Worth The Hype | Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam Palette • Girl Loves Gloss

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nastasia Beverly Hills has been releasing palette after palette in the last year or so, but none have impressed me since Modern Renassaince. When I saw the first preview of the Soft Glam Palette, I just knew I needed it. I had some apprehensions, given a few of the previous palettes had dodgy reputations, but they turned out to be completely unfounded! The Soft Glam Palette is the most stunning, all occasion palette that is so easy to wear; Can you tell it was love at first swatch?

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Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam Eyeshadow Palette Review

Available at Sephora | Ulta | Cult Beauty | Beautylish

The Soft Glam Palette has 14 eyeshadow shades, in a mix of matte, duochrome and metallic finishes.

Shades:

Tempera (ultra-matte velvety beige)
Glistening (iridescent gold with a hint of pink reflect)
Orange Soda (ultra-matte pastel peach)
Rose Pink (rose gold with a soft pink iridescent hue)
Sultry (a hybrid satin metallic finish warm chocolate brown)
Bronze (metallic gold bronze)
Mulberry (ultra-matte mulberry)
Dusty Rose (ultra-matte dusty lilac)
Fairy (multi-dimensional light gold)
Burnt Orange (ultra-matte deep orange)
Sienna (ultra-matte earthy brown)
Rustic (ultra-matte deep cinnamon brown)
Cyprus Umber (ultra-matte dark coffee)
Noir (ultra-matte deep carbon black)

Initially, I was worried that the pigmentation and texture of these shadows would be a concern given some of the previous launches from the brand. As we learned with the fallout over the Subculture Palette, intensely pigmented powders are only worth their weight if the formula has the ability to blend out. Thankfully these all move beautifully they way an eyeshadow should for everyday wear!

Anastasia’s matte shadows are some of the best on the market as far as I am concerned. The texture is smooth and creamy feeling, but they don’t go patchy or oxidize darker. This palette has a beautiful range of mattes in light through dark that can be worn seamlessly together for a multitude of looks. If you want to amp up your look though, the metallic and duochromes are in a level all to their own!

The cream-like feel to the shimmering pigments in this palette makes the pigment payoff beautifully intense. What I love about ABH’s formulation though, is that they can be blended out softly for a wash, and don’t lose their colour tone or undertone. Often metallic/shimmer shadows just blend out to dull muddyness, not preserving the actual base colour. The lasting power is also top not on the entire palette; The mattes don’t go patchy and the metallics don’t wear off leaving faint traces of shimmer.

While beauty ~~hoarders~~ collectors might initially find this offering boring, or passe, in terms of uniqueness, I for one am thrilled to have such a cohesive, fully functioning palette! There’s pale, there’s dark, and everything in between in warm and cool tones. You have literally everything from your brow bone to your liner here and there’s no wildcard pop of turquoise or fuschia that you know damn well you’ll never use.

Now I will say I have a couple of caveats with the Soft Glam Palette, but neither are deal breakers. Firstly, I abhor flocked velvet packaging, like several of the ABH palettes have. They get SO grubby, SO fast and cannot be cleaned for the life of you. It’s a small bugbear but one nonetheless. Secondly, I wish the brand would stop including the shadow brush inside because it is one of the scratchiest brushes I’ve used and sheds poorly. I would much rather the palette be a few dollars less (or even not…) and use my own soft brushes. This isn’t a flaw unique to Anastasia Beverly Hills; Brands like Urban Decay, Tom Ford, and Smashbox have all been known to do this. A waste of a brush? Yes. A reason not to buy? Heck no!

So was yet another Anastasia Beverly Hills Palette worth the hype? If you couldn’t tell already, my answer is a resounding YES. It was 100% worth me buying and I don’t regret it for a minute.

Now that they’ve done the warm neutrals, the reds, and the peacock vibes, what would you like to see in the next ABH palette? I’d love bronzes, purples or roses.