Anastasia Beverly Hills Norvina Vol. 3 mini eyeshadow palette review

This review will focus on the ABH Norvina Vol. 3 mini eyeshadow palette. This is one that if you have watched any of my videos in that I featured this in, you will know I wasn’t too happy with. The reason why? It features pressed glitters and the brand doesn’t disclose that anywhere. Not on their website and not on the packaging of the product. So for me, this was a bit of a miss and I would like to explain in this blog review why this palette, though very pretty and I pulled some stunning looks out of it, isn’t worth the price point to me.

Review: ABH Norvina Vol. 3 mini eyeshadow palette

First of all let’s have a look at the packaging and the price point. The packaging of this palette is stunning and I would almost be inclined to keep this palette just because of that. It certainly drew me in when I purchased the palette. The palette is more affordable than the larger Norvina palettes, but they are still a bit pricey. For a 9-pan you pay €30, much like the Huda Beauty Obsessions palettes. That can be pricey depending on when you get it: at full price I would say to stay away, but if you can get a deal on this it may be worth it if these shades are what you are looking for.

What does this palette have to offer?

The Norvina Vol. 3 mini eyeshadow palette is one that really intrigued me when it was released. Not only was the packaging stunning, the shades inside the palette also seemed unique and very different from my usual fair. There are quite a few mattes (6 in total) and then there are three shimmers at the top. I was very curious to see how these would perform, but sadly to me, it’s the shimmers that were a little bit lacking as two of them perform like a pressed glitter. Now the brand has been featuring actual pressed glitters in some of their palettes and will also label them as such. These shades are not labelled as pressed glitters, but as pressed pigments, yet they feel gritty like a glitter and I felt I needed a glitter glue to make them stick down. Since shimmers is where a palette comes together for me, this palette therefore ended up lacking quite a bit and if I had known how gritty two out of three of the shimmers were I wouldn’t have purchased this for sure.

What is the color story like?

But it was the color story that drew me in, so let’s have a closer look at it. The top row are all shimmers: only the white/ pink duo chrome in the white left corner performs as such. The other two shades feel gritty, the pink is very pretty but it’s so so textured and I struggled applying it with a brush and had lots of fall out without a glitter glue. The blue is also quite textured, but not as much but just to be on the safe side I ended up using it with a glitter glue and my finger just to be sure. The other six shades all behave as mattes. The pink tone in the middle row has some shimmer in it, but that is mainly there to help it blend out. The reds pulled a bit samey on me in the end, but I liked how they sheered out and created a good look in the end.

What do these shades swatch like?

A finger swatch can only give us so much information and as you can see some of the shades don’t look that pigmented, and even a little bit patchy. Luckily the mattes blended beautifully and I feel this is really the kind of quality that is done more justice when applied with a brush. They can be build up and really diffuse easily. The shimmers look beautiful in a finger swatch and that is what I would recommend doing when you apply these as well. When applied with fingers, these shimmers go on well, but with a brush they become a flaky mess.

2 Looks, 1 Palette

As per usual, I am featuring a few looks I did. In my brain this palette split into a pink/red look and a blue/ green look, so that is what I went with here. And let me tell you: despite my initial disappointment in the textures od the shimmers, I do feel the looks I created are stunning.

For my first look I used the pinks and reds in the palette to first create a hazy reddish crease. I used the deepest red along the lower lash line and the white shimmer is in the inner corner. That shade surprised me as it has a pink/ blue duochrome, meaning it really ties this palette together, as no matter what color you use most, this shade will always go. The star of the show is the pink glitter on the lid. Look how stunning that is?! It reminds me of a nail polish I owned years ago, but now in eyeshadow form. It is perhaps a bit more warm toned and therefore I feel it clashes a little with the pinky reds, but it is a very pretty shade.

For my second look I used the three remaining shades. I used the blue in the crease, the green on the lower lash line and the blue shimmer all over the lid. Very quick and easy look to do and it looks like you did a tonne of work. The blue is very pale though so it needed quite a bit of building up and I am not sure if I would advise using it by itself if you have a deep complexion. However, the blue is another one of those shades that ties this palette together. I have done more looks with this palette since and the blue mixes well with the reds and pinks to create purple hues that gives this palette much more versatility. However, my issue with that is that you need to get the blend exactly right between each eye and therefore it requires some more work and brain space. The blue shimmer is absolutely stunning and it was one that build beautifully. If I decide to ever declutter this palette, that shade may be one I try to save.

My final thoughts

I am very much in two minds about this palette. The Anastasia Beverly Hills Norvina Vol. 3 mini eyeshadow palette was one that really intrigued me. From the packaging to the color story: it gave me so much that I felt I wanted to try. In trying these shades I don’t really have any issues with the quality of the palette either. These shades work well and I was able to create some great looks with it. Unfortunately the palette just didn’t live up to all of my expectations, as I feel two of the shades are pressed glitters, without the brand calling them that. If they had been more transparent about that from the start, I would probably not have purchased it and I do kind of regret buying this in the end. Yes it’s pretty but I also feel that user friendliness is something that should be thought of and this palette is not it.

Would I recommend the ABH Norvina Vol. 3 mini?

This palette was one I was very excited for and it just didn’t quite meet my expectations. If the pink and blue had less texture I would have liked this palette so much more. Also, I feel some of the shades are perhaps a little too samey in the end, which for a 9-pan palette I think is absolutely unnecessary. At the end of the day I like shadows that are unique but that do not require a tonne of brain space to use. This palette is not one I can just whip out on the daily and do lots of different looks with and that is why I would give it a good though before purchasing this particular palette.

What is a palette that disappointed you?