I have the entire Anastasia Beverly Hills palette collection or at least of the main 14-pan palettes that typically come in the velvet packaging. So not including the Master palette by Mario, or any other limited edition palette they came out with. I don’t plan on getting every single one that’s released, but at the moment somehow I’ve gotten most of them. But I’m living for the formula so I just might since I really enjoy collecting makeup. Some people collect shoes, cars, handbags, or trading cards, I used to collect Pokemon cards but now I collect makeup. Mainly liquid lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes. All the rest I don’t.

So, I thought it would be fun to do a comparison of the palettes from ABH as a lot of them are similar to share shades with other palettes. Which not a lot of other brands do, if they are coming out with new palettes it’s new shades. ABH reuses some of them often in all of their palettes. So do you need them all? No. So let’s determine which ones I find are more unique and worth it compared to the others.

Each of the palettes minus Sultry costs $42, while Sultry which has a glitter case instead of a velvet one costs $45. Each shade has 0.02 oz of product and an once opened lifespan of 18 months, though powders can live longer than that. As there are 14 shadows in a palette, each shade is around $3 which is pretty up there for a palette. However, I have not experienced an issue with a single palette as far as blending or pigmentation is concerned. I find all of the matte shades have a good amount of kick back in the pan, the metallics are best applied with a wet brush, and duo-chromes can tend to seal up on themselves if you ever touch them with your fingers. Afterwards it’s game over for them. And yes, I have finger swatched all of the palettes that how I know that. Are those shades dead to me? No, I dug into them until they started working again but I have to remind myself not to do that again with those shadows.

Repeat Shades

Before I break down the color story of each palette, I’m going to be listing all of the palettes that share the same shade:

• Tempera is a ultra-matte velvety beige shade included in Soft Glam and Modern Renaissance palettes.
• Burnt Orange is a ultra-matte deep orange shade included in Soft Glam and Modern Renaissance palettes. Though they do not have the same name other similar shades include: Ginger from Jackie Aina, The Supreme from Alyssa Edwards, and Eccentric from Norvina.
• Cyprus Umber is a dark coffee with an ultra-matte finish shade included in Soft Glam and Modern Renaissance palettes.
• Noir is a matte deep black shade included in Sultry and Soft Glam palettes. Alyssa Edwards palette does not include Noir but does include Beast which is a black shade, which is very similar.

One shade I honestly thought would be a repeat is the shade Sultry from the Soft Glam palette. It’s literally the color of the Sultry palette but it’s not in that palette at all. Which I just find odd. Of all the shades they repeat, they didn’t do that one in the palette named after that shade. It’s just odd.

Now these next ones are similar shades with a slight variation in the name but are more or less the exact same shades repeated in different palettes.

• Rose gold is offered in several variations: Rose Quartz from Sultry, Rose Gold from Norvina, and Rose Pink from Soft Glam.
• Bronze tones that have slight variations between the palettes: Steampunk from Sultry, Bronze from Soft Glam, Adorn from Subculture, and Sphinx from Prism.
• White shades: Headliner from Alyssa Edwards, and Sails from Riviera.
• Peach tones: The Supreme from Alyssa Edwards, and Coastline from Riviera.
• Hot Pink tones: Texas Made from Alyssa Edwards, and Bahamas from Riviera.
• Violet purple hue shades: Believe from Alyssa Edwards, and Cannes from Riviera.
• The Chocolate brown shades: Back Rolls from Alyssa Edwards, and Palm from Riviera, Credit from Jackie Aina, and Fudge from Subculture.
• Champagne gold shades: Soleil from Jackie Aina, Inspire from Alyssa Edwards, Dreamer from Norvina, Primavera from Modern Renaissance, and Glistening from Soft Glam.

Color Story

These are just brief descriptions of the palettes from Anastasia Beverly Hills:

• Soft Glam: Essential neutral eye shadow palette.
• Modern Renaissance: Berry tone eye shadow palette.
• Prism: Neutral and prismatic metallics eye shadow palette.
• Sultry: Smoky eye shadow palette.
• Subculture: Grungy eye shadow palette.
• Norvina: Whimsical pastel eye shadow palette.
• Riviera: Vibrant jewel toned shadow palette.
• Alyssa Edwards: Colorful shadow palette.
• Jackie Aina: Neutral to Grungy/fall eye shadow palette.

Ranking the Palettes

1. Soft Glam: I know this isn’t everyone’s #1 palette, actually most people list Modern Renaissance as their top palette. But honestly, if I’m going to reach for a palette year around Soft Glam just has the most variety in types of looks. Rather than all similar ones.
2. Subculture: This is probably at the bottom of most people’s look, but I don’t notice any issues with my palette. And these shades are so unique to everything else in my collection. Plus I love wearing grunge or edgy looks, and this palette is perfect for that!
3. Jackie Aina (limited edition): For a palette I wasn’t going to get, this palette has shades I can’t help but reach for. It can be used to create so many different looks. Similar to the Subculture palette, you can create a bunch of grunge or edgy looks, but it also includes shades that are similar to Modern Renaissance for the more fall berry tones or Norvina but on a deeper or more vibrant purple side of things.
4. Prism: There are a lot of unique shades in this palette and I love mixing it in looks with the Subculture palette. And there are a lot of fun looks that can be made using this palette. I do love some colorful looks but you can also create neutral looks from this palette too, which makes it perfect for whatever mood you’re in.
5. Modern Renaissance: In the fall, I love a berry eyeshadow look. It’s a go-to but once fall is done I’m not wearing those looks a lot which is the main reason I can’t put this palette higher on my list. And while everyone else might compare all of the palettes to this one, I did too. I found no different in formula between this palette and the others, so ultimately this ranking came down to the tones in the palettes.
6. Riviera: I love a good colorful eyeshadow look and this palette is the most unique out of the collection next to Subculture, which is one of my main loves from ABH. The only reason I’m knocking this one down is this isn’t a year round palette for me, I typically only go for the bright tones in the Spring and Summer. Also some of the shadows as they are actually pressed pigments cause staining, which isn’t a huge negative but compared to the others I need to knock points off for that.
7. Alyssa Edwards (limited edition): This palette has a good selection between the neutrals and colorful shadows leaning more on the colorful end of things. It is similar to the Riviera palette in the color story, but with more vibrant color and a lot more staining. Almost every look I’ve done with this palette has caused some level of staining on my lids. So if you don’t like having pink skin for quite a while after using the palette than this palette is fine. If you don’t, then this palette is not for you. If you have the Riviera palette, then you also don’t need this palette as they are very similar. Also the packaging on this palette compared to the others is cheaper looking as it’s just cardboard rather than canvas or felt.
8. Sultry: I love smoky eyeshadow as much as I love a good grunge look. But for the three dollar increase in price and a bad brush in the palette. I would expect more out of this palette for it to appear higher on my list. It’s nice but I don’t think it’s anything crazy, that said I do love the shades in the palette and can make a lot of looks out of the palette so long as I use a different brush.
9. Norvina: Though I do love some pastel shades, a lot of this palette is metallics or shimmers. Which is nice but it’s not something I reach for on a regular basis. There isn’t anything wrong with the palette and I do enjoy it. They just aren’t my absolute favorite tones to wear.

HOW DO YOU RANK THE PALETTES FROM ABH?

Love ya,

Mae Polzine

Join the Howl of the Pack today by subscribing! Or support this blog over on Patreon so I can continue to put out quality content for you! To stay updated on everything I’m doing, follow me on Twitter as that’s where I post quick updates. Also, if you like this post, let me know in the comment section, it really helps me figure out what content you guys appreciate. Don’t be shy I would love to hear from you!