Wild Passion (No. 19) is one of the new colors in Edward Bess' revamped range of Deep Shine lip glosses. The shade is escribed as "berry mauve" and I can't argue. That's exactly right. Wild Passion is the perfect companion for the new Edward Bess lipstick in Night Jasmine (especially since the lipstick is somewhat on the dry side). The gloss offers a shiny finish with no shimmer and has a low-to-moderate stickiness and the usual Edward Bess fruity fragrance.
Wild Passion works well on its own (this shade is what passes as a nice nude in my world) or over Edward Bess Nude lip liner. As I said, it's also great over lipstick: not just Night Jasmine but also Demi Buff. Pigment intensity is similar to other Bess glosses, but I find that it doesn't apply as smooth. I have to scoop quite a bit of product out of the tube and preferably use a brush for the even coverage I prefer.
The lip gloss, like everything else in the current line, is made in Taiwan.
Bottom Line: nice enough, but I'm worried.
Edward Bess lip glosses ($30) are available from Bergdorf Goodman, select Neiman Marcus locations, Sephora (online and in the NYC Union Square store), as well as from edwardbess.com.
Although EB still has a great eye for color, the quality of his current lipsticks and glosses is really sub par. I was saddened to see his line sink into mediocrity. After playing a bit at his counter the other day, I left empty handed.
ReplyDeleteA gracious call from a gracious young man! I received a phone call from Edward Bess this morning apologizing for the slip in quality of his latest offering. He has taken the extraordinary step of actually contacting customers himself to apologize for the problems with his new release and to get the word out that he is pulling the new lip shades until all the problems with packaging and formulation have been resolved.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I have always admired about EB is his involvment with his customers. He spends a tremendous amount of time at his counters, applying his products on "real women" and getting their feed back. His sense of personal responsibility, his loyalty to all his Bessties, and his desire to create elegant cosmetics of exceptional quality put him in a class by himself.
That's incredible customer service! Wow!
ReplyDeleteEileen, that's great customer service and clearly you've dropped major$$$ for Mr. Bess to call you by phone. I'm not a high flyer like that. I recently purchased some Edward Bess products at a Neiman Marcus promotion, and the Slick lipstick "Rose Demure" has a lovely color but a thick drying consistency. Yet the GWP given out was a metal tube of Slick Lipstick in "Deep Lust", and this one has a wonderful smooth and moisturizing texture. I got out my magnifying lens and indeed the GWP was made in USA, clearly a leftover product from a previous or discontinued packaging attempt. The one I paid for, Rose Demure in the square tube, is waaaay different in texture and feel on the lips, and this one is made in Taiwan. Clearly cheaper labor and cheaper base materials are producing an inferior product that doesn't match up to the original Bess products. I feel burned and disappointed and I will scrutinize products from unfamiliar lines in the future.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYes, I am a long time EB customer so I have undoubtedly dropped a few bucks on his products over the years, but no matter. The important thing is that he is being proactive in correcting the problem. Moving his manufacturing to Taiwan, a country known for its quality control and safety issues, was a major gaff and his long time customers will undoubtedly be looking carefully at the country of origin on future products. He certainly wants to get all the problems resolved, though, so I think we will eventually be getting his trademark creamy smooth, elegant lip colors once again--at least I certainly hope so. Some of my all time favorite lip shades have been by EB :-)