Anastasia Beverly Hills

I purchased this product in the shade: ash brown from my nearby Ulta along with the #12 brush. I usually don't splurge on cosmetics but I decided on this one because I really wanted an eyebrow product that I could really rely on. I'm extremely disappointed. First, I don't understand why the cosmetic industry refuses to make more eyebrow products in grey shades. Not every woman has brown or black brows but those seem to be the only shades available. I was hoping the ash brown would be closest to grey that I can get but I still see reddish tones in it which is what I'm trying to avoid and the "charcoal"(?) shade is just too black. Second, I don't know if this is an Ulta issue but the one I purchased does not apply smoothly. For whatever reason it beads when I load it onto the $19 brush - which btw is already starting to curl on the tip and it's not even a month old - I purchased and creates a messy application instead of the hair-like strokes I'm going for. This product is awful and I sincerely regret waisting the money when I have such a tight budget. I gave it one lippy for staying power.

I've been reaching for the ABH Jackie Aina palette very frequently since I've purchased it! I like that is contains colours that I already gravitate towards. My skintone is medium (around MAC NC37, if I had to guess? kind of golden in tone) , so I definitely encounter an issue with a lot of palettes where the "transition" shades just match my skintone and a lot of colours run too light on me and look chalky. The formula is a bit powdery, but it blends really beautifully. I get best results by putting a bunch of shadow on and then blending it out as opposed to building it up little by little like I usually do, particularly for mattes. As usual, the shimmers/metallics are most vibrant and opaque when applied with a finger, but a brush is good to sheer them down for a more toned-down or everyday look. The 3 pressed pigment shades can stain bare eyelids but did not cause me any irritation; primer should prevent staining. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the shade Supreme because it is really good to layer with Ginger or Edges to make a less orange and less bright transition shade. Big Wig has a much drier formula than the others, and I needed to apply a lot of it on the eyes to match the colour in the pan. That was kind of disappointing. It's also weirdly stiff and not powdery compared to all the other mattes. The other matte shades are great, Ginger is my favourite transition; Edges has a great formula but it's too reddish for me as a transition, personally, but a bit of it on the outer corner is great. Credit is fun because it's not just a dark brown and it complements all the shimmer shades really nicely to create an easy look when placed on the outer corner. All the shimmers are nice, but as pretty as Zamn is, it produces a lot of fallout. Sponsored is also my fav shade for a one-and-done look, but it has the shortest longevity and unfortunately creases the most out of all the shimmer shades. However, I am a sucker for duochromes, so I can accept that. All the other shades in the palette can last pretty much 9+ hours on me with primer. I also like Lituation a lot because it's kind of cool-toned but doesn't look chalky or grey because of the plum tone in the taupe. Overall, any formula issues are minor, the pigmentation is pretty great all around except for Big Wig. I didn't have any issues with shades looking chalky or blending into nothing on my skin tone and I love that I was able to create a wide variety of looks using a single palette without having to reach for supplementary transition shades. It's a great everyday palette. I thought the shimmers would be too much, but they seem reasonably appropriate when used with a brush instead of fingers. It's really versatile as a palette, and goes from neutral to party mode depending on how you combine shades.

I have only come up with one look that I like with this palette, and it involves applying the lightest shimmer on most of the lid, using the lightest neutral matte, and the darkest color of the palette which is Credit. The rest of the shimmers look very dark on me which surprised me. I have an olive tan skintone and black hair. The matte midtones look peculiar on me too, and combined with the darker colors, which are less dark than I expected, the looks come out low contrast. I dont like this. I'm going to try to use the shimmers as midtones instead of lid colors, or just stick to using them in the outer corner of the lid and see if I like that. So I have to change the way I do my makeup to see if I can make this work. Maybe this would work better to make smoky eyes. I'm glad I got this palette at a discount honestly. It's just not that flattering on me. That said, the mattes are pigmented and blend like a dream. The shimmers go from smooth to metallic. Theres only one that is more glittery or granular looking, but it looks ok. I had looked at many looks before purchasing, liked none of them, but still went ahead and bought it, thinking that in people like me or darker it would look great. But from what I've seen it looks best on dark, very dark skin, and oddly enough, on light skin with medium to light hair. I think it's because even though its a darker palette, it is also a low contrast palette, and they have low contrast between their skin and hair naturally so its suits them, and all the colors make for pretty smoky eyes on them. Dont like it. Wouldnt repurchase, but quality is good.