Guess who had no internet for the last 3 weeks and had no access to this blog! This lady:
While I'm getting back to the swing of things, here's a review that will hopefully make up for the lost time. Today's feature is the Volume II Pro Pigment Palette under a collection that Norvina released under Anastasia Beverly Hills in late 2019. Norvina is the daughter of the founder of ABH, and this was the first big collection she's released since the Norvina Palette came out.
Understandably, I was intrigued since she said that each of these big palettes would be color coordinated. I didn't care too much for the other palettes when they all came out, but I really liked this one. It's neon shades and cool-toned shades, with very little browns. What more could I ask for? I bought it, of course.
The Palette
So this palette is metal, which is something very different for ABH as their palettes are usually made of cardboard. It opens up to 25 shades, mostly matte (18 all in all), and has a big mirror. I must say, this is a beautiful palette with really nice materials. I would only expect this for a high-end brand, especially because this definitely wasn't cheap.
Due to the metal casing, I consider this palette quite travel-friendly. Like, I honestly think you can bring this and a small neutral palette with you when you travel and you'll be fine. Oh, and this palette is vegan which means there are no animal-derived ingredients in these shadows. So that's a good thing.
The Shadows
Since this was separated into 5 different rows, I did 3 separate photos for the swatches and I will label each row accordingly since this palette doesn't really have shade names. As always, all these swatches were built up to full opacity on bare skin with no primer or sweat.
Rows A and B
I will say that since these are pressed pigments, they won't necessarily work the same way that a regular eyeshadow will. As you can see with the matte shades, some of them don't swatch the best and do need some building up. Nonetheless, I was impressed at how soft and buttery the matte shades are as pressed pigments can sometimes be gritty or too firmly pressed. One way to make sure you get the maximum color payoff from the get-go is to use a sticky base before you put on your eyeshadow.
Rows C and D
As for the metallic shades, they're just regular shimmery eyeshadows. I don't necessarily think they're all foiled or even have a creamy texture. Most of them are drier to the touch, but I don't think this affects the lasting power of the eyeshadows. Though some of them are pretty sheer though (A2 and E2), but I think this was intentional and maybe these shades are meant to be toppers. But this palette only has 7 metallic shades so I think the color selection and opacity could be better.
Row E
Again, this palette is mostly pressed pigments so the matte shadows will stain your eyelids. These swatches stained my arm like they did my eyelids, which is normal if you're very pale like me. I don't think this is a bad thing personally, but I understand this can be a turn-off for some people.
My Final Thoughts
I like this palette, I think the eyeshadow quality, color story, and palette materials make the high-end price worth it. If you don't have a lot of blue and green eyeshadows in your collection and love colors like that, this is a really nice addition. Even with my many palettes, I still feel like this palette just made my collection more complete.
I felt so inspired and I had a lot of fun playing with this palette, it was hard for me to stop using it because I just loved it that much. And even if it doesn't seem like it, you can come up with pink-toned looks too. I would also bring this along for a long trip with my Ultimate Goddess Palette. And that makes me happy.
Obviously, I don't think this palette is for everyone. Pressed pigments are not beginner-friendly as they can be hard to build up and blend out if you're new to eyeshadow. They will also stain your eyes a lot. Since this palette is also very cool-toned, people who prefer warm-toned lovers might find this palette hard to use. But there are other palettes in the range that you might like a bit more.
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