Burberry Beauty Sheer Eyeshadow- 09 Rosewood

Today I bring you the review I teased this past weekend when I wouldn't reveal what product exactly I was testing that was wrapped in the Burberry plaid.


After spending some serious time looking through other bloggers' reviews, it was this photo from one of my favorite blogs, The Beauty Look Book that sold me on the idea of finally ordering one of Burberry Beauty's single eyeshadows.  I've been looking for a good pink shadow for awhile after regretting passing on Tom Ford's In the Pink trio from last fall.  Before I even realized it, Burberry Beauty Sheer Eyeshadow- 09 Rosewood had flown into my shopping bag at Nordstrom and I'd already clicked confirm before I even registered what I'd done.

I've been itching to try out Burberry Beauty for a long time, but I've been frustrated with the brand for their Cali-centric approach to actually letting people see the products. Still, I took a leap of faith because the nearest counter is longer than I'd drive for eyeshadow.  Just be warned, I plan to cover this in-depth since most of the country has no access in person to Burberry Beauty and I had lots of questions despite reading every review I could find online.

Let's talk about the line for a moment.  Currently the Sheer Eyeshadow formula is Burberry's only offering for single shadows.  As of today, I spotted 21 colors online at Nordstrom, 18 at Burberry.com, and 14 at Saks. One of the frustrating aspects of this brand is that need to shop around to find the colors you're looking for.  They retail for $29 for 2.5g of shadow- in line with other high-end brands.


Here's the box.  I mention this only because it's a textured cardboard.  I think the second photo shows that the best.  This box itself jumps out from the others.

And here's the side which shows the shade:

OK, that's all well and good.  Let's talk about the packaging a bit.  I know this is ridiculously detailed for most readers, but this is the first non-nail item I've purchased from Burberry Beauty so this is all new to me.

Like most brands, Burberry wraps their packaging in a dustcover. I can't be bothered with these generally, but the plaid makes this irresistable.

The packaging itself is a gunmetal grey and heavy:

The top has the same Burberry plaid:

And finally, here's the bottom:

Overall, I give the packaging an A-.  It's appropriately sturdy and has enough weight to it that you don't worry about it being knocked off a vanity easily.  I love the Burberry plaid, and the gunmetal grey.  The only negative to me is that the shiny surface just invites fingerprints.

The packaging is beautiful once you open the lid.

The eyeshadow is recessed just enough that there's no worries of fallout going everywhere and over the little foam applicator.  It's tucked into a perfectly-sized inset, but I rarely use foam applicators. For this formula, however, I may consider it.  I'll get to that in a moment.  All eyeshadows are pressed with the Burberry plaid, which is a nice touch.  The case itself is smaller than Chanel or Dior singles- but that's just fine by me.  It's a great size to tuck into a makeup bag that you bring in your purse for touch-ups.  With this formula, you'll probably want to make some.

Let's take a moment to talk about Rosewood.  It's a beautiful metallic pink with hints of brown undertones.  It's a true neutral, and I can see this color working either as a lid or crease color.  I've been looking for a nice, workable pink that isn't "pink pink", if you know what I mean. This almost taupey mauve is pretty much what I've been seeking out.

So far all of the photos I've been showing you are outside, in natural light, but not in direct light. They've been hiding the metallic edge to this shade.

This photo is outside, in indirect light, with flash:

I got up early on my day off when I heard the forecast was for a sunny day just to get a couple of photos of Rosewood.  It was worth dealing with the mud and snow.

Side note: you can see these were later since the pan had already been swatched at this point.

And just to complete the range of lighting conditions to show how this shade really looks...

Inside, without flash- where it looks brown:

Inside, with flash (where the mauvey-rose tones are prominent):

This is the type of shadow that's suddenly very interesting to me. Once upon a time, I would've dismissed this as boring.  It's certainly not.

I guess I need to start believing beauty companies when they name a product "sheer."  Because Burberry's Sheer Eyeshadows are exactly that.  I was shocked at the lack of color payoff when I first swatched with a MAC 282SE. I switched to a MAC 219SE in order to get the color more intensely packed for the swatches.  On the eye, however, I found that my trusty MAC 239 worked nicely, both in terms of getting good color payoff and blending.


In all of these photos, the densely-packed swatch from the MAC 219SE is on the left and the diffuse, sheer wash from the MAC 282SE is on the right.

Outside, no flash (no direct sunshine):

And here's the same swatches, same constraints, but with the camera's flash turned on:

The metallic edge isn't visible in the photographs, but it's there in real life.

Here's the same swatches, indoors (with no natural light bleeding in):

No flash:

With flash:

The last photo, with flash, shows the metallic sheen the best. On the eye, it's subtle and wearable.

In terms of the formula, through several days of testing I've come to enjoy how sheer but buildable it is.  I experienced some fallout, but that really depended upon both the type of brush I used and the amount of shadow I was attempting to pack onto my eye at any point.  A light hand, good brushes, and patience are the keys to working successfully with this formula.

I tested this with NARS Pro Prime Eyeshadow Primer, my go-to primer on a daily basis.  I have major problems with fading if I fail to use primer, so I can't speak to wear time on bare lids with this shadow. It was actually unseasonably warm this past weekend, and I was a bit sweaty at times running errands.  On both days, my makeup looked like I'd just applied it at hour 8-10.  There was no fade-out and no fall-out throughout the day.  For a sheer shadow, I'm impressed with the longevity. 


Bottom Line: I really enjoy Burberry Beauty Sheer Eyeshadow- 09 Rosewood. I love that it's a permanent shade.  At $29, it's in line with Chanel and Dior.  The packaging makes it feel like a luxury splurge.  I find Rosewood to be a beautiful color that most would enjoy having in their collection.  It's a pink-mauvey-taupe, depending on application and the light.  I can see this becoming one of my go-tos, and it's successfully filled that "I want a workable pink" urge I've been fighting.  Just be prepared to work with the formula when you apply it and you'll enjoy this shadow. As for me, I think I'll be planning my next purchase soon.