I was in eyeshadow palette rehab for several months (I swear, it’s true!). But when I saw the Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture World Traveler palette, I just had to get it!
In my defense, it’s quite hard to resist a palette so well made.
It’s not just another neutral eyeshadow palette.
Some neutral colors are included, yes, but also some more unusual shades that are still very wearable (it’s always complicated to find a balanced eyeshadow palette which isn’t super boring or at the contrary, just impossible to wear because of the crazy colors).
The Anastasia Beverly Hills palette contains different finishes of eyeshadows: matte, satin, iridescent, metallic, shimmery… There’s something for everyone!
12 eyeshadows+ 1 makeup brush (which is great, for once), all that for $30, honestly, it’s a great price.
In short, you guessed it, it had everything to make me desire enough to get me out of rehab for it…
Before introducing this palette, I would first like to tell you a bit more about the Anastasia Beverly Hills brand. This is a relatively new brand, but something tells me you’ll hear a lot about it in the coming months.
Here in Dubai, the brand just arrived in Sephora. Sadly, it’s just brow and contouring stuff for now but fingers crossed, the rest of the range will be available very soon!
Anastasia Beverly Hills, history of the brand:
Anastasia Beverly Hills is an American brand created by Anastasia Soare, known to be nothing less than the Queen of brows in the US.
Very young and just having arrived from Romania, not speaking a word of English, she began working in a prestigious beauty salon in Beverly Hills. Her first client was Cindy Crawford. Then followed the whole team of top models superstars of the time, Naomi Campbell and the others…
Anastasia, who studied art and architecture in Romania thinks that beauty is above all a matter of proportion and she decided to focus on the eyebrows of her clients. With her boss not seeing things the same way, she decided to quit the pretty beauty salon of Beverly Hills and opened her own salon, dedicated to the beauty of eyebrows.
At the time, the trend was not really into eyebrows. Nobody cared really. But Anastasia was on a mission and she worked relentlessly, 7 days a week to develop her business.
Shortly after, in 1994, a Vogue article mentions Anastasia and her beauty salon. In the same issue, there was also a review on the cult Kevin Aucoin makeup book, Making Faces where he explained among other things the importance of eyebrows in facial structure. With this media coverage, her business explodes and Anastasia conquers a new celebrity clientèle. In 2006, she made an appearance in television during Oprah Winfrey‘s show. From this moment onwards, she became the Queen of brows for everyone in the US .
In 2012, while the trend for very strong eyebrows à la Cara Delevigne was everywhere, she launched Anastasia Beverly Hills, her range of makeup products dedicated to the eyebrows that is sold at Sephora and Nordstrom among others shops in the United States.
It’s a huge success and products such as the Brow Wizz and the Dipbrow Pommade sell like hotcakes.
In 2014, assisted by her daughter Norvina Sun, she extended her product range with some contouring powders, as well as eyeshadows, liquid lipsticks, highlighters…
But also eyeshadow palettes that are limited editions in order to remain super trendy! wink
The Shadow Couture World Traveller is the last eyeshadow palette of the brand.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture World Traveler eyeshadow palette, presentation:
What the brand says about it:
This limited-edition, fashion-forward eye shadow kit is the ultimate makeup artist’s palette.
Twelve shades—ranging from a neutral peach to a vibrant blue—deliver smooth, intense color, so you can create an endless array of custom looks.
Finishes include matte, satin, and metallic. Formulas can be applied wet or dry.
For me, it’s really a perfect palette for the transition of Summer to Fall (which here in Dubai takes quite a bit of time lol).
It was ideal for my summer looks with all the bright colors but I will also love it this Fall because many shades are perfect for my ‘warm colours’ craving. I also see myself using it a lot for warm and intense winter makeup looks.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture World Traveler eyeshadow palette, my test and thoughts:
– Packaging:
This is a black and old gold cardboard box and rather elegant. It contains a mirror, always handy and a double-ended brush that is quite good.
– Ease of use:
It’s a palette rather thin and easy to carry (not too heavy). And the fact that there is a mirror and a brush inside makes it a very weekend or holiday-friendly.
– Color choice and versatility:
The choice of colors is clearly with makeup addicts in mind. Indeed, some colors are very bright and I confess one of the reasons it caught my eye. But there are enough neutral colors to make it a wearable palette.
The variety of finishes allows a lot of different makeup looks, from the most natural to the most intense, very neutral or super colourful, matte or super shimmery, so many choices!
– Overall quality of the eyeshadows:
What is so nice about ABH (Anastasia Beverly Hills) eyeshadow palettes, is that it helps to get an idea of the quality of the brand’s single eyeshadows (sold separately $12 each) (ouch).
In the palette, you have matte, iridescent, shimmery, “Titanium” (ultra iridescent metallic) finishes. A good range of the different ABH eyeshadows finishes.
I find the overall quality of the eyeshadows rather good: good texture, nice pigmentation, easy to blend…
Only two of them were a little disappointing: Spoiled and Heirloom which are both glittery. Their pigmentation is not as good as other eyeshadows and there is a fair amount of fall out… You can still make them work but you have to layer them a lot to have some coverage and you also need to clean the glitter after. uneasy
– Value for money:
The value for money is pretty good, especially considering the price of the single ABH eyeshadows ($12 each and the palette is sold $30).
I was afraid that the quality of the eyeshadows in the palette was not like the pans, but they’re great (yes, I have some ABH pans that I love) (yes, I will do you a blog post about them soon wink ).
– Availability:
The easiest way is still to go through the Anastasia Beverly Hills website directly (they ship internationally).
Fingers crossed, Sephora will soon distribute the entire range! wink
Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture World Traveler eyeshadow palette, the colors:
– Soft Peach: A very light peach shade. I use it mainly to apply in the crease because it is slightly too dark to be applied as my base all over the lid. If you have a medium skin, it should work perfectly as a base color in my opinion. It’s very luminous and it has a matte finish.
– Morocco: one of my favorite in the palette. This is an rusty orange shade, beautiful and which can warm any makeup look. Ultra intense, I use it both in the crese and on the entire eyelid or in the outer V. It’s really beautiful! It’s also a matte finish.
– Heirloom: this one gave me a headache. This is a very dark eggplant with pink glitter. Its texture is quite hard and chalky and you really have to apply a lot to get good coverage. It’s a little too dusty for my taste and it tends to fall out as well. You can still make it work, but it will take some time…
– Bellini: a very pretty golden peach, with quite warm undertones. It’s creamy and highly pigmented and it has a shimmery finish. A simple but very effective shade! wink
– Pink Champagne: a gem, to me it’s the star of the palette. This is an ultra shimmery and metallic pinky beige, super luminous. It has a Titanium finish; in ABH, it’s their “diamond” finish. It sophisticates any makeup. I almost want to buy the single version because I love it so much! wink
– Chic: a very light old gold shade, with a metallic shimmery finish. It’s very pretty, luminous and the pigmentation is great. I use it a lot as a highlighter from the inner corner of my eye.
– Spoiled: I was quite disappointed in this shade. Like Bellini, it’s also a light golden peach but it has a glittery finish (with gold glitter). First, I find it a waste to add a shade which is so close to another one in the palette and also, the pigmentation is so-so. Plus it has quite a lot of fall out. I don’t really see the point with this eyeshadow… uneasy
– Fudge: a stunning warm chocolate brown shade in a matte finish. I use it a lot. Like Morocco, I love it!
– Azure: a beautiful cobalt blue with a shimmery finish. The pigmentation is perfect and it blends beautifully. Associated with Morocco and/or Fudge in the crease, it will make a gorgeous blue smoky eyes! wink
– Intense Gaze: a beautiful bronzy pink, with an hint of dark orange but super luminous. It has a shimmery finish and it’s super creamy and intense. I use it over the entire eyelid, on the outter V, along the lower eyelash line, everywhere really…
– Metallic: a beautiful pure yellow gold, with a metallic finish. It also has super pigmentation and blends very easily.
– Noir: an ultra pigmented matte black eyeshadow that I love using as a liner (dry or wet, its super intense).
Finally, here are the swatches:
And on me:
– Look 1:
For this very warm look, I used Soft Peach and Morocco in the crease, Intense Gaze in the outer corner and along the lower lash line. I used Spoiled with Bellini on the top on my eyelid and a little bit of Chic in the inner corner. I finally applied Noir as an eyeliner along the lash line.
My lipstick here is MAC Teddy Velvet with a little bit of the lipgloss Chelsea Girls by NARS (#obsessed).
– Look 2:
For this one, which is clearly more dramatic, I applied Soft Peach all over the lid, Morocco in the crease, Fudge in the outer corner and along the lower lash line. I made lots of layers with Heirloom on the outer half of my eyelid to achieve a good result (-_-). Then I applied the stunning Pink Champagne on the inside and the center of my eyelid (and everything took shape!!!). A little bit of Chic in the inner corner of the eye, Noir used as an eyeliner, tons of mascara, and boom! Ready for the party! wink
My lipstick here is the Clinique Nude Pop.
In summary:
[wprs-pros][wprs-cons]
I’m quite impressed with the overall quality of this palette. The eyeshadows are really well selected and their quality is almost perfect. For the price, it’s really a very nice selection of colors and you can do lots of pretty and unique makeup looks.
The Shadow Couture palette is available on the Anastasia Beverly Hills website for $30.
Did you know the brand Anastasia Beverly Hills? Have you tried the eyeshadow palettes by the brand or the single eyeshadow? What are your thoughts? Tempted by the Shadow Couture palette? wink
Photos credits: bonnie-garner.com, anastasiabeverlyhills.com