Wednesday 20 January 2010

Edward Bess: International viewpoint

Edward Bess is one of those brands I have been desperate to get my hands on. I happened upon a blog post saying that they were now offering international shipping and for only $12.75 ! Great I thought and hastily went to place my order. I choose three items, selected the $12.75 shipping option and merrily placed my order. Two days later I got an email that my order had been refunded, as I had to select the UPS Next Day shipping method to account for international shipping costs. I was slightly bemused by this because no where had I seen on the site that you needed to select this shipping for international orders and I really think they need to sort this out as there are three shipping methods and you are not necessarily going to plump for the most expensive. UPS Next Day was $25, I know when you order internationally you can expect the shipping to be bunged up a bit but this still seemed quite steep. I totted up 3 lots of $29 plus $25 for shipping and decided that what it equated to was still within my normal makeup budget (including the shipping worked out about £24 a piece)
Something else I should point out that although I did get a refund for the first order it was for less than I had originally paid! It was only around £4 but to my mind a refund should be a refund of what you paid, I guess this must be due to the fluctuating exchange rate?
I got my order 11 days after I placed it and it came in an padded envelope and the postage on the outside said $5.64……..
Anyhow on with what I bought, I knew straightaway that I wanted eyeshadows in Intimate and Dusk, these seem to be the most popular and considered the most unique out of the ones on offer.
Intimate – medium slightly warm tan brown/beige, I’d say this has a glowy finish.
Dusk – taupe, more to the grey end, in some lights it looks slightly khaki. It has subtle gold shimmer.
The shadows come packaged in sleek black cases with little suede pouches. The texture is quite smooth and they blend really well, good colour payoff and they don’t fade.
Swatches below, Dusk is on the left,
I wanted to try a lipstick, and whilst the general consensus seems to be that the bulk of his lipsticks are warm toned the newer release of three shades were a better option for those cool toned.

I choose forever yours. The colour is a beautiful neutral medium rose. There is quite a lot of depth to the colour. Its not a really creamy texture but I don’t find it that drying. The pigmentation is great and it lasts well. It does have a VERY strong sweet scent.

My overall thoughts are that the colours I chose are perfect for me, the shadows combined give an effortless natural slightly smokey eye for daytime wear and the lipstick is the shade I have been looking for (so many rose coloured ones turn out red or too bright on me). I do think the quality is very high but I wouldn’t say that these blow everything else out of the water. I think the brands availability is an issue; I thought Le Metier De Beaute was seriously exclusive but Edward Bess takes it to a new level. If there was a UK site or store then I would order some more but as it stands I’ll keep an eye out for future releases but hold off ordering anything else for now.

http://www.edwardbess.com/

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review, dear Replica, I think I'll definitely hold off ordering anything from the website...as I said in a previous comment it's actually illegal to import cosmetics into Italy unless you alert the health authorities and pay a fine which would make the 25$ shipping even heavier! So...no, thank you! As much as I would like to own something from the Ed Bess line, your review just confirms that it's mainly because it's unaccessible to us in Europe...I know I can find equally great stuff in this neck of the woods! Would it be too much to ask for a lip look with forever yours?? :) xx

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  2. Hi Anna,
    $25 and a fine would not be good! I'm glad I didn't get hit for customs. I know what you mean, there does seem to be more enticement when its more difficult to get (within reason)
    I'll try and do a lip look with it this weekend, assuming the light it good,bit gloomy of late xx

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  3. It was probably the commission that your bank/credit card charged on the exchange that wasn't refunded, but it's still incredibly annoying that the website allowed you to pick the wrong shipping option and put an order through in the first place.

    These are lovely products, I am lucky that I have been able to get US friends to help me out because I don't think I'd be willing to pay that much in shipping. You did pick some lovely colours though - I adore those eyeshadows.

    The lipsticks are very heavily fragranced, I much prefer the RBR more subtle smell.

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  4. Hi Grace,
    I didn't think about the commission, that makes sense now, thanks!

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