A few swatched comparisons to help give you a better idea of the colors from my recent Sunday Riley Eyeshadow haul.
First set, Fool’s Gold and Burnt Eggplant comparisons, left to right: Sunday Riley Fool’s Gold, Burberry Midnight Brown, NARS Mekong, Bobbi Brown Black Cocoa, Sunday Riley Burnt Eggplant, MAC Circa Plum Pigment, Edward Bess Mystery and Burberry Taupe Brown
Second set, Lady Godiva and Leprechaun comparisons, left to right (swatches below will demonstrate how what you see in the pan doesn’t really translate to what is swatched, Lady Godiva shows no mauvey signs in the pan but on the arm you can see how it pulls cooler): Sunday Riley Lady Godiva, Burberry Rosewood, MAC Coco Pigment, Sunday Riley Leprechaun, Lancome Erika F., MAC Greensmoke
Sunday Riley Prismasilk Eye Colors are finely milled and richly pigmented eyeshadows. I fell in love with Leprechaun on The Non-Blonde and agree whole-heartedly with her review. While at Barneys I was particularly impressed by the color selection and I had similar challenges to Gaia narrowing down my initial picks. I of course was drawn to the more complex shimmer neutrals and picked out Lady Godiva, Fool’s Gold, Leprechaun and Burnt Eggplant ($26 each).
As I swatched each color at the counter, I found that many of the shimmery shades applied slightly different than what you see in the pan. This is due to the blend of many different shimmers and pigments. I wouldn’t call any of them duo-chrome, but the shimmers are quite complex.
Lady Godiva 104 is a sandy-beachy shimmer neutral with a hint of mauve. I found it almost identical to Sanders 100. In the pan they looked practically identical. On the skin I felt Lady Godiva was slightly cooler-toned. On the skin, I find that Lady Godiva darkens a bit to add a bit of a paler-mauvey-nude-champagne finish. It works as an all over lid shade, layering creates a contour color, or you can use it as a highlight. The texture is very soft (think along the lines of Urban Decay) and easy to blend, although I do believe you will need to experiment with different brushes. I used a Bobbi Brown Brush on one eye and a Laura Mercier on the other. Both created a bit of powdery debris in the pan and I had fallout when applying. Using my Edward Bess brush picked up the most color without having any fallout. Do note that once on the eye I feel these last all day.
Fool’s Gold 111 is a gorgeous deep blackened bronze with gold flecks. It rivals Burberry’s Midnight Brown. I did find that Fool’s Gold is best when applied with a damp brush. It blends/smokes out easily. Applied dry I ended up with tiny bits of gold glitter and brown shimmers all over the cheeks. At Barneys, the SA showed this layered over Casablanca (a shimmery steel blue grey) and the result was stunning. I didn’t pick up Casablanca because I found it too blue but I have to admit I was tempted. Fool’s Gold changes color depending on how the light hits the pan. Fallout issues aside when applied dry, I do think this applies much better than NARS Night Series eye colors.
Leprechaun 116 is summed up in full by The Non-Blonde (see her review here). Leprechaun is a beautiful mixture of olive, green, gold, brown. The shimmer factor is high but not overly so. I find it a more office-appropriate version of Lancome’s Erika F. I had fall-out issues with this color as well, but it applies beautifully dry. You just need to clean up under the eye with a q-tip.
Burnt Eggplant 128 is one of those odd-ball shades. It appears more brown in the pan but applies more plum. This one is my favorite out of all the ones I picked out. The shimmer is finely milled and applies softly as a nice contour shade. The pigment is intense but layerable. It’s a good soft plum-brown without being too harsh.
Swatched, two views:
Ingredient listing:
Overall a thumbs up. Sunday Riley Eyeshadows can be found at Barneys New York. Try this link for online access, it might be hit or miss for going through (found this via a google search): Sunday Riley Prismasilk Eye Color.
It was the week before Christmas when I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket. I was browsing Barneys.com when I came across a new brand of eyeshadow, by Sunday Riley. I instantly searched for reviews and more information and The Non-Blonde perfectly timed her review of Blushing Blush by Sunday Riley. When she raves, I listen. I was instantly intrigued but couldn’t bring myself to buy the shadows or blushes sight unseen. (The gift card instead went to a Byredo purchase.) Thankfully I was able to satisfy my curiosity and check out Sunday Riley at Barneys in Beverly Hills. The counter is located where Koh Gen Do was formerly (KGD has been shifted over to another spot in the same bay). So far for color items they only have eyeshadows and blushes. I was able to sneak a photo of the shadow display. I was told Glosses and Lipsticks are expected to arrive in a month or so.
For those new to Sunday Riley (like myself), I highly recommend you read more about her on her website SundayRiley.com. She is known for her skincare line. I am still learning more about her and as I find out more I will share what I find. Locations are on her website.
I picked 4 eyeshadows and 2 blushes. I will include swatches and descriptions in a more detailed post soon, but here is a sneak peek. Left to right: Lady Godiva, Fool’s Gold, Leprechaun and Burnt Eggplant.
First impressions are a thumbs up. Right now, I can’t always find the eyeshadows on Barneys.com. Sometimes if I google the phrase “Sunday Riley Eyeshadow Barneys” I will find the link. Sometimes it will say no page exists. Perhaps they are updating their website as the line rolls out.
Have you tried her cosmetics line yet? I’m all ears! (Better photos to come soon, these were taken at sunset so there is a slight cast due to lighting issues.)
Burberry Pale Barley No. 22 Sheer Eyeshadow ($29) is a beautiful shimmery neutral sandy beige with a complex sheen. It glows with a mixture of warm gold and neutral taupe and champagne-opalescent sparkles. Over the phone, Pale Barley was described as a color that matches the classic Burberry Trench Coats with shimmer. It just might be the most beautiful neutral I’ve ever laid eyes on. The texture is soft and smooth and the pigment is anything but sheer. I do find that Burberry eye shadows are all soft and blendable for a soft sheer wash of color but the intensity of the pigment is quite good with the paler shades. The shimmer finish is similar to Rosewood with a soft luminous sheen. Lasting power by itself was less than satisfactory, however when Pale Barley is applied over a cream shadow, it lasts all day. I’ve experimented over the past few days and tried it three different ways: over Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin, MAC Nubile Paint Pot and Laura Mercier Metallic Creme in Gold. Each one individually helped the color from the powder to stay put from morning to evening without changing the effect or color.
A few close up shots:
Left is with a heavy swatch, right is blended slightly, photos look frosty from the flash but the color is a luminous shimmer in real life:
At an angle, you can see the beautiful glowy sheen:
Creating a fresh unique neutral can be hard to do, but Burberry has pulled it off flawlessly. Pale Barley is different from anything they’ve released before and different from other neutrals I own from other brands. Here is one comparison set with Burberry Gold Trench, Almond, Taupe Brown, Rosewood, Midnight Brown and Edward Bess Intimate:
Compared to other brands I found Pale Barley unique as well. I wasn’t able to photograph the actual product in good light but did get swatches before the sun went down. Here is one more comparison set to Bobbi Brown Beige Shimmer Wash, Bobbi Brown Nude Beach Metallic, Le Metier Jojo, Le Metier Splendid Frost (taupe), Chanel Beige Lame, Chanel Safari and Urban Decay’s Naked2 Suspect.
I believe Pale Barley is a definite must-have. It’s beautiful, layerable, complex yet classic. It’s one of those shades you can wear alone (over a base that is) and just add mascara and have a finished eye look. I love that it’s a swipe-and-go type of shade that is goof-proof, fool-proof, and easy to incorporate into any look. For the woman who needs more than one color on the eyes, note that it layers well with other shades too. I purchased it sight-unseen and have no regrets. Pale Barley is a classic color and just absolute perfection on my skin. It’s a staple and I highly recommend it.
Burberry’s Spring-Summer for 2012 has just hit counters at select Nordstrom stores. To date, Burberry is limited to Nordstrom.com and only a handful of Nordstrom counters like South Coast Plaza, San Francisco & Chicago to name a few. Like many of my readers, I do not have easy access to Burberry Beauty so I rely on blog posts and tweets from my fellow bloggers to be my eyes and ears for the latest. Without them I would have no idea what to expect, although these days promotional stock/web photos are improving. My go-to resources for Burberry Spring include the following:
Many thanks to Café Makeup for taking a few moments from her busy schedule to let me know the collection arrived at Nordstrom San Francisco (I called and ordered and I’m thrilled!)
Lipstick photos for spring were tweeted by @Nordstrombeauty which you can see here
The collection has a mixture of neutrals and brights for lipsticks and glosses along with a neutral shimmery trench-coat color eyeshadow. The look is fresh but natural for this season. I don’t have the breakdown for the look but my guess is that the model appears to be wearing Devon Sunset Lipstick with Blossom Blush. {Via Nordstrom.com}
I ordered from the San Francisco Nordstrom store. All my experiences have been absolutely phenomenal. I really appreciate how well-trained and knowledgeable the Burberry artists are. They know their colors well and have always been able to help with comparisons in their own line. They also give excellent advice on how to coordinate colors. My picks: Pale Barley No. 22 Eyeshadow, Tulip Pink No. 27 Lipstick, Devon Sunset No. 28 Lipstick, Hibiscus No. 13 Lipgloss & Nude Rose No. 14 Lipgloss.
Swatches to come soon. I’ve only played with Pale Barley Eyeshadow and the Tulip Pink Lipstick so far but initial impressions are a huge thumbs up. The quality of Burberry’s eyeshadows is excellent with a buttery soft blendable texture that melts into the skin. Please hold your questions until I post individual reviews – I will say that Pale Barley is different from anything else in the Burberry Eyeshadow Collection. It looks similar to Gold Trench in the photos but it’s quite different when put together side by side.
Burberry Beauty is available in the US at a few select Nordstrom locations. The counters I know of include South Coast Plaza, San Francisco, Bellevue and Chicago. I believe there may be a few more. The entire collection is also available online at Nordstrom.com.
As promised, a comparison between Rose Envolée 31 (from Le Blanc, an Asia Exclusive Collection and Nordstrom Anniversary 2011 Exclusive) & Éclosion 34 (from Spring 2012). The underlying theme of both quads seems to be similar. Rose Envolée 31 is more pink/cool while Éclosion 34 is more peachy/warm. Do you need both? I don’t think so, but since Rose Envolée was limited to Nordstrom for a short time so other counters did not have this quad to show customers a side-by-side comparison.
Those new to Chanel might ask why one quad has round pans while the other square. The round-pan quads are made for distribution in Europe, Asia and Canada (I think) while the square-pan quads are made for distribution in the US. Other differences:
Round-pan:
baked formula which means a harder texture
typically more chalky in finish
comes with white tipped applicators
net weight is 1.2 g / .04 oz
Square-pan:
more finely milled smoother finish
comes with black sponge applicators
typically more pigmented and non-chalky
net weight is 6.8 g / .24 oz
Both Rose Envolée 31 vs. Éclosion 34 were made in France. Some of my other quads have been made in USA. Swatches below:
My preference has always been for the US formula, so if I could only have one, it would hands down be Éclosion. It’s warmer but not too warm.
Chanel Éclosion Quadra Eyeshadow ($57 for 6.8 g/0.24 oz) is the a beautiful warm-neutral palette for spring. The shades have a beautiful refined shimmer – each color has a slightly different variation of sparkle. The colors are on the warmer side but not overly so. From the top left clockwise you have:
Soft satiny glowy pale peach
Sheer sparkly gold with slightly larger shimmer flecks
Rich shimmery reddish plum brown
Sandy gold-beige with a slightly multidimensional iridescent glow
I applied this on the eyes from darkest to lightest in a layering method and it created a soft but defined glowy eye look. The overall effect was very warm with the plummy brown shade. It has gorgeous reddish tones without being too red. It works perfectly with the Blush Horizon de Chanel. Here are a few more shots and swatches, first without flash:
There is something familiar about Éclosion but I couldn’t find a dupe. Perhaps it’s just that I find each shade resembles something similar to other separate quads. Here it is compared to Shimmering Dunes and Spices:
Swatch comparisons below. A side note: for some reasons my swatches look more shimmery/frosty in the photos than these quads look in real life.
Bottom line worth every penny. It’s classic, flawless and stunning.
