Is the Modern Renaissance palette worth the hype and the money?
We have all seen the hype surrounding the beautiful Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette- online makeup gurus raving about it, YouTube tutorials using it, and Pinterest swatches of it – and for this reason, it was top of my Christmas wish-list! But did it live up to my expectations?
First of all, I love this product!
From the moment I opened the box the colour scheme had me hooked, the 14 colours this palette features harmonise beautifully, making the whole palette very easy on the eye. The box is a dusty-rose coloured velvet, which is a little impractical as any makeup on your hands will transfer onto it making it difficult to keep clean. The shadows are primarily muted pink, taupe and beige colours with a pop of red and bright pink; and 10 of them are mattes (described on the ABH website as ‘ultramattes’), two are shimmers and the final two are metallic hues. In terms of their quality, they are probably some of the highest quality shadows I have used, a little goes a long way with their high pigmentation, giving you the option to use a little bit for a soft look, or a lot for a bolder night-time look. Each colours shows up great when used dry, however if you use a slightly damp brush to apply them they are so much bolder and just gorgeous!
Despite having such harmonising colours, a lot of different eye looks can be created using this palette. From a neutral day-time look using the lighter colours at the left hand side, to a pink Valentine’s Day look using bright pink Love Letter and Venetian Red, to a lighter twist on the classic smoky eye using the lovely muted red (Red Ochre) and dark taupe (Cyprus Umber) that this palette has to offer.
Here are few of my personal favourites, which I will swatch above on my light skin tone:
- Raw Sienna, which is beautiful for deepening the crease of your eye
- Primavera, which is a golden shimmer that is my go-to for highlighting the inner corner of my eye or brow bone
- Red Ochre, a very rich yet muted red which makes me understand the term ‘ultramatte’
- Realgar, one of the darker shades of this palette, is a deep brick-red that is great for adding depth to the eye
- Burnt Orange, lovely lid colour that serves as a muted orange-toned base
- Love Letter, a gorgeous matte pink that your inner girly-girl will die for
Overall, this is a very fun and versatile palette with a few pops of colour, the quality is impeccable and, when you play about with it, you’ll realise how many different looks it has to offer. However it comes at a price as this palette is £41 plus postage, making it a real investment – especially on a student’s budget. Seeing as I have hardly touched any other eye shadows since Santa brought me this one, I definitely think it’s a great investment to make as it pretty much has everything I need!
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