Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette: Swatches & Review

Hey everyone! One of my Christmas presents was the beautiful Modern Renaissance Palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills. It has quickly become a favourite and I am constantly reaching for it.

I bought mine from Cult Beauty where it's currently £41.00 or AUD$68.

First of all, it comes in really unique packaging with the exterior a light mauve velvet type of material. Inside it comes with a double-ended brush and of course the 14 matte and shimmery eyeshadows.

The colour palette is very warm, with a range of oranges and pinks/reds. It ranges from a few lighter gold toned shades to deeper warm orange and red-browns.

The quality of the eyeshadows are some of the most pigmented I have used. I would compare them very similarly to Makeup Geek eyeshadows. You only need the smallest amount on your brush for most of the colours to get intense pigment.

I find the darker shades are the most pigmented, particularly Cyprus Umber and Realgar. Both Vermeer and Primavera however are gorgeous light shimmery white and gold shades, and are very pigmented.

Some of the colours take a bit more work to get as pigmented, particularly Tempera, Golden Ochre, Buon Fresco, and Warm Taupe, which are some of the lighter mattes. However they are still very nice in quality and I still use them just as much as the other shades in the palette.

First Row L-R Tempera - Cyprus Umber

Second Row L-R Raw Sienna - Realgar

The included brush is a double-ended one with a blending brush and shader brush. Unfortunately I found the brush to be quite a let down. The blending side is not overly soft, and rather scratchy on the eyelids. The other end is more decent, with quite soft bristles, but is quite a bit smaller than your regular shader brush, although this does make it good for the lower lash line or to work in smaller sections of the eye. 

Despite the quality of the brush, I still absolutely love this palette and would still purchase it just for the eyeshadows. 

If you're thinking of buying this palette, I would highly recommend it. The pigmentation is amazing, it has gorgeous packaging, and it isn't your regular nude palette, so you probably won't be buying a palette filled with shades you already own tons of.

Hopefully this review was helpful for any of you to decide whether to buy this palette! Let me know if you bought it and what you think of it.

I'm also wanting to do a tutorial using this palette, so stay tuned for that!

- Ella

2015 Favourites

Hey everyone, I hope you are all having a great new year! Today I am doing a list of my favourite products of 2015. I have included some links to my other posts including swatches/reviews of the products!

Lips

This year I have been trying heaps of new nude shades, and here are my favourites!

MAC Velvet Teddy: This is a super popular shade from Mac, and I can see why - it's a really unique colour, and is a cool toned brown with warmer reddish hints, whilst remaining a nude shade. It has become one of my everyday picks!

MAC Peach Blossom: Another nude, but this lipstick is a cremesheen and therefore slightly sheer and glossy shade, and is a gorgeous light pink nude.

Essence lipliner in In the Nude: Probably my most used lipliner, this is so versatile and goes with most lighter nudes or can be worn by itself. The best part is it only costs $2!

Australis Velourlips in Pa-ree: Again one of my favourite nudes. This is a light brownish pink and is a perfect natural nude for my fair skin.

Eyes

Maybelline Colossal Mascara: This mascara is the 'Smoky Eyes' version of the Colossal mascara. I picked this up not knowing what it would be like, and despite the larger wand which I usually do not prefer, this became a favourite! I found it really separated the lashes whilst giving plenty of volume.

Maybelline Big Eyes Mascara: If you like the Falsies mascara, you will love this! This is a double ended mascara, one end the normal Falsies wand, and the other a smaller, thinner brush for your lower lashes. This is a must have for me, and something I would by just for the lower lash wand, which tends to be hard to find in drugstore brands.

Maybelline Hyper Sharp liner: This liner is a new liner made to perfect your winged eyeliner, and it works amazingly! It is flat with a thick side and thin edge which makes it perfect to shape your wings.

Australis Metallix eyeshadow in Guns and Rose Petals: This eyeshadow is absolutely amazing and I have never seen anything exactly like it before! It is a creamy shadow which is incredibly metallic and glowy on the eyes, as if you have real gems on them.

Makeup Geek eyeshadows: The 'MUG' eyeshadows are incredibly pigmented, particularly the matte shades. They come in a huge range of colours with a reasonable price and are great quality. The foiled eyeshadows are especially incredible, similar to the Metallix in powder form.

Face

Secret Key Finish Up BB Cream: This is a Korean BB cream which I love for using as a base for my makeup. It works amazingly at covering up pores and redness, and reminds me of Benefit's Porefessional for a fraction of the price! (I bought mine from beautynetkorea.com).

Nars Creamy Concealer: I never thought I would splurge on a concealer like this one, but here it is and I can say it was definitely worth it! The tiniest bit of this concealer goes such a long way and conceals amazingly. I have the shade Chantilly which is perfect for under the eyes for fair skin as it has a yellow undertone, although I find it works anywhere on my face.

Models Prefer Contour Collection: Contour kits were all the range this year, and I'm glad that I picked one up, in particular this one! It has great contour colours for lighter skin tones which can be difficult to find, as well as a gorgeous yellow shade and highlighter.

Eyebrows

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pomade in Medium Brown: I love this product as it is so versatile and easy to use, and can be used for any style on your brows. I actually find it easier to use than a pencil or even powder as it glides on so smoothly and makes it easy to define your brows.

Maybelline Brow Satin in Dark Brown: I love this product for its convenience as well as its quality. It is double sided with a pencil on one end and a powder applicator on the other. It is a very easy to use product and I really love how it looks on my brows.

Cheeks

TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer: This highlighter is a very popular product and for a good reason. It is a beautiful gold shimmery powder which beautifully illuminates the face.

Nars blush in Gaiety: This blush looks alarmingly bright pink, but actually applies a more natural almost peachy pink. It gives a lovely glow to the skin which makes you look slightly flushed without looking crazy.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal: Another very popular highlighter which I found works even on my very fair skin despite its slightly bronzier colour. I love this as it gives a gorgeous natural glow when used lightly or can be built up to look super glamorous, but just looks so beautiful on the skin.

And that's it for my 2015 favourites! What were your favourites from the year? Did you discover any amazing new products? Let me know!

- Ella