Product Review – Anastasia Master Palette by Mario

Today’s review is on the Anastasia Beverly Hills Master Palette by Mario, which I purchased during the Sephora VIB sale. I initially wanted to test it for just a little longer before doing a review of this palette, but since it is limited edition , I thought it best to get a review out for those that are interested before it’s no longer available (or use their $20 Sephora coupon on this palette before it expires).

The Master Palette by Mario palette retails for $59 in Canada, and is a collaboration with celebrity makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic. The palette is inspired by people and places that have had an influence on Dedivanovic’s life, hence shade names such as Kim, Hollywood, and Paris.

The exterior of the palette

In interior of the palette

The palette is made of cardboard material with a black and gold foil design, and has a magnetic closure to snap the lid shut. The packaging seems sturdy enough, although I’m not sure I would bring it with me on vacation. It also contains a mirror on the inside of the lid, which I always appreciate in palettes.

 

The palette contains mostly warm earthy tones. This is definitely not a palette for those who prefer cool shades. 9 of the shades are shimmery, and the other 3 shades are matte.  Just as a side note, this was the promotional image for the palette:

I don’t think it looks anything like the real thing! When the promotional images first came out, I was also interested in this palette as I don’t own many similar shades contained in here, but it makes the palette look much more cool-toned than it actually is. I mean, the shades in my photos are also a little off from what it looks like in real life too, but they are a lot truer to colour.

Hollywood, NYC, Kim, Muse, Marina, Claudia

Lula, Isabel, Violeta, 5th Ave, Bronx, Paris

Hollywood: Golden ivory with a frosted finish
NYC: Medium plummy red-brown with a frosted finish
Kim: Copper with a satin finish
Muse: Cranberry with a metallic finish
Marina: Rosy beige with a metallic finish
Claudia: Deep cool gray with a satin finish
Lula: Cool medium taupe with a matte finish
Isabel: Warm terracotta with a matte finish
Violeta: Warm red-brown with a matte finish
5th Ave: Golden champagne with a metallic finish
Bronx: Dirty olive green with a satin finish
Paris: Murky taupe with a satin finish

As you can see, there are a lot of shades with a frosted or satin finish, so this palette may not be right for you if those finishes aren’t your thing. Overall, I would say that I’m really impressed with the texture of all of the shades. They are all super soft and buttery in texture. This causes a lot of powder to kick up when I dip my brush into the pan, although I have not experienced any fallout once the eye shadow is applied to my face. The pigmentation varies amongst all of the shades, although I would say in general it is great. Muse, Marina, Isabel, 5th Ave, and Bronx are extremely pigmented – I was especially impressed by the metallic shades. All of the other shades did not give full opacity upon first swatch, but were able to be layered pretty easily to build up to full opacity. The only shade that didn’t quite work for me was Hollywood, which was weak in pigmentation. My favourite way to wear the shades in this palette is using Lula as the transition colour, Marina in the inner 1/3 of the lid, Muse in the middle of the lid, and Violeta in the crease. I tried using Hollywood as a highlight, but it just doesn’t work – I end up getting my browbone highlight elsewhere.

Another issue I think some people may have with this palette is that a few of the shades are a little too similar to one another, such as 5th Ave, Hollywood, and Marina. While there are some very good combinations to be had and you can do a lot of interesting combos using this palette, I think it definitely could have used a light highlight shade and possibly a lighter transition shade and a darker crease shade as well. Personally, I can use Lula as a transition colours, but I don’t think it would work for people with lighter skin tones. As a starter palette for those that don’t own many eye shadows, I would probably choose another palette, and it doesn’t have enough variety in shades for it to be a travel palette, either.

A dual-ended brush is included with the palette. One side is a fluffy blending brush, and the other is a flat eyeshadow brush. The bristles of the blending blush are rather scratchy, so I don’t think I’ll be getting any use out of it. The bristles of the flat eyeshadow brush are quite soft and the quality seems good. It’s a little too big for my eyelid space, though, but I’m going to keep playing with it to see what I can use it for.

To summarize, I highly enjoy the texture, pigmentation and shades in this palette, although I don’t think it would fit the needs for everyone.

What palette have you tried lately that you loved?