What I'm Not Buying: Anastasia Beverly Hills Master Palette by Mario

Makeup Artist Mario Dedivanovic, whose most famous client is Kim Kardashian, has collaborated with Anastasia Beverly Hills to create this limited edition eyeshadow palette with shadows named after the most influential women and places in his life. 

And I won't be buying. 

I have to confess that this has been the most challenging product for me to resist in months. As it released, I had some serious fear of missing out. I know this is going to go fast, I know it is going to receive great reviews, and I know the hype will be unimaginable once those reviews start rolling in. 

But I don't need this palette. And this palette represents the problems I've had with being able to resist hype and being a conscious, smart shopper. 

Here are the reasons I want this palette: 

• Unlike Anastasia Beverly Hill's most recent palette launch, Modern Renaissance, the Master Palette by Mario has primarily shimmer shadows. This was the first reason it was appealing to me. While I love mattes, at this point, I already have more than enough in my collection, and in order for me to be able to create a variety of eye looks, I need shimmers. 

• The palette is cohesive and expertly curated. I feel like this is an obvious statement as a makeup artist created it, but this palette feels perfect in its coordination of colors. There is not a single shadow that feels out of place, or a shadow that I think I would need to pull from other palettes to make work. This palettes houses everything. 

• Anastasia Beverly Hills has a fantastic formula that is often raved about. So even if the colors in this palette aren't the most unique, the formula is bound to be really wonderful, and I often get caught up in wanting the colors I love (and already own) in a variety of formulas. 

• The colors look like they would flatter a variety of skin tones, potentially even favoring darker skin tones. And that is thrilling to me. I have gotten major fatigue from all the products catering to light skin, so seeing a palette that deviates from this is really exciting.

But, as I said, I am not going to buy this palette. And here's why:

When I look at swatches of the Master Palette by Mario, I'm just not that excited. And it's because I already own this palette. I have owned this palette since I first became interested in makeup seven years ago. I owned this palette when I bought Urban Decay's Naked palette right as it launched, and then owned it again when I bought Urban Decay's Naked 2. I owned this palette when I bought Too Faced's Chocolate Bar. I owned this palette when I bought the Lorac Pro 2. And guess what? I have decluttered all four of those palettes because I just have so many of these shades. 

I think what's happening here is the "cheerleader effect" or the more feminist-friendly "group attractiveness effect." When I look at all the shades together, this palette is just so cohesive and beautiful. But when I break it down and look at each individual shade, there doesn't seem to be anything special there. 

This became especially clear when I looked at the eyeshadow pigments, outside of the packaging and presentation. 

There is just nothing here that I am exceptionally excited by. Yes, they are pretty colors, but I have every single shade here. 

The final thing to mention is the formula. Modern Renaissance was my first experience with an Anastasia Beverly Hills palette, and formula reminded me a lot of the Lorac Pro formula. I really loved Lorac's shimmer shadows, but the mattes fell a little flat for me. They were so soft, so airy, that I found them difficult to work with. I needed some substance to them to work over my specific skin type, and since they lacked that, the colors all blended together and looked really muddy. The same happened with Modern Renaissance. And since that palette was primarily mattes, there was no reason for me to keep it. I didn't like the formula of the majority of the palette. 

It's also worth noting that I wasn't crazy about the Anastasia Beverly Hills's shimmer formula either. It was okay, but the colors were not as deep and complex as some of my other shadows. So, while it was exciting for me to think of an Anastasia Beverly Hills palette primarily made up of shimmers, I have a feeling that after all the hype dies down, I would be left feeling a little let down by this palette. 

As for the popular palettes that I think most resemble the Master Palette by Mario--Urban Decay Naked, Naked 2, Too Faced Chocolate Bar, and Lorac Pro 2--the reason I decluttered all of these from my collection was because I had variations of all the shadows in different palettes or singles that I liked more. 

So, if you're on the fence about the Master Palette by Mario, I would encourage you to look at the palettes in your own collection, especially if you have any of those four, and really evaluate if you are just wanting to buy more of what you already have. 

Urban Decay Naked

Urban Decay Naked 2

Too Faced Chocolate Bar

Lorac Pro 2

For me, I have all of these colors in two of my favorite palettes--Viseart Sulty Muse and Viseart Paris Nudes. 

Sultry Muse

Paris Nudes

Yes, the Viseart palettes are $80 each, so buying the Master Palette by Mario (at $45) would be significantly less expensive. But I really love the Viseart formula, and they are some of my absolute favorite eyeshadows. Between these two palettes and my many matte shadows, I certainly have the entire spectrum of the Master Palette by Mario covered. 

So, I'm afraid I'm going to have to sit this one out and let the hype wash over me. I'll watch the glowing reviews pour in and hear every reviewer tell me that I "need" this palette. But it would honestly not be a smart purchase for me. I have so many great eyeshadows that I love, and there's really not much point in bringing in more, especially if it's more of the same. And because of that, I won't be buying.