemed similar to other Bobbi Brown blushes (like Blushed and Desert Rose) but what I love about Burberry Cameo is that even if it did darken a little on some occasions, it doesn’t turn muddy or brownish. See Cameo on Temptalia and Blush is the New Black.
• Peony 04 is a light pink in the compact that looks powdery. On the skin it’s more of a neutral medium angelic pink. It looks a lot better on the face than in the compact and swatched, but still it’s true to color when applied with a brush (sounds confusing but it’s a beautiful shade). This is one of my favorites. It’s easy to wear everyday or coordinate with a stronger lip. See this one on Lisa Eldridge, Fruity Lashes and a Touch of Blusher.
• Blossom 05 is bright coral shimmer. This is a stunning color on the cheeks. Another very pigmented shade but still easy to wear and layer. See this beauty on The Non-Blonde, The Ultimate Makeup and Orange2LA.
• Tangerine 06 is a soft browned-peach. Not quite what I’d envision “tangerine” to be, but more of a faded peachy brown. This is a gorgeous shade on fairer skintones but is still dark enough for medium-tan skintones. I think it’s particularly stunning on Liz at Cafe Makeup and Christine from Temptalia. It’s a classic.
• Earthy 07 is a matte taupe. When I first saw it I found it looked like death. On the skin it works wonderfully as a contour. Some might find it wears better when layered with a warmer color (such as Russet, Tangerine or Blossom). I think adding pinks personally makes it look chalky and more grey. Adding something with warmth creates a natural contour. Some have told me they use this as an eyeshadow, I personally haven’t tried it that way though. See the natural contours on Messy Wands, comparisons on Cafe Makeup and also on a look at Orange2LA.
• Misty 08 light powder blue pink. It’s very similar to Peony, just a few shades lighter and more blue-based. I prefer Peony only because I have medium-toned skin. You can see it definitely shows up on Delicate Hummingbird. On Makeup and Beauty Blog it’s more subtle. For me, I’m somewhere in between.

Swatches:

I personally really like Burberry Beauty blushes. Yes, there are many other brands that offer similar neutrals, but I like the texture of these blushes and the fact that they don’t turn muddy or brownish on my skin (like some neutrals can like MAC Prism/Cubic, Bobbi Brown Tawny/Blushed/Sand Pink etc.). $42 is steep for a blush but Burberry has made these very high quality and well worth the price in my opinion. Burberry Beauty can be found at select Nordstrom counters and also at a few Saks stores. It’s also available online at both retailers. Note that Nordstrom.com appears to only offer a few of the shades. This appears to be a glitch. My suggestion would be to order through a counter to take advantage of the gift with purchase offerings.

Those who want to shop the sale and take advantage of the gift, click on the Burberry tag below to search for prior Burberry reviews. Nude-pink lip lovers will find a diverse range of neutral lipsticks in the line. My personal top ten picks (all featured on this blog):

Peony Blush, Russet Blush, Blossom Blush
Cameo Pink Lip Stick, Rosewood Lipstick
Nude Beige Lip Gloss, Blush Lip Gloss
Rosewood Eyeshadow, Midnight Brown Eyeshadow, Pale Barely Eyeshadow

Have you tried any Burberry Beauty blushes? Thoughts? Favorites? For those who have tried other things in the line, what are the items you love?

Russet, Peony, Blossom, Tangerine, Earthy and Misty were all purchased by me.

Two shades in Rose and Cameo were provided for review.