I was super stoked when the UPS man showed up last Thursday because it meant one thing: my Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette was here! Oh, and the rest of my Sephora order, but come on on. We know what the main attraction is here.
As soon as I could get the little guy down for a nap, I opened that sucker up.
OK, so lots of people complain that the textured, fabric box is a magnet for pretty much every other product on your makeup table and that lovely pink color guarantees that even the slightest smudge will stick around. This is completely true. If you need your palettes to be completely wipeable and looking shiny and new forever, this will make you totally insane. Luckily, I’m disgusting and don’t care.
There are 14 little shadows in the palette. At first I was little put off by the small size of each shadow (0.02 oz. each) compared to something like Tartelette palettes (0.53 oz. each) but holy shnikes, these are pigmented. There’s no digging around for color like some of my Tarte shadows – be gentle, the first dab will do ya. I’ve only had a few chances thus far to play with Modern Renaissance but both times my heavy hand has given me slightly too much dark shadow that needed to be blended, blended, blended. So use a light touch! These may have half the amount of shadow but will give you the look with less.
I’ll be honest and say that Venetian Red and Love Letter make me very nervous. They’re super red/pinky and I’ve never tried those colors. But I’ve seen others use them successfully and look gorgeous so I’m sure it’s a matter of practice and courage to wear them out of the house. I was worried that other colors wouldn’t be wearable for me because I usually rock a pretty natural look. Thus far I’m a fan of raw sienna and antique bronze, but there are plenty of other lovely, wearable shades in this palette.
A note about the included double-ended brush, though. The white end was great for picking up a small amount of color, but I did lose some bristles while blending with the other end. Nice to be included and have something on the fly, but won’t replace your favorite brushes at home.
Overall, I give this palette a thumbs up. If you’re not sure how to pick colors yourself (like me), get thee to Pinterest and search for Modern Renaissance looks. There are plenty of tutorials both in picture and video format to help you out. I’m legit excited every time I get a chance to pick this up, and not only because it means I’ve gotten more than 5 minutes baby-free. You can buy this at both Ulta and Sephora as well as online and it retails for $42.00.
Have you tried this palette? What are your thoughts?