You know those palettes that you initially pass up on, but then after a while you just still can’t get them out of your head? That’s what happened with me when the Carli Bybel collab palette with ABH was released. I actually spotted this in store, but didn’t think it would be much of a good palette and I wasn’t too fussed about it. Yet, after months and months this palette still popped into my head from time to time. So in the end, I caved, I got it, I tried it and I fell in love.
Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills X Carli Bybel eyeshadow palette
The Anastasia Beverly Hills X Carli Bybel palette is one that I think many people passed up on initially. This was one of those palettes where ABH was churning out releases left and right and we all just got a bit tired of seeing yet another ABH palette. This palette definitely fell by the wayside because of that tactic, but despite this being a collab palette that is a bit harder to find by now, you can still buy it as it is still available from some international retailers such as Beauty Bay and the official ABH website. It retails for around €48.95.
What does this palette have to offer?
Now that I own it, I really don’t understand why I decided to pass up on it. This palette features 14 pans and you get a full row of cool tones and a full row of warm tones. It’s the warm tones that made me pass up on this palette at first and there are also some gritty textures here that ABH insists on not calling a pressed glitter, but that I feel do not perform well on the eye without a glitter glue. So there’s that. Now that I have tried it though I feel this is a great neutral palette with a twist and it’s far more wearable than I had initially thought or expected. The looks below will be evidence of that. But first: a more detailed look at the palette and some swatches.
What is the color story like?
When this released the color story did appeal to me, but those peaches, reds and golds in the bottom row really threw me off. Still till this day, I wished the top row would have been the palette with perhaps an even deeper brown thrown in and it would have made for the best cool toned 8-pan palette. However, what we get instead is a 14-pan color story with 6 mattes and 8 shimmers. The shimmers have different textures from more subdued satins to highly metallic and some grittier more textures shadows. There are 7 cool shades and 7 warm toned shades that I don’t feel match very well but you can do enough within the two rows separately to create many different looks.
What does the palette swatch like?
As you can see the swatches look great. The grittiest, most textured shade in the palette is the periwinkle shimmer that is most right. It swatches well with a finger, but I would recommend a glitter glue as it doesn’t have a lot of grip otherwise. The other mattes and shimmers all perform along the lines that I am used to with an ABH palette. The mattes are smooth, the shimmers intense and easy to work with. The palette also skews quite fair toned: even those there are warm tones, the red isn’t too red but almost a bit peachy/ pink leaning which meant I could make it work a lot better than expected.
3 Looks, 1 Palette
So I did 3 looks with this palette to test it out. I worked in 1 warm toned look and 2 cool toned looks. One of the cool toned looks is more neutral and centered around the taupe shimmer. The other cool toned look of course features those gorgeous blue/ purple shimmers.
I was so surprised by how natural this warm toned look came out when I used it. I was expecting the peaches, reds and golds to look to stark against my complexion (as that is what usually happens for me with most shades like this). However, I was able to create a perfectly soft, muted warm toned look and that peachy/ pink shimmer just looks stunning against my fair skin. There are still some shades here that I would never use again, but I love how the look came together and how wearable it was.
Now you don’t have to use this palette to create a neutral look, but I wanted to as that taupe was of course screaming at me to be used. The taupe is a deeper taupe and not as cool toned as you would expect. I think it is a great allrounder shade in this palette that could go with the warm tones or with the cool tones depending on what you pair it with. Here I have kept it very basic and I stuck to the lighter shades in the cool toned side of the palette.
However, the shades I wanted to play with most were the blue/ purple shades. They are close to being periwinkles but not quite and that is why I think they work very well. I layered the grittier shade OVER the other shimmer though to ensure intensity and impact and I blended both also along the lower lash line. The result is a neutral look with a twist that I think makes this palette more unique than other neutral leaning palettes.
My final thoughts
The ABH X Carli Bybel eyeshadow palette was one that really took me by surprise. I went from: nah do not need it, to: ooh this is very pretty indeed. This palette simply does everything what I need a palette to do. It features enough neutrals for me to be able to grab for it on a daily basis as well as some interesting pops of color that will amp up any look. Granted the palette is quite fair as none of the shades are very deep. Overall the palette is full of light and mid tones and that’s why I do think this palette isn’t for everyone as it can be limited if you have a deeper skin tone.
Would I recommend the Anastasia Beverly Hills X Carli Bybel eyeshadow palette?
That depends: I don’t think this is an absolute must have. This is a good palette for people who are looking for something neutral but that can do more. If that is you than I think you will love this. However, if you already own a lot of neutrals or cool tones aren’t very much your jam than I don’t think you will like this much. However for a more interesting palette for an everyday look this palette has lots of options and I know I will get more use out of this in the future.