Modern Renaissance by ABH

    When I saw the sneak peak photo of the Modern Renaissance palette on the Anastasia Beverly Hills' Instagram my heart fluttered... It was so gorgeous and pleasing to the eye that I knew I had to get it. Then I saw that it was inspired by the renaissance art era and would be ABH's first permanent palette, plus being someone who has admired their limited edition palettes, so I made up my mind that I would order it the moment it was released online... And I did, with it arriving just about a week after being shipped, safe and sound.

   Now, this isn't a blow to the company as a whole, but I do have a bit of frustration with ABH's customer service center - as far as how they handled talking to me about my order. The day I expected my order to ship out, I received an email that my order was canceled and I would be refunded my money... I called the customer service number to investigate what the issue was, since the email didn't specify, and was told my bank canceled the order seconds after the representative pulled up the order. I panicked, because I work so hard to keep track of all my finances and knew I had the funds to make this purchase, but clearly something was wrong. Right?
   I call my bank and express my concern with what had happened, asking why they canceled the order. I was then told that they did not cancel the order and was emailed a screen shot of the representatives screen, showing how the funds had gone through and on their end everything was 100% approved. They advised I call Anastasia Beverly Hills back and find out the true reason, and to contact the bank again with any information that may concern them/my account... I called ABH back and explained to them what the previous representative had told me and also that the bank did not cancel the funds. Basically, I was bounced around from one person to another with everyone blaming other representatives for the false information that I was given about my funds, my order, and the time frames I was given... Why I'm mentioning this, and what really bothered me, was that no one would take responsibility and was mad at me for being told the wrong information... ?!?!... I was being as sweet as humanly possible to the representatives... ?!?!... In the end, I reordered my palette over the phone and the money cancel itself out on my card a week later.

    Lets talk about this lovely packaging! Perfectly pastel, velvety pink covers the entire palette - other than the ingredients label on the back. The lid is magnetized nicely, and inside there was a plastic slip covering the brush and eyeshadows while the mirror had a plastic protective film stuck to it. I'm not a fan of the duel ended brush because it is more like two fluffy brushes and the "packing" side is hard to pack on color without a good bit of fallout, not to mention the hairs fall out on the blending side with ease. I expected more from a brush made by ABH, but I know many palette brushes tend to be of less quality. Also, the mirror is really nice, but I do wish it was a tad bit bigger... Is what it is because I still use both when on the go.

   The eyeshadows in this palette are beautiful, with a variety of velvet-like textures - fitting the palette thus far - with the only exception being Love Letter. I am not sure if the pigment being so intense causes this less-smooth texture, or if it somehow reacted to the spritz of alcohol I spray over all my new palettes while sanitizing them. I would also like to note that I have read some people that are more pale have experienced minor skin tinting from the highly pigmented shades in this palette, but it did fade away shortly after; this is why I always recommend a primer or some sort of base between shadows and skin... The colors when worn are identical to the shades in the pan, which adds to how universally flattering these eyeshadow colors are. Very easy for both natural and bold looks!
   Also, there won't be any swatches during my ~palette week~ since the swatch photos disappeared and now my skin is acting up... I'm sorry.

   As you know, I do not rate eyeshadow palettes... But I love the Modern Renaissance palette and am fully enjoying trying new looks with shades that I haven't really believed I could pull-off until now! I'm so thrilled to have this palette in my collection, especially with colors like Buon Fresco, Vermeer, Venetian Red, Antique Bronze, Love Letter, Warm Taupe, and Cyprus Umber - so, half the dang palette, but these shades in particular are my absolute favorites... I really recommend looking up the works of art that helped to inspire Anastasia Beverly Hills to create this palette - you might be surprised how much you recognize, even if you aren't into art at all!

Note: Ingredients for this palette can be found HERE!

*This post is in no way sponsored, and all opinions are my own.*

xoxo Elle