Login / RegisterBurberry launches its classic, minimalist makeup line
During the summer, we love that sun-kissed look, so we pull out our gold shadows, peach blushes, and shimmery bronzers. During the holiday season, we can’t resist going old-school glam, and so (almost like clockwork) we invest in some razzle-dazzle sparkle and maybe dig out our favourite red lipstick. During fall, however, it’s all about understated, earthy elegance—after all, we wouldn’t want our eye shadows competing with those gorgeous tartans that seem to re-emerge right on cue every September.
That’s why the British stalwart Burberry couldn’t have picked a better time to launch its line of classic, minimalist makeup. Here we have a collection of natural, warm shades that aren’t meant to reinvent women. So be warned that after a Burberry Beauty make-over you still look like you, only better, and maybe a little more sultry.
“It’s not about putting on a mask,” says Patricia Bensimon, national makeup artist and trainer for Burberry Beauty. Bensimon recently sat down with the Straight at Holt Renfrew (737 Dunsmuir Street), where she was giving make-overs as part of the launch of the store’s Burberry Beauty counter. “It’s not transforming you. It’s actually enhancing your natural beauty with pigments that are beautiful, natural, sheer, transparent, and that let your skin breathe freely.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, the inspiration for this line is the iconic Burberry trench, as well as misty U.K. weather—again, very timely, what with the rainy season approaching on this side of the pond as well. The packaging, for example, features a nod to the coat’s famous black-and-tan plaid lining.
In terms of the line itself, there’s the ultra-sheer liquid foundation ($66), which offers just enough luminous coverage to even out skin tone and cover imperfections without leaving a cakey residue or amplifying otherwise invisible lines. This makeup basic comes in nine shades of “Trench” (Trench 01, Trench 02, et cetera).
As for the Sheer Eye Shadow ($33), there are lots of beige and brown neutrals that make eyes pop without upstaging them like vibrant hues tend to. The Almond shade, for instance, looks great brushed ever so slightly above the crease. Your eyes look bigger, but at the same time—if blended properly—it appears as though you’re barely wearing any shadow at all. Faux natural—gotta love it!
In addition to the brown and beige palette, the U.K.–based label offers some hints of English-rose pinks for the cheeks ($54) and lips ($30 to $36), as well as dramatic liners, including a beautiful navy blue ($33), to be used sparingly along the roots of the top lashes to intensify the eyes. The latter is meant to recall the sky after a heavy rainfall—not to redefine the shape of your eyes with a thick application.
“Everything is about soft and natural, so with the Burberry look you’re never going to see a harsh, harsh line,” Bensimon says. “Whether it’s lip liner or eyeliner, everything will be blended”¦ Unless the customer asks for it.”
You may get stronger definition if you request it, but there is one thing you’ll never find at a Burberry Beauty counter: “Bling, bling,” Bensimon says. “Less is more.”
Now pair all that understated grace on your face with tousled long hair and a trench coat belted loosely over bare skin (as Burberry Beauty has done in its recent ad campaigns), and you get a look that can only be described as a sexually satiated glow with a sophisticated finish. Now that’s a highly sought-after and hard-to-achieve combo if ever there was one. Bravo, Burberry.
