Anastasia Beverly Hills

American Doll is described by ABH as being a "classic retro red". I'd describe it as a cool crimson, that's not a million miles away from the MAC classic Ruby Woo. I think that it's one of those shades that will look great on everyone. Most reviewers I've ever watched dislike ABH's liquid lipstick formula, but I've found that they work great on me and now they have actually become one of my preferred brands for comfort and a long wear time. Their formula is the perfect balance between being not-too-wet and not-too-dry, so it applies easily for a liquid lipstick and dries very quickly. It's the best of both worlds: you are getting the strong colour, matte finish and good staying power of a traditional lipstick, minus the drying feeling you can get from a bullet lipstick. As a liquid you get a soft & moisturized feeling and pleasant scent/taste of a gloss, minus the sticky feeling and movable colour. Depending on food/drink this wears for around seven/eight hours, and it fades evenly.

First of all yay for skipping the heinous velvet packaging! Sultry is a beautiful palette, the shadows have excellent payoff and blend beautifully. Personally I don't use the gray/silvery colors (Slate, Pearl, Cyborg) because they look out of place with my warm skintone and green eyes and don't like Steampunk because it translates as too yellow. Bloom is a bit of a surprise but a hint of it on the crease provides some nice warmth to the look. Golden Quartz is divine and I also love Teak and Ember on the lid. Then you get Twig and Birch to choose for the crease and darken with Dystopian. Noir and Fresh are shades I'd look for in other palettes anyway so I'm happy to see them there. Overall I'm happy with my purchase.

I wanted to love this palette so much but it just didn’t work for me. The colours are gorgeous but they’re super pigmented, which makes them difficult to work with and takes forever to blend out nicely. Better suited for people with above average blending skills, which isn’t me.