Edward Bess Berry Chic Travel Palette

The high end brand, Edward Bess recently released two gorgeous travel palettes: 'Back to Basics', which consists of neutral brown shades (perfect for every day wear I would say!), and a more colourful palette called, 'Berry Chic' (reviewed here) which consists of pink, berry and plum colours.  I had been craving for berry-inspired palette for a while (something I'd seen long ago, but missed out on from Bobbi Brown), and so I was very excited when Edward Bess came out with it and decided to purchase this one out of the two.

The palette includes the essentials for travel: a cheek and lip stain, allover highlighter, eyeshadow quad, and lip gloss duo complete with a dual-ended application brush (a lip brush on one end and an eye brush on the other).

A simple, yet very sleek black plastic packaging that is fairly light - convenient for travel.

Above: description of the contents of the palette and the amount of product for each.

Above: List of ingredients for each component in the palette (click to enlarge).

Above, inside the travel palette compact.  Very large mirror and dual-ended lip & eye shadow brush included.

Up close L - R: cheek & lip colour, highlighter, eye shadow quad and two lip glosses.

• Cheek and Lip Color: deep berry/plum cream product for cheeks and lips.  Though the colour is quite deep, it actually takes some layering to build a decent amount of intensity on my olive/tanned skin tone.  So, you won't have to worry about putting too much on on the first go!  It's very easy to blend and looks very natural.  Note, a downside of this product is that it is a cream formulation and is not long lasting at all so you will need to reapply over time.  Prime your face first, especially if you have oily skin, and you can set it by layering translucent face powder or blush powder of similar shade on top to make it last a bit longer.
• Highlighter: very pale pink with lots of fine shimmers.  It's actually nicely subtle when blended out onto the face, so you can use it just on the high points or all over.  Again, you won't have the problem of looking like a disco-ball here.  It kind of reminds me of the subtle shimmers that the Guerlain Meteorites powder imparts on the skin.
• Eye shadow quad: (clockwise from top) soft, off-white/ivory with a satin finish (tiny bit of shimmer), plum with pinkish hue and fine shimmers (the most shimmery-looking of the quad), warm brown with fine shimmers, and a warm pink - also with fine shimmers.  The shimmers are very subtle on the eyes and I love the look of it.  It just adds that extra something special.  The plum/berry inspired colours and hint of shimmer looks extremely flattering with my brown eyes.  I love it!  I would say it would suit most people and when layered altogether - just makes a really wearable eye look.  (Layer more of the brown shade if you are concerned about wearing red/pink coloured eye shadows - this colour just brings it all together and makes it more wearable).  The eye shadows have excellent pigmentation, really buttery soft and blend like a dream.  The eye shadow brush it comes with is perfect for applying the quad.  It picks up a decent amount of product easily by tapping very gently into the product (so you don't need to work it much into the pan at all and get powder everywhere and potentially contaminate other pan in the palette!).  The eye brush applies and blends the eye shadows so quickly and easily.  This eye shadow quad is definitely my favourite component of the palette.  It's my first time to try the shadows from the Edward Bess brand and I'm extremely impressed.  Simply outstanding!
• Lip Glosses: (top to bottom) very sheer, pale pink with a slightly purple hue (looks almost clear on my pigmented lips) with fine shimmers that impart a nice sheen on the lips; deep berry shade with good coverage (it colours the darker areas of my lips extremely well to give a perfectly even coverage). The latter shade also gives a lovely sheen and looks very natural on me (like 'my lips but better') - this is my second favourite item in the palette. Note, don't be fooled by this colour in the pan as it initally appears more purple. However, once you use it, you can see it's actually more red - see the photo below.  The lip glosses are not your typical lip gloss in that they are very balm-like and waxy in texture.  They have a slightly tingly sensation on the lips for some reason, but it does not bother me.  There is no noticeable taste, but they do have a fairly strong scent of berries (which is apt given the name of the palette), which lingers for a while.  I can be sensitive to scents, so while it hasn't put me off, I personally could do less of the scent or just do without it.  Those who are sensitive may want to test this out first.  I love the lip brush included!

Above: swatches (L - R) - cheek and lip color blended, cheek and lip color, and highlighter.

Above: Eye shadow swatches (L - R) - warm brown, warm pink, plum with pink undertones, and ivory.

Above: swatches (L - R) - berry lip gloss and sheer pink with purple hue lip gloss.

Overall
Highly recommend this if you are after adding some colour to your look, but still want it to look fairly natural and wearable for every day.  The quality of the eye shadows alone is exceptional.  The colours are brilliantly put together.  Very chic indeed, as the name suggests.  I am definitely very interested to try more Edward Bess eye shadows in future.  Overall, I think this palette along with the perfect dual-ended brush (yes, it is not only usable, but it's actually excellent!) is terrific for putting together an entire look that is really flattering for most if not all and that can be done so quickly and easily.  It's really fool-proof - a perfect travel companion wherever you go!

Price & Availability
£47.00 or US$75 and can be found at Bergdorf Goodman (NYC), Neiman Marcus online, Edward Bess online and Zuneta.com.

What do you think of this palette?  Have you tried it, or are you tempted to try it?

Thanks for reading! xo