Hey y’all! We’re back for another #IYGAReviews on the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance eyeshadow palette. It was released in summer 2016…I got my hands on it in January 2017. This palette was NOT easy to get… I was on the Sephora online waiting list for months before I finally got the timing right and could order it. It was nearly impossible to get in stores unless you were there the day they re-stocked. Now the hype has lessened and everyone that wanted one has got one, so you can find them in stock at Sephora very easily.

Price & Packaging

We’ll go over price and packaging before we get to the fun stuff. It retails for $55CAD + tax. That’s about average price for a high-end palette with 10-16 shades. It has nice cardboard packaging that has a bit of weight to it, so it feels like quality, with a gorgeous layer of pink velvet on the outside. The pink looks nice brand new, but after having mine for seven months, it definitely has not stayed clean (as you can tell in my photo below) and being fabric, eyeshadow and foundation on the hands tend to stain it a little.

The palette comes with a dual-ended eyeshadow brush. One end is a blending brush and the other is is a smudge brush for more precise application. I actually do like the brush; when I traveled to Halifax with the palette, I didn’t bring any other eyeshadow brushes. This one was great at blending the shadows and the smudge brush end I used to apply eyeshadow to my lower last line! Worked like a charm.

The Makeup

Now, onto the goods! The MR palette has 14 shades, all are matte minus two metallic and one satin finish. These shadows are pretty much all warm-toned: shades of orange, reds, pinks, browns, and yellow/golds. There are also shades that are neutral, but I’d say if you were looking for a neutral palette, this one would not be for you (try the Tartelette in Bloom palette, Smashbox Full Exposure palette, or the Naked 1 & 2 palettes). Shadows are formulated without parabens, sulfates, and phthalates.

Honestly when this palette came out, I felt like it was made for me. I’m always buying these warm orange, red, and brown shades and to have them all together in one palette…*tears of joy.* They chose shades that combine with each other well to make different looks and they blend very well. You can make probably a hundred looks with this palette.

Pigment & Fallout

Each shade is VERY pigmented. I mean one swipe onto your arm will show dramatic color. I’m very pleased with this, I actually am super gentle when using the darker shades and try to not pick up lots of product because I’d rather build it up than start off with too much.

I’ve heard lots of people say there is lots of fallout when they rub their makeup brush onto the shadow and that they hit pan really fast. I’ve used this palette probably over 60 times already and have yet to hit pan. While yes, it does have fallout when you rub the brush in a continuous circular motion, so do 95% powder eyeshadows. I’ve only noticed extreme fallout with the dark brown shade, Cyprus Umber, it seems like no matter what I do powder falls everywhere! With the high pigment of these shadows, I lightly swipe the tip of my blending brush across the surface of the shadow to pick up product in one smoothe motion and it’s 9 times out of 10 enough products to work with and almost nothing gets wasted. I don’t know why you would rub your brush enough to flick eyeshadow all over the place when it’s super unnecessary and wasteful!

Swatches

Nearly all of the colors seem to work with all skin tones, from what I’ve seen on YouTube watching people of different skin tones use it, which is another pro. I have tan olive-skin with yellow/green undertones and I think it’s one of the best palettes that works on me. While I swatched it on myself below, here are videos of swatches by two gorgeous darker skin-tone beauty YouTubers, if you’d like to know what it looks like if that’s your skintone: XIARRADIAMOND and Too Much Mouth.

Below are my swatches, first photo is taken in direct sunlight and the other is in a shadowed-ish lighting. There is no primer on my arm, it’s just my bare skin. I put hearts on all of my favorite shades!

Thank you so much for reading my LONG AF review. I hope it helps if you are on the fence about this palette. It’s definitely worth the money. I can’t even think of a con… maybe packaging that stays clean longer and larger pans because I love the colors in this palette, oh, and making the darkest brown shade have less fallout.

Anyways, my verdict: BUY.