One Week, One Palette: Zoeva Cocoa Blend

For the eighth week of my one week, one palette project, I chose to use one of my favorite staple, workhorse palettes: Zoeva Cocoa Blend.

This is an interesting palette for me because it's close to what I would consider to be a "perfect" neutral palette for warm skin tones, but it is also so neutral that it is easily replicated and gets forgotten about in my collection. 

Most people consider the Too Faced Chocolate Bar or Urban Decay Naked to be their ultimate or all-time favorite neutral palette, but for me and my specific skin tone, it's the Cocoa Blend. But, since it is so neutral, I was really hoping that by the end of the week I could come to terms with the fact that I already own these colors in my collection and be able to declutter it. 

Top, from left: Bitter Start, Sweeter End, Warm Notes, Subtle Blend, and Beans Are White

Bottom, from left: Pure Ganache, Substitute For Love, Freshly Toasted, Infusion, and Delicate Acidity

I used every color in this palette last week, and for the exception of Make Up For Ever Pearl—which I used on the inner corner ever day—I did not need to bring in any additional shadows. 

Below are six looks I did last week.

Look 1:

Base: MAC Paint Pot in Painterly

Pure Ganache on the first half of the lid, Warm notes on the second half of the lid, Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, and Bitter Start on the brow bone.

Look 2:

Primer: Milani Eyeshadow Primer

Pure Ganache on the lid, Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Infusion padded onto the outer corner, and Bitter Start on the brow bone. 

Look 3:

Primer: NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Subtle Blend on the lid, Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Warm Notes blended into the crease over Freshly Toasted, and Bitter Start on the brow bone. 

Look 4:

Primer: NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Delicate Acidity on the lid, Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Beans Are White padded onto the outer corner, and Bitter Start on the brow bone. 

Look 5:

Primer: NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Sweeter End on the lid, Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Subtle Blend padded onto the outer corner, and Bitter Start on the brow bone.

Look 6:

Primer: NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

Warm Notes on the lid, Freshly Toasted blended into the crease, Infusion padded onto the outer corner, and Bitter Start on the brow bone. 

The reason I included the bases/primers I used this week is because I used MAC Painterly on the first day and I absolutely hated the way the shadows looked. I was convinced that I was going to declutter the palette after using it the first day, and I didn't even want to continue using it for the rest of the week because I really thought I wasn't going to enjoy it. When applied over Painterly, I felt the pigmentation was lacking and the shadows were very difficult to blend. This was unexpected for me since I remembered really loving the shadows and being incredibly impressed with them. As I mentioned in my last one week, one palette post, I had run out of my favorite primer, the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, and knew I needed to repurchase it. Once I started using that primer, the shadows were gorgeous and exactly as I remembered them. And then it occurred to me that I had only ever used these shadows with the NARS primer. 

I don't think Painterly is a bad primer, and I don't think the NARS primer is markedly better than most primers with most shadows. The Milani Eyeshadow Primer worked beautifully with the Cocoa Blend shadows, and I couldn't really tell a difference between that primer and the one from NARS. This may be a case of Zoeva shadows not playing well Painterly. 

Once I transitioned to the different primers, I quickly remembered why I loved this palette so much. It really is close to being the perfect neutral palette for me. I say "close to" perfect because the two black shades—Beans Are White and Infusion—perform essentially the same, and I think one of those shades should have been substituted for a cooler-toned milk chocolate brown shade. I would have also substituted Sweeter End for a more intense shimmer that could be worn on the inner corner. 

My favorite shadows in this palette are absolutely Substitute For Love and Freshly Toasted. They are gorgeous shadows that work beautifully with my skin tone. I would say they could potentially be some of my favorite shadows in my entire collection. Bitter Start is also one of my all-time favorite shadows for the brow bone. Pure Ganache, Warm Notes, and Subtle Blend are also favorites of mine. 

But—and here's the rub—these colors are not that unique. Substitute For Love reminds me a lot of Too Faced's Peanut Butter. Freshly Toasted reminds me of Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear. Pure Ganache is very similar to MAC's Amber Lights; Warm Notes is similar to MAC's Cranberry; and Subtle Blend is similar to several shadows I have from Morphe. Bitter Start is similar to shades in the Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye palette and a shade in the Viseart Neutral Matte palette. 

I enjoyed Sweeter End and have used it before (not last week) as a mixing shade for other colors, and really enjoyed it for that purpose. But I also enjoyed it last week as a subtle but pretty lid shade. Delicate Acidity was pretty and looked better in person than it did in the photo. I don't always love purples against my skin because of the cooler tones, but I received several compliments on the day I wore Delicate Acidity because it gave a pretty smoky effect. Beans Are White and Infusion were fine. I actually really loved the look of black paired with gold, which was surprisingly something I had never tried before, and it's something I would love to do again. 

So what do I do when I genuinely love six shadows in this palette and enjoy the other four but have duplicates for the six shadows that I love? If I decluttered this palette, would I miss it? For me, this is the kind of palette where I don't think to pull it out regularly because there is nothing flashy about it. Or when I pull it out, I would likely do a very basic look. But then when forced to use it for an entire week, I loved it! I was creative with it and did looks that I had never done before. I've thought about depotting some of the shadows and mixing them with some of my favorite singles, but then I could also see myself depotting all but one of the black shadows. And if that's the case, I might as well hang onto the entire thing as is. 

My favorite looks last week were definitely look 3 and 2, but I really enjoyed every look except for look 1. And I would probably have loved look 1 had it not been for the base I used. They certainly aren't as exciting as some of the looks I've done with my more colorful palettes, but I found them really pretty nonetheless. 

I have to say that I am really impressed with Zoeva. I purchased this palette online and paid over $15 for shipping to the US. Even with the high international shipping fee, this palette was still around $35. For ten shadows of this quality, I find that incredible. Sure, the packaging doesn't feel as expensive as some of the thicker cardboard or plastic cases, and it doesn't have a mirror, but the look of the packaging is really elegant, and I am happy with it overall. And I am thrilled to see a brand put more concern and cost into the product than into the packaging and yet still have the packaging look nice. Zoeva does it right!

I honestly don't know if I would miss this palette if I decluttered it because I have so many duplicate shades in my collection. But there is something to be said sometimes about having all those "perfect" shades together in one palette. If I were to curate my own palette (if I had no other shadows), it would look very similar to Cocoa Blend with the exceptions I've noted above. I think this palette is a much better buy than the Too Faced Chocolate Bar or Urban Decay Naked palette or any other warm neutral palette. I really enjoyed using Cocoa Blend all week, and the only reason I'm excited to move on to another palette is because I'm craving a bit of variety. With that said, using Cocoa Blend exclusively for a week also showed me how versatile a simple neutral palette can be, which is helpful when feeling bored with a palette or collection of shadows. For the moment, I'm not going to declutter or depot this palette, and I will revisit it after the completion of this round of one week, one palette. I have so many palettes that this round won't be complete for a while, but as of right now, I think if I do anything, it is more likely that I would depot some of it than declutter. 

What I'm Not Buying: Pat McGrath Labs Metalmorphosis 005 Everything Kit

Renounced makeup artist Pat McGrath has expanded her cosmetics line to include cream and metallic pigments in the Metalmorphosis Everything Kit. 

And I won't be buying. 

As I mentioned in my post about Pat McGrath Labs Lipstick Kits, I think because Pat McGrath is so respected in the makeup industry, it allows for her products to have an incredibly high price tag. And because the products are so hyped, they sell out quickly and people get the "hype anxiety" and think they need to get their hands on it. 

And while I think the concept of Pat McGrath Labs is really cool and interesting, I don't think they translate practically into everyday life. 

The Metalmorphosis 005 kit contains:

• 4 metallic pigments in Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Copper
• 4 cream pigments in Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Copper
• Dual-ended marker in black
• Mehran mixing liquid

And it costs a whopping $165. For four cream shadows, four pigments, an eyeliner, and mixing medium. Even for mid-range products (Pat McGrath Labs's cheap packaging keeps me from putting them fully in the luxury category), I think this kit is about $100 overpriced depending on how you look at it. Hear me out. 

In talking about price, it is worth noting that the metallic and cream pigments each contain 0.14 ounces of product. That's a TON of product. For the size, these pigments are comparable to other shadows that cost around $20 each. And when looking at it through that lens, the price point is pretty fair. 

But the reason I think the kit is overpriced is because the cream and metallic pigments are paired together. So you are not getting eight unique shades. And I think the amount of product included is actually a negative rather than a positive. Because of the entire concept of the kit, I think the average consumer will use a very small amount of product. Therefore hiking the price because of product size won't really work out in most people's favor.

The images associated with the Metalmorphosis kit, like all Pat McGrath images, are pretty stunning:

But like most Pat McGrath Labs items, unless you are an editorial makeup artist or really want to make yourself look like C-3PO, I don't really see the practicality. 

The kit works by applying a base of the cream pigment first followed by applying a layer of the metallic pigment mixed with the Mehran mixing liquid. I imagine the cream and metallic pigments can also be used alone, but the effect will be similar to most eyeshadows. 

The Pat McGrath pigment kits can be used as eyeshadow:

Eyeliner:

Lip color:

And face/body art:

And again, these images are so cool, and I would love to have them framed as art on my wall, but the product is just not at all practical in everyday life. 

To put things into perspective, I'd like to talk about the pigments themselves. 

As I've mentioned before, I like to look at pigments outside of their packaging to really get a grasp on the colors and not be sucked in to the presentation and group attractiveness effect. And yes, the metallic pigments are really stunning. But it's also important to realize that while they are beautiful, they are not unique colors whatsoever. They are gold, silver, bronze, and copper. Most people will have at least two, if not all, of these colors already. 

As for swatches, I've gotten used to being mesmerized by the incredible ones shown on the Pat McGrath Labs Instagram:

But seeing the pigments under regular, non-deceptive lighting shows an entirely different color payoff:

The colors are still beautiful, absolutely, but they look much more like regular foiled eyeshadows (like those from Makeup Geek) that can be purchased for less than half the price:

Going back to price, as I mentioned in my other Pat McGrath Labs post, the reason I always get hung up on price is because you can achieve the same or similar effect for significantly cheaper with other products. There are numerous online tutorials that show how you can achieve the "liquid metal" look of the Pat McGrath kits by mixing clear gloss or a mixing medium and a pigment. And the look is achieved at a fraction of the cost of the Metalmorphosis kit. 

My overall feeling on Pat McGrath Labs is complicated. On one hand, I really respect Pat McGrath as an artist and absolutely adore all the promotional/editorial photos that show her products. But on the other hand, the products are so avant-garde that they are not practical for every day use. And then they have an enormous price tag slapped onto them. And while I can appreciate that her products are generally innovative compared to what most popular brands are releasing, it's not as though they are so innovative—so unique—that the same effect cannot be achieved for significantly less money. Because of that, I don't really understand this brand. Based on their products, my assumption is that their target audience is solely editorial makeup artists, but some of their marketing directly opposes that. No average makeup-obsessed consumer (please note that I said "average makeup-obsessed consumer" and not "average makeup consumer") is ever going to use up 0.14 ounces of this kind of product (times 2), let alone use up that product in four different colors. The majority of the product is likely to get wasted (especially since part of it is cream and it will dry up/go bad), and for $165, that is a huge waste of money. 

Personally, I have plenty of beautiful eyeshadows in a number of finishes, including metallic, that I love. For special occasions and parties, like New Year's Eve, I can see this kit being a lot of fun. And if I was a person who loved to do avant-garde looks on myself and post them onto Instagram, I can see this being a product I would love and probably use often. But I'm just a woman who likes to wear makeup. I have plenty of foiled eyeshadows that give significant drama, and I don't need to spend a ridiculous amount of money to make my eyes look just a little bit more foiled. I like my eyeliner to be a very basic thin black line, so I would have no use for this product as a metallic eyeliner. I would never want metallic gold, silver, copper, or bronze lips, even though they look really cool in editorial photographs. And I won't ever create face/body art on myself. So for me, the Metalmorphosis kit would really only be used for eyeshadow. And as I said, I have plenty of shadows that already do the job perfectly well. The Metalmorphosis kit is therefore an easy pass for me, and I won't be buying. 

What I'm Not Buying: Violet Voss Ride Or Die Palette

Internet brand Violet Voss will soon release the "Ride or Die" palette, which has an entirely over the top and unnecessary 42 shadows. 

And I won't be buying. 

As a disclaimer, I am angry today. And I suspect I will be angry for a long time. I didn't put up a post yesterday because it was a horrendous day for me. This is a blog about makeup, not politics, and I'm certainly not inviting any discussion on the topic. But I am in a foul mood as a result of Tuesday's election. So you will have to forgive if some of that anger seeps out into this post about this ridiculous eyeshadow palette that no one needs or wants or voted for... err... never mind. 

Violet Voss as a brand is overpriced. I have seen enough reviews of the shadows to know they are of Morphe quality (which is "meh" at best) with double the price tag. They choose trendy colors and use YouTube lingo in their names to appeal to people enamored with the YouTube beauty community. And they use hype tactics to drum up interest in their palettes before giving useful details such as pricing and release date information. 

First, this image surfaced:

And I find this really, really obnoxious. Wow! So helpful! Thanks so much for a picture of your EMPTY new palette. So excited! 

NO. 

This tells me that you are making a new palette. Great. Good for you. So is every other brand. I don't need to see an empty palette to know something is in the works. This is simply a tactic to get people excited, even when they have literally no idea what they are getting excited for. 

Then this image surfaced:

Ooo! Extra helpful! A picture of the packaging! Thanks so much for telling me what the outside of the palette will look like! Getting so, so excited!!

Again. No. 

This tells me your product has packaging. Awesome. 

And then these:

I truthfully have no idea if these images were released one at a time or all at once, but it seems pretty deliberate to not provide a picture of the full palette. 

Nonetheless, this is what the palette looks like minus the cranberry shades shown above:

And you know what I see? About, what? 15 or so distinct colors. And those colors repeated several times over until you get 42 shadows. 

Some colors (like the silver-gray on the far left, the matte browns on the bottom of column 3, and the entire row of golds) look like the exact color has just been put in a couple or more times. 

These are not 42 distinct colors! And because of that, you really don't need this palette. 

At the time that I am writing this post, there is no price listed for this palette or a release date. Violet Voss has just said—which is so helpful—"coming soon." But based on the price of the "Holy Grail" palette, which retails for $45 with $6+ shipping for 20 shadows, "Ride or Die" is likely pretty expensive. 

But you won't be paying for a unique palette, a high quality palette, or a diverse palette. Hell, you're not even paying for a palette with completely different shades. This is the McDonalds Supersize fries of eyeshadow palettes. And you definitely don't need it. 

Here are some similar palettes:

The Morphe 35O is the closest in color selection, shade range, and number of eyeshadows. And it's also similar in quality. Except the Morphe palette is $23. 

This also looks like the Naked palette:

And the Lorac Pro:

And the Chocolate Bar:

And the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar:

And the Lime Crime Venus:

And the Modern Renaissance:

Even their own Holy Grail:

Chances are, no matter what eyeshadow palette or collection of singles that you have in your makeup collection, you have something that already replicates this palette. And if not, if you are a total beginner and are excited by the possibility of having a lot of shadows to play with, the "Ride or Die" is still a bad purchase. It will be expensive for shadows that repeat themselves. You would be much better off buying any of the palettes listed above or purchasing a few select singles from MAC or Makeup Geek. 

I may be in the minority here, but I find the name of this palette obnoxious. It is my understanding that the term "Ride or Die" gained popularity in the YouTube beauty community specifically (not outside of it) because it was a phrase mega popular YouTube personality Jaclyn Hill used frequently. Jaclyn Hill also created the immensely popular "Ride or Die Tag," where people discussed their absolute favorite products from each makeup category. 

Few YouTube personalities using this term while applying makeup understand that it became popularized in hip hop and predominately black culture. The term was originally "ride or die chick," referring to a woman who "stands by her man" in the vein of Bonnie and Clyde. I find it—complicated—that white people are appropriating black culture and African American Vernacular English so heavily in the YouTube makeup community. 

It annoyed me when Violet Voss named their other successful palette the "Holy Grail" palette as well. The terms "Holy Grail" and "Ride or Die" to most people who watch YouTube makeup videos mean "absolute best" or "most favorite." Calling your palettes these names tells me that you think your palette will be the "absolute best" palette in my collection. I find that cocky and a little ridiculous since the quality is "meh" at best. 

Violet Voss preys off customers susceptible to hype by providing "sneak peaks" of their products that don't actually contain any information. The tactic is to get people so excited, so afraid that they will miss out if they don't buy a product immediately, that they already make up their minds on buying it before they even see the product. And more importantly, they decide they are going to buy it before they even know the price. And I don't want any part of that. The "Ride or Die" palette is excessive and promises so much and offers nothing. It's the Donald Trump of eyeshadow palettes. And I won't be buying. 

What I'm Not Buying: Urban Decay Moondust Palette

Urban Decay's latest shimmery eyeshadow palette is a collection of their Moondust eyeshadow formula, which is described as "dazzlingly sparkly" with a "diamond-like" effect. Apparently this was Urban Decay's "most requested" eyeshadow palette since the Moondust formula was first introduced. 

And I won't be buying. 

I'll admit that the idea of this palette really sparked my interest. I had heard a lot of buzz about Urban Decay's Moondust formula, and the idea of trying eight shades in a palette was really appealing. 

However, this was something that I needed to remind myself first and foremost: I don't like Urban Decay's eyeshadow formula, especially the formula in palettes. 

I know this is an incredibly unpopular opinion, but after trying so many different eyeshadow formulas, I don't like that of Urban Decay. I find the formula to be inferior to the likes of Make Up For Ever, MAC, Makeup Geek, and Kat Von D. I even prefer the shimmery shadows in the two Morphe palettes that I've tried more than those from Urban Decay. 

In fact, I've decluttered more palettes from Urban Decay than from any other brand. I've decluttered:

• Naked 
• Naked 2
• Naked 3
• Naked Basics 
• Vice 4
• Midnight Emergency Kit
• UD X Gwen Stefani 

That's truly a staggering number of palettes that I have owned, tried, and disliked enough to declutter. 

But what's even more staggering is that I continued to buy from Urban Decay even though I didn't like their eyeshadow formula. 

The main reason I dislike Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes is because they produce a substantial amount of fallout. Another reason is that several of their shadows are packed with glitter, so when I inevitably get fallout, glitter chunks will rain down my face and stay put for the rest of the day. Third, I don't think Urban Decay does mattes well, at least in comparison to Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye, Viseart, and even MAC and Makeup Geek. Lastly, the shadows feel incredibly dry and are prone to flaking in the pan. 

Interestingly, I now only have one Urban Decay eyeshadow, and it is incredible. It is a single in the shade Chase that I bought it because it was a happy medium between my two favorite shades from the Naked palette: Half Baked and Smog.

Urban Decay Chase

Photo: Temptalia 

This shadow is fantastic. It gives off incredible pigment with a metallic finish, it's not too dry, and produces minimal fallout. It's so unlike any other shadow I've tried from the brand. And that's when it occurred to me that Chase was the only shadow I've tried from Urban Decay that wasn't in a palette. 

At $19 per shadow, Urban Decay single shadows are considerably more expensive than those from MAC or Makeup Geek, and it would be cheaper to buy a Naked palette instead of three singles. This leads me to think that the eyeshadow singles could be of a superior formula than the formula in palettes. Of course, I could be absolutely wrong, and Chase just might be a uniquely great shadow. 

The bottom line is that because of the experiences that I've had time and again with Urban Decay palettes, I really can't see myself purchasing another one. 

Still, that didn't stop me from stopping in a Sephora to look at the Moondust palette. There are some positives:

The color selection really is lovely. 

I appreciate that there are neural (enough) colors in here, like the light pink, silver, and bronze, as well as jewel-tones to play with. I also applaud Urban Decay because this color selection looks as though it will work well and look lovely on a true variety of skin tones rather than catering to light skin. 

The Moondust palette has also received generally favorable reviews, however, it has been noted that the best effects come from applying the shadows with a finger and/or wet. If you're looking for a super glittery shadow and don't mind having to work a little be harder to achieve that, than this may absolutely be a winning palette for you. For me, I don't want to work that hard. 

As far as the swatches, I was less than impressed. I swatched with the colors with a finger over bare (non-primed skin), and they swatched terribly. It was just a light streak of colored glitter, and not at all the "dazzlingly sparkly" finish I had been promised. 

This one will have to boil down to personal preference. There have been many favorable reviews of this palette, so if this is the kind of item you're looking for, you probably won't be disappointed. But if you're like me and you want the sparkle without the additional work, this might be a pass. 

In my own collection, the Nubian 2 palette from Juvia's Place has a similar color scheme, has much more vibrant colors, and I don't have to work to achieve nice results. 

Finally, I think cost is important to consider here. The Moondust palette costs $49 for eight shadows with 0.02 ounces of product per shadow. A full-sized single Moondust eyeshadow costs $21 for 0.05 ounces of product. The Naked palette in comparison costs $54 for twelve eyeshadows at 0.05 ounces of product per shadow (the size of a full-sized shadow). 

The Moondust palette is incredibly expensive for 0.16 ounces of product. If you're curious to try the Moondust formula, I would recommend instead buying one of the Moondust singles in a shade you really love and would wear often. 

As for me, I already have high performing shadows in similar colors that give a beautiful finish without troublesome fallout, so the Moondust palette is a pass for me. 

Why I Returned Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette is by far the hottest palette on the market right now and has been holding steady at the top for months. It is currently sold out almost exclusively online, and most stores around the US haven't had it in stock for months. 

I bought this palette. And I returned it. 

There are countless positive reviews of this palette if that is what you are looking for. Modern Renaissance has quickly jumped to "Holy Grail status" for many people, and there is no shortage of people telling you that you need this palette and that it is truly special. 

And I can offer a different opinion if that's what you're after as well. 

Modern Renaissance came out at a time when I was first starting to get fatigue with all the makeup shopping I had been doing. I had (and still have) so many eyeshadow palettes, and I wasn't really looking to add to that. 

But Modern Renaissance is so different! people said. It's so refreshing to not see the same kind of palette!

Preliminary reviews came out, and everyone was saying the same thing. This palette was special. The quality was unmatched. The silkiness, the blendability, the color selection!

And I folded. Because I didn't want to have fear of missing out. I checked Sephora's store availability tool and saw that it was in stock at a Sephora close to me, in Times Square. 

So I went to Sephora with the intention of swatching the shadows, really seeing what I thought of the texture, and also evaluating the color selection. I get there, go to the Anastasia Beverly Hills display and do not see Modern Renaissance. I searched all the special end caps, and still, no Modern Renaissance. I finally asked a sales associate what the deal was, because the tool online said they had it in-store. 

Turns out, the shipment had arrived and they had it in stock, but they were not putting it out for people to buy yet. However, she said they could sell me one if I wanted it. But, I had to just buy it. I couldn't open one up to look at it and test it. 

I had unexpectedly put myself in a bad, awkward position. I felt bad. I had asked about the palette, said I was interested in buying it, and now they were making a special exception for me. But I couldn't look at the palette and actually decide if I wanted to buy it. And if I said no, that I wanted to look at it first before buying (a perfectly reasonable thing to say) I knew I would somehow feel guilty. (Thank you, social anxiety.)

So, I bought it. I figured I would take everyone on their word that this was really revolutionary and the best possible eyeshadows I could have. 

I took it home, made a look, and really didn't like it. The mattes were so soft and powdery. And I find that when shadows have a ton of powdery kickup, they are generally too soft for me and my skin type. It didn't matter how much or little I blended, or how many or few shades I used, the looks always came out muddy on me. So then I tried doing halo eyes and specifically followed online tutorials to see how other people used the palette. Same thing. Really, really muddy. 

This exact thing happened to me when I tried the Lorac Pro formula months before. Those palettes had been raved about for years, and I was excited when I finally bit the bullet and decided to try the Pro 2. And I was really disappointed. The shimmers were lovely, but the mattes were just too soft and powdery to really work for me. I ended up decluttering my Lorac Pro 2 because of this, and Modern Renaissance felt exactly the same. 

I was also really unimpressed with Modern Renaissance's color selection. There were just regular warm natural matte shades with some berries thrown in. I didn't get it. I didn't get the hype. At all. 

There are also only three shimmer shadows in the entire palette. And that's fine because my Tartelette in Bloom palette only has three shimmer shadows and I love that palette. But in the Tartelette palette, they are the three perfect shimmer shadows. They will complement all skin tones and can be the base of really diverse looks. That wasn't the case with Modern Renaissance. Two out of the three shimmers (light champagne) look really similar on my eyes, and the other shimmer (rust) looked almost matte on me. 

I like a shimmery color on my lid and then to build the rest of the look with matte shades. This has always been my favorite way to wear eyeshadow, and I don't think that will change, even when I am older. And I just did not like the shimmer colors in this palette. Two seemed like inner corner highlight colors only and the other was not that pretty on me. 

At that point, Modern Renaissance would have to become a companion palette for me, like my Viseart Neutral Mattes and my Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye. 

But here's the thing. I already owned Modern Renaissance. Because I owned the Lime Crime Venus palette and both the neutral matte palettes I just mentioned. 

Lime Crime Venus, which has been in my collection for a long time, takes care of most of the "unique" shades in Modern Renaissance. 

• Venus is like Love Letter
• Muse is like Venetian Red and Red Ochre 
• Divine is like Buon Fresco 
• Aura is like Vermeer and Primavera 
• Creation is like Realgar
• Icon is like Cyprus Umber

And if I'm going to be really honest, I like the quality of Venus better than Modern Renaissance. 

I also have Viseart Neutral Matte:

And Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye:

Any shadows in Modern Renaissance that aren't duped by Venus (Tempura, Golden Ochre, Raw Sienna, Burnt Orange, and Warm Taupe) are absolutely duped in these two palettes.

When I realized this, I felt really foolish. Not just because I already had what I considered better performing shadows of each shade in my collection, but also because the Venus palette is easily one of my least used palettes. I hardly ever wear berry colors on my eyes. When I do wear them, I love them and think they look so pretty and different, but they are absolutely not "everyday shades" for me. 

So, not only had I bought a palette that I already owned as well as a palette with a texture that didn't work for my skin, but I also bought a palette that I wouldn't use very often. Because of the lack of shimmers, Modern Renaissance would only be used as a companion palette for me, and since I already had Venus and the two neutral matte palettes and liked all of those better, I knew I wouldn't reach for it very often. 

And so, I returned Modern Renaissance.

This was a really important experience for me in learning how to be a smarter shopper. Maybe it's a feeling that goes back to being in elementary school where we just want to fit in and like the same things as everyone else. We want to like what's popular. But just because it's popular, doesn't mean it's going to work for everyone. And that's okay. 

Had I been given the opportunity to swatch Modern Renaissance, I like to think I wouldn't have purchased it. I like to think that I would have felt the texture and realized it was the same as one I don't really like. Or that I would have seen that the shimmer colors didn't impress me. Or that the other colors were the exact same as others in my collection. But there's still a strong chance that I would have purchased it nonetheless because everyone said it was so good. 

Since this experience, I have been a much more conscious and smart shopper, but resisting the hype can still be really challenging. 

There are enough positive reviews of Modern Renaissance that it's safe to say most people who buy it won't be disappointed. But it just wasn't a winning palette for me.