I’ve been eagerly waiting for Burberry to release their full line of eye brushes. If you’ve been to a Burberry counter at one of the few select Nordstrom locations, you will notice they have a full range of face and eye makeup brushes for use, but to date, there are only four available for sale: the mini face brush ($52), No. 09 Socket Line Brush ($38), No. 10 Definition Liner Brush ($32) and No. 11 Eye Shaper Brush ($38). Visit Nordstrom.com – Burberry Beauty for more details.
Top is No. 09, Bottom is No. 10
I picked No. 09 a fluffy black-bristled brush and No. 10 a pointed smudge brush during Nordstrom’s Trend Show at South Coast Plaza last month. The brushes are beautifully crafted with sleek long handles in black and dark silver. Both of the brushes I picked up are made in France. The bristles are very soft and feel gentle when brushed on the skin. The size of the handles are perfect – not too long and not too chubby. They feel very nice in the hands and are easy to hold.
Burberry Eye Brush No. 09 is very similar to a number of other fluffy brushes. Compared to MAC, Stila and Edward Bess, the Burberry is the least dense, but most similar to Stila’s #9. It still has enough bristles in it to allow control, but this is best suited for blending colors on the lid or for a very soft wash of color. I personally prefer something a bit denser to apply color better, but the Burberry is still lovely, although not a must-have for me since there are other similar options from other brands.
Burberry Eye Brush No. 10 is a soft pointed detail brush good for the corners of the eyes or for smudging darker colors. It’s very soft making this ideal for those with sensitive eyes. This works beautifully with the darker Burberry eyeshadows to create a soft smokey eye by blending out darker shades to soften harsh edges.
Have these made it into my favorites list? (My must-haves were featured here last February.) They are well-made and very high quality, but since I have a sizeable collection of brushes, I didn’t find these to be must-haves. I personally believe there are brushes out there that are less expensive that will achieve the same result. However, if you are looking to expand your brush collection the brushes by Burberry are still worth looking at if you have a Burberry counter near you. I personally won’t buy brushes without being able to touch/test in person first, had I not been able to see these in person I would have not purchased them. Still, if you are able to go to a counter, you will see that the brushes are aesthetically pleasing and have a functional design with well crafted bristles for flawless makeup application.
A few other great resources to check out in case you’ve missed them. Café Makeup has photographed the entire brush line here and reviewed two of the eye brushes here. The Non-Blonde has reviewed No. 11 here.
Overall, I like, but don’t love. I simply have too many brushes as it is. I have used both for a few weeks now, both have gone through one brush-washing. Still, Burberry Beauty’s brush line shows promise, especially if they release the other brushes for sale. I have my eye on a few already and am eagerly waiting for their release. The brushes by Burberry are soft, well designed, delicate and gentle but not flimsy. I think many will find them great staple tools.
