Hi babes! Today I will be sharing my thoughts on the new Anastasia Beverly Hills Prism palette. I've been sitting on this review for a couple of weeks now, but I guess it's for the better: after having used this palette over a longer period of time, my opinion is more well-developed than if I had reviewed it straight away. As you may know I own three ABH palettes: Modern Renaissance, Subculture and now also Prism, which puts me in a good position to assess the qualities of each of these palettes.
Prism came out quite soon after Subculture, and it has some similar shades which had people wondering whether Prism was brought out to compensate for the backlash that Subculture got. This seems very unlikely to me, since new releases are generally prepared months and months in advance. Still, the shades are in the same colour families, and the two palettes seem complementary, which made me doubt whether I needed Prism in my collection to begin with - are the two palettes different enough? In the end, I still ordered the palette because I felt like treating myself, and because I prefer my ABH eyeshadows above all of my other palettes.
Let me tell you about how Prism compares to its two sisters!
Prism comes in the same magnet closure, velvet and cardboard packaging as the other two palettes. The packaging is quite lightweight but sturdy, which I like. A negative is that the palettes get quite grimy/dirty from use, but idgaf about that.
If you look at the three ABH palettes side by side, there are definitely some similar tones, but each of the three has its own distinctive look. MR (bottom left) is mostly neutrals in pink and rusty tones, Subculture (bottom right) is muted, grungy and very fall-inspired, and Prism (on top) has more jewel tones and shimmers, along with a couple of complementary, warm toned mattes. Both Subculture and Prism have a colour arrangement that takes some getting used to: while the individual colours are beautiful, the layout of the shades is more "eclectic" than harmonious, which can feel a bit intimidating at first. Modern Renaissance has a more logical layout, which makes it easier to envision makeup looks at first glance.
Still, my experience with Subculture has taught me that the more random layout and colour combo is very stimulating to me, challenging me to create a different type of look. Honestly, I even prefer Subculture over Modern Renaissance now, which is saying a lot since MR was my ultimate fav before buying Subculture.
Let's look at Prism in more detail.
What drew me most to this palette was those beautiful lavender-leaning shades, Dimension and Lure. I probably would have passed on this palette if those shades weren't in there. Can you tell that my biggest wish is to get a cool toned ABH eyeshadow palette? PLEASE ABH make this happen. Every makeup lover I know wants this to become a reality. I also love Throne, Eternal and Eden. Those were the standout shades to me at first glance.
When swatched, the palette is a bit of a mixed bag. Most shades perform quite well, like we're used of ABH, but Eden, Osiris, Pyramid and Eternal are less pigmented or opaque than I generally expect from the brand. I may be spoiled after pigmentation overload Subculture, but still. Lucid also seems less pigmented in this pic, but when the swatch catches the light you get a gorgeous gold-yellow duochrome effect. On the positive side, Dimension and Lure are as gorgeous as I hoped they would be, and all of the mattes except Eden are creamy and saturated.
There have also been some complaints about Prism being to repetitive, so I swatched a couple of similar shades.
Prism definitely boasts a number of mattes that only differ slightly from mattes of the MR and Subculture palettes. This doesn't bother me that much, but I have to admit I would like more variety here.
Let's see how Prism's eyeshadows work in eye looks! I created five makeup looks showing of most of the shadows.
For the first look, I used Dimension (my faaaav), Lure in the crease, and Obsidian in the outer corner. Obsidian is another favourite of mine: the colour blends out SO perfectly, which isn't that easy to get in a black eyeshadow, making this the perfect shadow to smoke out any type of eye look. Dimension looks stunning with hazel eyes. I paired this look with Urban Decay Backtalk lipstick.
In this second look, I used Eden in the crease, Throne all over the lid, Lucid in the inner corner and a lil Obsidian to smoke out the edges. Throne is a total star, the eyeshadow doesn't even need a primer underneath to be deep, sparkly and pigmented. Eden is not a fav of mine: while most ABH mattes "grab" the lid quite well, Eden goes on too sheer and is easily over-blended to the point where you barely see the shade. Lucid is a stunning inner corner highlight, and I absolutely love using it again and again. I'm also wearing UD Backtalk in this look.
In my third look, I used Pyramid and Eternal to create a warm toned Christmassy gold look, with two of the mattes to add some depth. These eyeshadows are fine, Parallel is even great, but the two shimmers don't excite me as much as I thought they would. Subculture's Adorn had a better, creamier formula which gave off a more sparkly end result. Eternal almost looks like a matte with some microglitter, and the shadow is pressed too hard. Still, the end result looks quite lovely. On the lips, I'm wearing Kylie Cosmetics' Okurrr.
The fourth look was where I challenged myself to use that tennisball yellow Sphere. In this look I applied Eden in the crease, Parallel and Obsidian in the outer V, and Sphere from the inner corner to the middle of the lid with a subtle highlight from Lucid. I didn't expect to love this look, but I think the colours blended beautifully and the end result is surprisingly wearable and flattering. If you want Sphere to really "pop" like a neon, you'll need to put it over a white primer base, though. Wearing Kat Von D's Double Dare on the lips.
Finally, a moody, fall themed halo- eye using Lure and Parallel on the edges, and Eternal in the middle of the eyelid. Eternal looks beter here paired with mattes, giving it a smouldering finish rather than the slightly underwhelming performance it seemed to have next to other metallics. I'm also wearing Double Dare by Kat Von D here.
So, let me sum up. Do I LOVE Prism? No. Modern Renaissance and Subculture are my true loves, and Prism is merely a very fine, very lovely palette. I have to admit I miss Subculture's divisive overload of pigment, and the fact that Prism has a couple of shadows that require building up lets me down a bit. I know that many people prefer to build up colour though, so I definitely wouldn't say that the shadows are bad or mediocre quality.
The shade selection is pretty, but there are some repetitions from the earlier palettes. I do "get" the shade selection, though: this is definitely a holiday palette perfect for party makeup. I just wish ABH would provide us with a cool toned palette.
Would I recommend this palette? Yes, because ABH's palettes are consistently amazing. But I do prefer MR and Subculture to Prism. However, if you're a shimmer lover, Prism might win out for you.
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