Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette Review & Swatches
I'll be one of the first to tell you that I've never been overly impressed with an Anastasia Beverly Hills eyeshadow palette in the past. I know she releases them periodically, and I actually do own most of them, but they've never been the palettes that I choose to reach for or the ones that inspire my artistic side. And then came the Modern Renaissance palette.
From the second I laid my eyes on this palette, I thought it looked absolutely stunning. The color range is right up my alley. Despite that, I was incredibly skeptical given my previous experiences with Anastasia palettes. It wasn't until I received literally hundreds of requests to review this palette did I actually seriously consider purchasing it. I will say that I am SO happy I did.
The Modern Renaissance palette retails for $42 for 14 eyeshadows. Each of the pans holds 0.7g or 0.02oz of product (about half of a full-size MAC or Urban Decay eyeshadow). There is also a double-ended brush included in the palette. The palette itself has a soft, velvet texture, which I guarantee will hold onto every speck of makeup fallout. But the quality of the eyeshadows inside negates my dislike of the outer packaging.
The eyeshadows all have a very buttery texture, with a highly pigmented finish. These eyeshadows are pigmented in a GOOD way. They build and blend effortlessly. I've loved every single eye look I've done using this palette (which is rare). Now onto some swatches:
Top picture taken in indirect sunlight, bottom picture taken in direct sunlight. Left to right: Tempera, Golden Ochre, Vermeer, Buon Fresco, Antique Bronze, Love Letter, Cyprus Umber
Top picture taken in indirect sunlight, bottom picture taken in direct sunlight. Left to right: Raw Sienna, Burnt Orange, Primavera, Red Ochre, Venetian Red, Warm Taupe, Realgar
Here's a list of each color you get in the palette and my personal thoughts on the quality:
1) Tempera- Matte, light cream. Very pigmented and buttery.
2) Golden Ochre- Matte, light brown. Not quite as pigmented as Tempera, but it builds and blends effortlessly.
3) Vermeer- Almost metallic, light rose pink. Very pigmented and easy to use.
4) Buon Fresco- Matte, medium mauve. Needs a few layers for full pigmentation, but it builds very quickly.
5) Antique Bronze- Shimmering, medium bronze. Very pigmented and easy to use.
6) Love Letter- Matte, pink-toned red. The texture feels dry when you swatch it with your finger, but it applies and blends very easily with a brush.
7) Cyprus Umber- Matte, dark cool-toned brown. Very pigmented and blendable.
8) Raw Sienna- Matte, medium brown. Needs a few layers for full pigmentation, but it applies better with a brush.
9) Burnt Orange- Matte, medium brown with a slight orange undertone. Similar to Raw Sienna in texture and application.
10) Primavera- Metallic, light gold. This is one of my favorite shades in the entire palette. Very pigmented, blendable, and easy to use.
11) Red Ochre- Matte, dark brown with a red undertone. Another one of my favorites in this palette. Very pigmented and blendable.
12) Venetian Red- Matte, maroon-based red. This one was probably the worst performing shade in the whole palette, but I still wouldn't consider it bad. This one needs a little more building and blending than the others, and it can apply somewhat patchy if you're not careful.
13) Warm Taupe- Matte, medium warm taupe. This is a very unique color, and I love it. Nicely pigmented.
14) Realgar- Matte, medium-dark orange. This is my all-time favorite color in this palette. It's very smooth and pigmented. It works very nicely as a blending color that gives an overall warmth to your eye look...I love it!
Overall, I couldn't recommend this palette enough! I purchased mine from Sephora.com, but it's also available on the Anastasia website, Ulta.com, and Macy's. This palette is a permanent part of the Anastasia Beverly Hills makeup line, so I'm sure it will pop up in Sephora, Ulta, and Macy's stores very soon. Let me know if you've had a chance to grab this palette yet and what your thoughts are!
xoxo Eshani a.k.a. TotalMakeupJunkie101
