Exactly a month ago, a very exciting tweet popped up on my timeline. The lovely Faith from Music and Eyeliner had nominated me to receive a Burberry Kisses lipstick sample! I may or may not have done a little giddy dance right where I was sitting. Having received another Burberry lipstick in a beauty box in the past and really enjoying it, I was really looking forward to the day when my sample arrived. There was a selection of shades to choose from, and as you can see I chose No.085 Sepia, which from the colour blot online looked like a dark, nude shade. In all honesty, I was expecting it to lean on the brown side - like the name "sepia" suggests. So, admittedly I was quite surprised to discover that I had in fact ended up with a rose-toned shade - not what I had in mind at all and certainly not what I would call "sepia"!





Before I go into more detail about the lipstick itself, can we take a moment to appreciate the beautiful packaging? All too often with sample sizes, you get some flimsy, cheap packaging that doesn't look too much like the full sized product. Not the case with Burberry! This is, quite literally, a miniature of the full sized product - everything is exactly the same, just scaled down. The gunmetal outer with signature check pattern is a beauty to look at, although it does pick up fingerprints and smudges something rotten. However, the star of the show is the embossed check pattern on the lipstick bullet. It took some willpower to start using the product and begin to ruin the pattern, let me tell you! It's details such as these that classify this as a true luxury product; it's not necessary in the slightest, and it serves no other purpose than to look pretty. The true definition of luxury, is it not? The packaging is made out of plastic, but it is extremely sturdy - and it closes with a reassuring "click", which I have to admit is very satisfying.



The Burberry Kisses range is marketed as a "hydrating lip colour", boasting a "weightless formula" that allows you to build up several layers and "give multiple lip looks with just one shade". As mentioned previous, the shade was completely unexpected, as even the promotional image online shows it to be a much nuder shade. That being said, I've ended up falling in love with this colour - it's so easy to wear, and compliments my skin tone well. I find that it is on a par with the Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle; a product that I adore and wear on a near every day basis. In the swatch image above I'm wearing two layers, which I find is the perfect amount to give full coverage of colour. The lipstick glides on very easily, and has a comfortable, satin finish, which in time wears down evenly without drying the lips out. I have not found it to be streaky at all, and is quite forgiving on dry patches. Simply put, even though this wasn't the shade I was expecting, I'm glad that this is what I ended up with. I know that I will get a lot of wear out of this, and since I got it I have kept it in my handbag - replacing my beloved Revlon Lip Butter!