Happy Mother's Day! ^_^ As promised in my
previous sneak peek post, here are my thoughts, swatches and (plenty!!) more photos of the new
Burberry Lip & Cheek Bloom. I picked up four of the six shades available...
Above:
No. 03 Hydrangea (bottom left),
No. 09 Poppy (bottom right),
No. 01 Rose (top left) and
No. 11 Purple Tulip (top right).
The other two shades available are
Peony (No. 05) and
Orange Blossom (No. 07).
The Beauty Professor has swatches
of Orange Blossomhere.
"An airy, petal-soft flush of colour inspired by the hues of an English country garden."
But, first let's have a look at the packaging...
Packaging
The packaging from Burberry usually never fails to impress me. The Lip & Cheek Blooms are no exception. They come in a luxurious, square glass jar with a plastic cap embossed with the iconic Burberry check and the ever-so-sleek, signature gunmetal finish. I will say, however, that being a square-shaped it can be a bit tricky to ensure you have the cap placed correctly before twisting to close. I'm sure that if you start twisting without realising the cap isn't actually level with the jar, you would eventually damage the plastic cap! So just thought I'd share the caution - fortunately, I haven't come to the point of damaging it, but it can be tricky and a bit annoying when you find it's not twisting correctly! >_< I think it would have been more practical to have round jars to avoid this issue, but I'm sure Burberry wanted to make their whole beauty line aesthetically pleasing and consistent by having everything square.
Size
There's 3.5g / 0.12 oz of product in each jar. Below is the size of the jar with respect to my slightly smaller than average hand. ;)
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Here's how it compares to the Tom Ford Cream Color For Eyes.
The Lip & Cheek Bloom (below right) is only slightly smaller in length than the Burberry Sheer Eye Shadow compacts (below left).
Below are the product description labels on the bottom of the glass jars and also allows you to see the actual product and hence, shade itself.
Made in France.
More happy snaps! ^_^
Pigmentation, Texture, Feel & Application
All of the shades have excellent pigmentation, and you need particularly
very little of the more vibrant shades such as
Poppy and
Purple Tulip. The
Lip & Cheek Bloom have an interesting and unique texture. It is a bit like the
Chanel Cream Blushes in that they have a cream to powder-like feel, but also have a slightly airy, mousse-like consistency. This combination makes it very velvety and appears transparent on the skin so the colour although intense, can easily still look like a
natural,
glowing flush that fades seamlessly towards the outer edges. They have a close-to-powder-dry to powder-dry finish (no tackiness or dewiness). When dabbed with a clean finger on the lips, the more vibrant shades of the
Lip & Cheeks (like
Poppy and
Purple Tulip) look like you've been eating berries - really
gorgeous. It seems to naturally leave a more intense colour in the inner centre of the lips (where pigment tends to stick much more easily) fading softly towards the outer edges of the lips making your lips look more full and youthful. *
Joy* :)
When swatched, you will notice it seems the product doesn't go on as evenly (see heavy swatches below), but on the cheeks, it applies much more easily with either a clean finger or a stippling brush. As with general makeup application, it is best to build the colour intensity by starting with as little product first and apply more layers as required. I find the best way to apply it is with circular motions starting from the apple of the cheeks where the colour should be more intense and then blending out the edges (preferably with another clean finger or brush). If you have dry/dehydrated skin like I do at present and/or have any dry, flaky patches on the skin or lips (if you're applying on the lips), I recommend exfoliating and prepping them with moisturiser/lip balm before-hand so the product doesn't cling to them and emphasise them when viewed up close.
Surprisingly, these did not feel drying on my currently chapped, dry lips. It felt very velvety smooth, weightless and comfortable whilst on, despite not necessarily feeling more nourished after it has faded.
Longevity
I found that these had supreme longevity on my normal to dry cheeks. I wore it for a full twelve hours and it had little fading by the end of that period before removing and cleansing. So I'm very impressed with this as it matches the equally long-lasting Chanel Cream Blushes. I haven't fully tested the longevity on the lips though as I did have a very (olive) oily (hence, delicious! LOL) pasta dish for lunch, which pretty much removed it after the meal. I suspect if you didn't have oily food then it would be fairly long-lasting, too.
Colours & Finish
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Rose (No. 01) is a light pink with no shimmer. This shade would suit fair to light skin tones. I was hoping this would be very similar to my much loved
Chanel Cream Blush in Inspiration, but unfortunately, this one does look to ashy (as it has more of a white, pastel leaning) against my medium to tanned (~NC30-35) skin and too light on my naturally, blue-toned, very pigmented lips. So, I prefer to make use of it by mixing it with one of the other deeper shades such as Hydrangea. I'm not sure why, but this shade is a little more wet/tacky in texture than the other shades I have - it may just be the one I received or may be the case for all Rose shades (I'm not sure). Not that it really matters, because it still feels almost close to powder-like dry on the cheeks once blended out. Just an observation. ;-) (Let me know if you experienced the same thing in a comment below!)
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Hydrangea (No. 03) is a medium, blue-toned pink with no shimmer. This shade would suit many skin tones and great for a no-fuss, every day wear.
Poppy (No. 09) is a gorgeous, uber bright, lively, cheerful poppy red. I'd say this is my favourite of the lot if I had to pick one. ^_^ I think it would suit many if not all skin tones. If you love bright blushes like I do, you will definitely *need* this. ;-) [#enabler] I was initially worried that from seeing online promotional images, it was more coral as I don't particularly suit coral shades, but this doesn't really have any coral or orange leaning at all to my eye. It's very much red, but a light and bright version that really lifts your complexion and face entirely. :D Gotta love that especially for those with olive, yellow-toned skin like I do which tend to look dull/sallow. I don't have anything that is red and quite as brightening as this in my collection so I'm loving it. ^_^
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Purple Tulip (No. 11) is a beautiful, pink-purple shade - it's very much akin to the name (i.e. the flower)! This one also has no shimmer (I suspect all the shades available do not have shimmer - let me know otherwise in a comment below if you pick up or see any of the other two shades in person). I'd say this is a very close second favourite of mine out of the four (*maybe* equal with the everyday, non-fuss Hydrangea) >_< It's a fantastic colour to wear on both cheeks and lips for autumn, winter and spring in my opinion and a shade that is unique in my collection.
Heavy Swatches
For reference, all swatches are applied on my olive, medium to tanned skin (~NC30-35) and photographed indoors using a strobe. A clean finger was used to swatch/apply and no primer was used to enhance or affect any of the shades.
Comparison Swatches
Swatches (Blended Out)
Below are how the shades look when applied and blended out (roughly how I would apply on my cheeks).
On My Lips...
Below are how the Lip & Cheek Bloom shades look on my naturally, blue-toned, pigmented lips. You can easily build the colour intensity more if you wish by adding my layers - but this is how I would normally prefer to wear them for day.
Ingredients
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My Favourite Way to Wear Lip & Cheek Bloom
I find the best and most flattering way to wear these (especially the more vibrant shades) is simply to showcase them on the cheeks and lips, and by keeping a fresh looking face with a light to medium coverage base (nothing too heavy/full coverage or overly matte/flat - it's ok to keep your natural skin showing through a little - including any cute freckles! ;-) - conceal any obvious blemishes), and well-groomed (fill-in any gaps very subtly, definitely nothing too defined or "drawn on") eye brows. You can either leave any naturally, darker pigmentation on the eye lids as it is, or add a wash of a brown (neutral to warm) eye shadow that is a bit darker than the rest of your face (such as Burberry Sheer Eye Shadow in Almond for my skin tone) for natural-looking definition. I prefer to leave my naturally very straight eye lashes uncurled (yes you read right!), and without mascara (yes you read right again!) - leaving these as is make you look so much younger and more natural). That's it! The overall look just focuses on the cheeks and lips and an overall, effortless, very youthful, lively complexion. All-in-all - the result is a very Burberry-esque look...and a look that I personally love and prefer. Have a go and let me know what you think!
Overall
I am loving these! I highly recommend the vibrant shades in particular: Poppy (a must for everyone), Purple Tulip (another must-have if you love a wearable, unique purple for cheeks and lips) and Hydrangea (for more every day wear) in that order. Burberry have truly excelled in the delivering the vibrant shades especially, with gorgeous, unique textures that blend out effortlessly and seamlessly to make the skin look fresh and alive without looking comical or unnatural.
Availability
Available now for Aussies from select David Jones stores (I purchased mine online), Net-A-Porter.com who ship internationally and Nordstrom for USA customers. I've not found any indication yet as to whether or not these are limited edition, so I assume they are permanent - do comment below if you know for sure.
Hope this was helpful. :)
Thanks for stopping by! ^_^ xo
Which colours of the Lip & Cheek Bloom will you be getting?
