My thoughts on Edward Bess

Edward Bess…. well, first of all, I love men with beautiful long hair so he already scored a point there.  He knows what he is talking about, he scored again.

He made the right move when he decided to launch his own line of products, he most certainly brings to life the concept of  “less is more”.

Since I am a make up lover, in the morning I play with make up… a lot. When I am ready to leave home, sometimes my boyfriend, with his beautiful shiny long blond hair… 😀  tells me “Are you sure you have enough make up on???”  I can assure you that when he says that, that’s not good… it means it looks “too much”, not appropriate, too cakey or too fake. Unfortunately it does happen sometimes and he is right. With Edward Bess, surprisingly, he never comments, no comment = boyfriend happy. That’s simply how it goes.

EB started by creating his lipstick range in 2006, then in 2010 he launched the face and eye products.
The first time I heard of this brand it was via Makeupalley. Many were raving about his eyeshadows or his bronzer and after checking out the products, I ordered a few of them. My collection grew and today I can show you some of the EB products with a few swatches.

The colors are not that unique, but the results are fantastic.

I will not list you all the products he is currently selling because this could change but you can find his product range on his web site, in Sephora, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Zuneta and probably in more online shops.

Powder blushes and bronzer

I own the three Imperiale Blushes and also the bronzer in Daydream. It’s difficult to swatch a bronzer but you can trust me that this one will not look orange. I also love how natural the blushes look on the skin but I would love another few shades in this range, probably a peach one. I know, we don’t usually blush “peach” but I love a nice peachy blush 🙂

Quad Royale highlighters

You can use these on the eyes, cheeks, etc.. you can play with each shade or swirl them together,  many possibilities…  I have tried to swatch each shade separately but the South of France is not very pigmented and you can barely see it.

Eye shadows and eye liners

This trio is so pigmented, the texture feels like silk. Amazing combination of colors too, perfection.

I have the two eyeliners, I love the texture but I don’t use them, I need hard-core long-lasting make up because most of the time it will not last all day. I am not saying they are not long-lasting, just not enough for me, I use other brands that work better with my eyes.

I also have the Storm eyeshadow but I forgot to put it in the pictures, I have added a swatch here.

Back to Basics palette

In my opinion, this palette is just too expensive for the amount of product it contains (55 Gbp). Size 12cm x 7.5cm x 1.5cm.

The lips

Let’s start with the square lipstick…  I am extremely disappointed by the square packaging of the lipstick, it looks like a cheap lego.
Maybe it’s only my lipstick that does that but it’s also difficult to open, you need two hands and you may knock out your neighbour in the process…
I heard Edward Bess saying in his youtube interview that he loves to see a woman open her purse and see his lipstick come out… well… won’t happen with the square one for sure, I don’t like the packaging at all.

I am confused, a Burberry lipstick is 23 Gbp, a Edward Bess lipstick is 24 Gbp…  I think the price for an EB lipstick is a bit too high.

Some of his lipsticks are square and some are round… I don’t know why, the ones in Zuneta are round and the ones on his site are square.

However, the round lipstick in Night Orchid is one of my favorite lipsticks ever. My favorite combination is Chanel Bois de Rose lip liner with this EB Night Orchid and the By Terry Gold Digger lip gloss. Extremely flattering combination.

I have the lip liner but I don’t really like the lasting power or the color, the texture is creamy and very comfortable but it does not last long enough on my lips.

Compact rouge lips and cheeks

I love them, really beautiful but again, I find them too expensive for the little amount… Also the pans are not glued to the compact so they keep falling, that’s why I always get dirt in them !!! I always have to clean them and waste product… I should glue them actually and stop complaining… 😀

But I have a problem : Le Metier de Beaute Creme Fresh tints for lips and cheeks cost 24 Gbp for 5 grams. Edward Bess Compact rouge lips and cheeks cost Gbp 30 for … 1.5 grams.  This is not a typo.  It’s shocking and revolting.

Brushes… 

He does not have many brushes, he pretends you don’t need more. He only has one for the eyes and one for the cheeks, plus the little ones included in some palettes. Here is a picture of the eye brush, it’s a nice dense versatile brush but for me not enough to complete a look. It would be nice if he had also a nice pencil brush.

Bottom line

I don’t like the packaging, it looks and feels cheap and is sometimes a bit difficult to open, for example the powder blushes, the square lipsticks, the cheek and lip compact, since the Soft Trio is the same packaging as the blushes, same problem. I am just sad that the price tag is so high for the cheap looking packaging and the small amount of product you get.

My favorite items are the Soft Smoke trio, the compact rouge in Island Rose and the lipstick in Night Orchid. I don’t have any foundation because that’s something quite difficult to match online and I don’t have access to the counters where I live.

I recommend this line to every one, if you are scared of make up but you want to wear some and still look natural, sexy and not tacky, this is for you, but the price in my opinion is also pretty scary and I have a problem with it.

Did you try it and do you think it’s worth the price tag ? I would love to read your opinion on this brand. Thank you for reading !