THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL PALETTE OF THEM ALL - ABH SUBCULTURE

Reviews on the new Anastasia Beverly Hills Subculture palette have been everywhere recently. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such controversy over a makeup product in my life! Everyone is getting so angry at the performance of this palette. Most people say it doesn’t blend well, others say there’s way too much fallout and the list goes on. I’m not usually one to watch reviews, but I must say that even I got drawn into all this drama and have watched quite possibly all the reviews out there haha. The video that Alyssa posted on Twitter of her hitting pan on the first day she used it had everyone’s jaws drop. Like I said, I watched way too many videos about this palette, and to be fair, if I went by anything I watched, I most definitely would have stayed away from it, but I like to make up my own mind on things.

The colour selection is what drew me to it in the first place. I love the greens and the yellows! Although it has the pops of colour, it can definitely be a palette for everyday use if you stick to the more neutral shades. I got this palette about a week and a half ago and I literally jumped around in excitement when my boyfriend said it arrived. I was going to put up a review after using it once, but I’m glad I didn’t because I did change my mind a bit.

Top Row, L to R - Cube, Dawn, Destiny, Adorn, All Star, Mercury, Axis

The first day I used it I stuck to using the neutral shades and avoided the darker colours in the palette. I loved it the first time I used it and I really didn’t relate to any of the bad reviews I had seen. The colours blended really well together, there was no patchiness and there was no fallout. Yes, there is a lot of kickback when you put your brush in the shadows, but I’ve watched way too many videos to know that there is no need to swirl your brush in the pan. The colours are super pigmented, you literally only need a small dab in the pan to get full colour saturation on your brush. 

The second time I used it I wanted to venture into the darker shades, especially the greens. I have to say that the shades Axis and Untamed are the driest to touch. They feel the most powdery out of them all and they’re not really soft either, they feel quite gritty. Using the darker shades I could see what everyone was talking about when it came to blending. Every time I would apply the colour and then tried to blend it out, I would lose a lot of the pigmentation. It’s like I was wiping away the colour instead of blending. After doing a couple of different looks I’ve noticed that you need to keep building up the colour and try to blend out the edges using the smallest brush you have, or by blending it out with a darker crease shade. Also, you need to place the brush where you want the most pigment, because if you place it in the wrong spot you will struggle to get it to blend.

Bottom row, L to R - Roxy, Electric, Fudge, New Wave, Untamed, Edge, Rowdy

You can do many looks using this palette, but if you’re going to use the darker shades you will require a lot more time and effort to get it exactly how you want. Personally the shades Destiny, Fudge, All Star, Untamed, Axis, Mercury and Rowdy are the hardest to work with. But like I said, you can make them work, you just need more time to blend and build than you usually would. These shades are a little hard to work with and they tend to go a little muddy looking the more you blend them out. They don’t look the same as when you first apply them which is why you need to keep packing on the colour.

But let’s talk about the shades I did like and the shades I have a lot of love for! Dawn, Roxy, New Wave and Edge are shades I’ve been reaching for everyday. They look incredible in the crease, or even all over the lid and they blend out amazingly well. They are also super pigmented. The darker shades are also really pigmented, but almost all the colour falls off the brush when you tap off the excess. With the lighter shades, this doesn’t happen. 

The duo-chrome shadows, Cube and Electric are both equally stunning! They don’t work well wet - not for me anyway, nor do they work very well with a brush, they give off the most pigment when used with your fingers. Cube looks like nothing in the pan but when applied on the eyelids it gives off such a stunning pink reflex in certain lighting. Adorn is also beautiful, it’s a metallic finish and it’s my favourite bronzy gold at the moment. Adorn all over the lid and some of those matte neutral shades in the crease, work really well for an everyday look.

The palette also comes with a brush that I really like! I always seem to like the brushes that come with eyeshadow palettes, anyone else? It’s double ended, one side for blending and the other end to pack on colour. The flat end of the brush I’m not so keen on, but I love the rounded, fluffy side. It’s super soft and perfect for blending out crease shades. The packaging is also very nice and compact, it would be great to travel with, however I can imagine it getting dirty very quickly if you’re not careful with it.

So that’s it for my review. It’s a mixed bag really. I absolutely love some of the shades in the palette and others not so much. I won’t say I hate the darker shades, because I don’t and I will definitely use them again, but I just wish it was easier to work with and wasn’t so time consuming. Not great when you want a quick smokey eye look for a night out with your friends. However I do think the palette is worth the money, the colour selection is incredible, the pigmentation is unreal and I love the endless looks you can create with it. 

I’m working on a post where I will show you some looks you can create using this palette, it’ll be on the blog soon! :) 

Have you tried this palette? What are your thoughts?

Lots of love, SFS.