I wanted to try something from ABH for quite some time now, even though they’re not all the rage right now like they used to be. However, it’s a brand that was founded by a Romanian woman who started a cosmetics empire by simply being good at doing eyebrows. So yes, because of Anastasia Soare I wanted to own something from her brand. I got this palette as a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law, and after using it a couple of times, I think I’m ready to do a review.

Packaging:

For being a high end brand, the packaging is very simple, just a brown plastic case with the name of the palette on it. At least it does have a little bit of weight to eat so at least that’s where I see a difference between this palette and a cheap one. There are 9 eyeshadow pans and they weigh 9 grams (1 gram each). It’s not much, but eyeshadow is something that I rarely finish up, so it’s enough. That’s one of the reasons why I chose the mini palette because I didn’t want to have a large eyeshadow palette in case I didn’t like it.

Texture:

There palette contains a mix of mattes and metallic shades. The mattes are very easy to blend although they have some fall out when you pack them on the brush. The metallic shades are very fine and there are not large shimmer particles in it. Let’s see some swatches, starting with the first row from above.

The first row contains 2 metallic shades, Pearl (metallic white eyeshadow with a little bit of pink undertone), Cinder (metallic brown shade with gold flecks) and Twig (matte taupe shade).

The second row has the colors Birch (matte yellow – taupe shade, the lightest shade in the palette), Cyborg (metallic silver shade with a little bit of violet undertone) and Dystopian (matte dark chocolate brown).

The final 3 colors are Slate (matte grey, one of the nicest grey shades I’ve seen so far), Ember (metallic bronze shade) and Noir (matte black shade).

Ingredients:

PEARL

INGREDIENTS MICA, ALUMINUM CALCIUM SODIUM SILICATE, OCTYLDODECYL STEAROYL STEARATE, SYNTHETIC FLUORPHLOGOPITE, SILICA, THEOBROMA CACAO (COCOA) SEED BUTTER, SODIUM POLYACRYLATE, GLYCERIN, BEESWAX/CERA ALBA/CIRE D’ABEILLE, TIN OXIDE, STEARIC ACID, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, ISOPENTYLDIOL, TOCOPHEROL, HYDROGENATED LECITHIN, BORON NITRIDE, NYLON-12, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, VINYL DIMETHICONE/METHICONE SILSESQUIOXANE CROSSPOLYMER, ZEA MAYS (CORN) STARCH, ZINC MYRISTATE, ZINC STEARATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77492), FERRIC FERROCYANIDE (CI 77510), CARMINE (CI 75470

CINDER

INGREDIENTS CALCIUM ALUMINUM BOROSILICATE, SYNTHETIC FLUORPHLOGOPITE, MICA, OCTYLDODECYL STEAROYL STEARATE, SILICA, THEOBROMA CACAO (COCOA) SEED BUTTER, SODIUM POLYACRYLATE, GLYCERIN, BEESWAX/CERA ALBA/CIRE D’ABEILLE, STEARIC ACID, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, TIN OXIDE, ISOPENTYLDIOL, TOCOPHEROL, HYDROGENATED LECITHIN, BORON NITRIDE, NYLON-12, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, VINYL DIMETHICONE/METHICONE SILSESQUIOXANE CROSSPOLYMER, ZEA MAYS (CORN) STARCH, ZINC MYRISTATE, ZINC STEARATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), IRON OXIDES (CI 77491), FERRIC FERROCYANIDE (CI 77510)

BIRCH,TWIG,SLATE,NOIR

INGREDIENTS MICA, DIMETHICONE, BORON NITRIDE, NYLON-12, ZINC STEARATE, ZEA MAYS (CORN) STARCH, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, ZINC MYRISTATE, GLYCERIN, SILICA, VINYL DIMETHICONE/METHICONE SILSESQUIOXANE CROSSPOLYMER, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, HYDROGENATED LECITHIN, ISOPENTYLDIOL, LAUROYL LYSINE, POLYSILICONE-11, TOCOPHEROL, PHENOXYETHANOL, MAY CONTAIN/PEUT CONTENIR (+/-): IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), YELLOW 5 LAKE (CI 19140), CARMINE (CI 75470), ULTRAMARINES (CI 77007), TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891)

CYBORG

INGREDIENT SALUMINUM CALCIUM SODIUM SILICATE, MICA, SYNTHETIC FLUORPHLOGOPITE, OCTYLDODECYL STEAROYL STEARATE, SILICA, THEOBROMA CACAO (COCOA) SEED BUTTER, SODIUM POLYACRYLATE, GLYCERIN, BEESWAX/CERA ALBA/CIRE D’ABEILLE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, STEARIC ACID, TIN OXIDE, ISOPENTYLDIOL, TOCOPHEROL, HYDROGENATED LECITHIN, BORON NITRIDE, NYLON-12, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, VINYL DIMETHICONE/METHICONE SILSESQUIOXANE CROSSPOLYMER, ZEA MAYS (CORN) STARCH, ZINC MYRISTATE, ZINC STEARATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, ALUMINUM POWDER (CI 77000), TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), IRON OXIDES (CI 77491)

DYSTOPIAN

INGREDIENTS MICA, BORON NITRIDE, DIMETHICONE, NYLON-12, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, ZEA MAYS (CORN) STARCH, ZINC MYRISTATE, ZINC STEARATE, TRIETHOXYCAPRYLYLSILANE, GLYCERIN, MINERAL OIL/PARAFFINUM LIQUIDUM/HUILE MINERALE, SILICA, VINYL DIMETHICONE/METHICONE SILSESQUIOXANE CROSSPOLYMER, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, POLYSILICONE-11, HYDROGENATED LECITHIN, LAUROYL LYSINE, ISOPENTYLDIOL, TOCOPHEROL, PHENOXYETHANOL, IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), CARMINE (CI 75470), MANGANESE VIOLET (CI 77742), YELLOW 5 LAKE (CI 19140)EMBER (CDL12-247)

INGREDIENTS

MICA, OCTYLDODECYL STEAROYL STEARATE, ALUMINUM CALCIUM SODIUM SILICATE, SILICA, THEOBROMA CACAO (COCOA) SEED BUTTER, SODIUM POLYACRYLATE, BEESWAX/CERA ALBA/CIRE D’ABEILLE, TIN OXIDE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, STEARIC ACID, ISOPENTYLDIOL, TOCOPHEROL, HYDROGENATED LECITHIN, BORON NITRIDE, NYLON-12, POLYMETHYLSILSESQUIOXANE, VINYL DIMETHICONE/METHICONE SILSESQUIOXANE CROSSPOLYMER, ZEA MAYS (CORN) STARCH, ZINC MYRISTATE, ZINC STEARATE, PHENOXYETHANOL, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77499), FERRIC FERROCYANIDE (CI 77510), CARMINE (CI 75470)

Price and accessibility:

Anastasia Beverly Hills product are available at Sephora (although they don’t have the entire range), through their online shops and through several other online shops. This was bought online on a Black Friday sale, but usually it retails for about 36 euros, which I think it’s a high price for a mini eyeshadow palette, but it’s what you would expect from a high end brand. I think 36 euros is a lot for any makeup product, but since eyeshadows can last for a long time, it’s worth to splurge a little from time to time.

My overall opinion:

I wanted to love this palette so bad because it was generally one of the ABH palettes that had mostly good reviews. But, while it is one of my favorite palettes, I can’t say that it’s on top of my list. But let’s start with all the good points.

First of all, I like the color scheme a lot. I love cool toned eyeshadows and most palettes are warm toned for some reason. This one has some cool toned shades in it and it’s also a neutral palette which I love. I wanted something for everyday makeup, for a smokey eye, something that could go with anything so to say. I love the fact that there are no reds or oranges or other shades like that in here because I really don’t like how those colors look on me.

Some of the shades, while being part of a neutral color scheme do have a unique quality to them. Cyborg is a beautiful and rich silver, something that you rarely see well made in eyeshadow palettes. In fact, all the metallic shades are really beautiful and eye-catching without going overboard. Also, the Slate shade won me over. I just love a good grey shade because I think it compliments my hazel eyes beautifully.

Now, what made me not put this on top of my list is the creasing. The shadows creased on me and that doesn’t always happen, at least not when they’re good. For example, some of my Too Faced palettes never crease on me and that’s why I love them. But, there’s no fall out around the eyes and the makeup still looks decent at the end of the day even if the creasing is a little noticeable.

Overall, it’s a very beautiful eyeshadow palette and I don’t regret wishing for it on Christmas and I will certainly make good use of it in my collection. My only disappointment is that, at that price, the eyeshadows don’t last better on the eyes. It’s true that I didn’t use a primer but, like I said, some eyeshadows last very good on the lids even if I’m not using anything underneath.