Maybelline The Burgundy Bar Reviews

The colours available are well matched to each other and a great range of light and dark. The shadows go on very easily and last all day. I work in a hot sweaty environment and my eyeshadow is still as perfect as when I put it on. I love that there is enough sparkles for a special look and matt for a more natural look. I didn’t really like the provided applicator but was happy to use my own.

Burgundy themes are one of my fave colour schemes for eye makeup so I was extremely giddy when I found out this would be included!

First off, the brush - I haven’t used these kinds of brushes in years, and I know it’s the standard one that most, if not all, drugstore brands include in their eyeshadow palettes. I don’t know if it’s a compulsory rule that says they need to have it, but I think we can all collectively agree it should be left out; even in a rush I think our fingers can suffice and/or do a better job. When I first tried doing an eye makeup look I used the allocated brush, but found it really does not do a satisfactory job in application (harsh blended lines) so I had to abandon that immediately. It’s definitely not a dealbreaker though as we’re all here for the colours anyway.

The colours themselves range from champagne to gold to plum to burgundy (of course!) and on an aesthetic level are so pretty to look at. When I swatched them all on my arm, the shimmers completely stood out, but the 2 matte browns were a little muted.

On application I love how there’s barely any fallout. I think one of the most annoying things about using certain eyeshadow palettes is when all the pigment seems to be falling down to your cheeks rather than staying on your actual lids, so I'm pretty pleased about that.

Overall I think it’s a pretty solid palette with some beautiful shimmers and 2 classic matte brown shadows for basic transition colours. However in terms of purchasing it myself, I would sadly pass just because the colour payoff isn't as pigmented as I expected it to be for the price.

This is a good palette for something you can use day and night! The shades are so pigmented and a nice texture but I did find they were slowly coming off my eyelids during the afternoon. The colours blended extremely well together too. Using an eyelid primer would help so I will be trying that next application. For the price of this palette I think it’s a great all rounder eyeshadow palette for keeps in the makeup bag!

I was very excited to receive this to trial, the burgundy bar contains all of my favourite natural hues and plum shades. Of the 12 shades, 10 are shimmer and 2 are matte. I feel these are a good combo of colours. The payoff is not bad, it does the job fine, altho I did find they didnt blend very well. An overlay of shimmer fixes it fine however. The brush which comes with the palette is rather undesirable, the only thing I find it ok for is applying shimmer to the inside of my eye, or highlighting brow bone. With plenty of colours this palette will last you a long time. At approx $30 for this palette there are many options in the same price range so do your research and visit a store for swatches.

I have mixed feelings about this palette. There is some good and some bad. I'll start with the bad, though it's not really that bad but it's the main reason why I wouldn't buy this for myself. There are too many similar shades! You could have this same palette with 4-6 pans and still have a great palette. I hate having palettes that aren't used much! And because the shades are all so related, even if you followed the instructions for a multi-shadow look , by the time you get half way through the day, any variation of this palette will look very similar to another. I was disappointed with the purple/copper pan 2nd from far right on the bottom. It looked like it would be a purple with copper reflect, similar to a popular Wet n Wild shade I loved once upon a time, but on my eye it looked like a copper. A very pretty copper, but not purple. The red one on far left is pretty true to how it looks. The others are basic golds and browns, all warm shades. One red shade isn't a reason to call it Burgundy Bar, maybe the author had drunk too much Burgundy when they named it haha!

Does anyone use the supplied brush anymore? I don't think they are necessary and the space could be better used to make a more compact palette or add a little mirror.

The good - it applies really well, a pleasure to use. I didn't notice any fallout to my cheekbones, though with my oily eyelids there was a slight fading around the crease. I always use MAC paint pot as a primer, and this stuck to it nicely, and let me blend it pretty well. The copper shades look lovely in person and as I have blue eyes, it looked really nice. On the back there are some tips about which shades were designed to be worn together, so you can use this if having a brain freeze when putting on your makeup.

Maybelline's Burgundy Bar is a 12 shade palette, with 10 shimmer shades and 2 matte shades (1 light, 1 dark). Of those 12 shades, 2 are shades of burgundy (1 purple, 1 red based) while the rest are varying shades of beige through to brown. Personally, I love the shimmer with the nod to matte base shades (though perhaps there should have been 4) but am disappointed there isn't at least one more burgundy shade. It really feels like a nude palette with a pop of burgundy.

To more positive things, the shades blend beautifully and the shimmer looks lovely. They last all day with only a small amount of fallout and have a decent pigment which is buildable. Despite other let downs of the product, it looks good on which is the most important thing.

The packaging is cheap plastic and the supplied applicator needs some work. I also had a whole shade sliding around the palette instead of in it's pan. I like the burgundy color of the packaging, it makes it stand out. I just wish there was a little more burgundy and a little less brown in the palette itself. I also really liked the suggested shade combinations on the back of the palette.

All in all, the shadows were really nice, but the packaging and branding set an expectation that it perhaps couldn't meet.

I was most excited to try this shadow pallet as I have been looking for a new burgundy toned pallet for some time. I like the idea of this pallet and I like the formula, it's very easy to blend and has nice pigment. The brush that comes with the pallet is awful and should be disposed with asap. The colour story was the real down fall unfortunately, there are only 2 matte shades and the lighter is still a bit too dark to use as a transition shade so it's hard to do a complete look with this pallet. The metallics also blend into each other a bit, there is not much definition between the shades so it's hard to do more than one look with this pallet. The metallics also don't have a lot of wow factor and the lay out in the pan makes it a bit messy colors running into each other. There is very little fall out in the pan which is great. For these reasons I feel there are better pallets at this price point available on the market at the moment, the way the beauty industry had exploded recently the quality to price point is getting alot closer and brands have to strive for better to be competitive.

Now lets look at these exquisite colours for a second! so perfect for the christmas season! My pallet arrived with a few shades that had fallen out of the pallet, courier error i would imagine but were easy enough to push back into the pallet.

There are a few matte shades which i just ADORE! however i am a matte girl and despise shades that have too much SPARKLE unless they are for precised placing in the centre of the lid and inner corners. This pallet had a few too many shimmering shades for my liking but i love the colour schemes anyway.

They are pigmented to an acceptable level however using a bit of fix plus would up the anti on these just a bit more. Overall, great for festive events and glam nights out, not so much the office :P

I like this one more than the blushed nuse one they made I do like reds and purples. I am not really into dark purple but this one has some nice red but it does not look very foiled once on the lid and can get patchy. Again though the shimmers / pearl shades are not impactful enough I like ones that do not show up the wrinkles on my eye lids - this happens with some certain formulas and when I have to pack them on the lid with layers. The packaging is really budget for the full price it is a bit steep. There are only two mattes they are ok. There is fall out and the pearls feel quite buttery but it is another beginner thing to play with. There is a nice goldy kind of shade and white that swatches nice but the plum purple is lacking and so are alot of the others in term of luster. All in all it is not bad you can get some nice soft looks but I like my pigments better