Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Palette Comparison - ABH Modern Renaissance, MUR Newtrals vs. Neutrals, Lime Crime Venus



I recently bought the new Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette, and I'm really liking it! I wanted to compare it to a couple of similar palettes I have in my collection - the Makeup Revolution Newtrals vs. Neutrals palette, and the Lime Crime Venus palette. There are a few similarities between the three, so you may not need all of them (but no judgement if you do...) Prepare for a lot of pictures!
Let's start with swatches of all three palettes, all done with no primer. There are sets of swatches done with a brush, and then with a finger. I'll be giving a quick overview of how I like each palette in between each set of swatches as well.

ABH Modern Renaissance top row - brush swatches
ABH Modern Renaissance top row - finger swatches
ABH Modern Renaissance bottom row - brush swatches
ABH Modern Renaissance bottom row - finger swatches
This is my first ABH palette - I have a set of four single shadows that I made into a quad in addition to these. The formula is nice, slightly powdery, think the Lorac eyeshadow formula from their Pro and Unzipped palettes. Tapping excess off the brush helps with any fallout since the shadows are slightly soft. The shades are very pigmented, and blend beautifully. I can see myself reaching for this a lot, especially with the abundance of matte shades in the mix.  I have to mention that I hate the fuzzy velvet packaging - I've had this palette for a week and I already have powder all over it.

MUR Newtrals vs. Neutrals top row - brush swatches
MUR Newtrals vs. Neutrals top row - finger swatches
MUR Newtrals vs. Neutrals bottom row - brush swatches
MUR Newtrals vs. Neutrals - finger swatches

 I got the Newtrals vs. Neutrals on a whim while at Ulta. The eyeshadows definitely swatch better with a finger, especially the shimmery shades. The matte shadows aren't the most pigmented, but sometimes a sheerer shadow can be helpful to have. These wear well over primer, and aren't too difficult to blend, but aren't as easily blended as the ABH or Lime Crime palettes. If you're looking for these types of shades on a budget, you can't go wrong with this palette.

Lime Crime Venus bottom row - brush swatches
Lime Crime Venus bottom row - finger swatches
Lime Crime Venus top row - brush swatches
Lime Crime Venus top row - finger swatches

Just to get it out of the way, YES there is a TON of controversy surrounding Lime Crime, I am well aware of that. I picked this up from Hautelook, not that it makes it that much better. However, for the sake of comparing the palettes, we won't touch any more on that. This palette is surprising in how good it is, I sort of hate that I love it. All of the shades swatch beautifully with brush and finger, and they are all very pigmented. They are easy to apply, and blend nicely. There is a good blend of shimmer and mattes, which makes it a good all in one palette. If you're not into the idea of Lime Crime and their baggage, the other two palettes are a good stand in for this one.

Now, onto some comparisons! Not all of these are spot on dupes, but more like what looked similar or relatively close (maybe) from each palette. All of these are brush swatches, with no primer.


Cyprus Umber isn't even close, but whatever. Adapt and Divine are pretty close, with Divine being the more pigmented of the two.


All of these are pretty similar, but Red Ochre swatches the best. I love very warm browns, so these make me happy! It's also probably the reason I own way too many neutral palettes...


Muse is definitely the richest red out of the three here. Red shadows are so nice to have in a palette, you can go heavy or just add a hint of red to an eye look. Tone can be built up, and does look better over primer.

What's a neutral palette without a highlight color? Bias and Aura are more shimmery than Tempera, but all three are relatively close.

I hope you found this post helpful in deciding whether to add to your collection, or to pass on a palette! Let me know your thoughts about the palettes you do have, if you have any of these three!

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the comparison. I was looking for exactly a post like this. Very helpful, now I want the Lime Crime more than the ABH one.

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  2. I love my lime crime palette the most out of my too faced and urban decay palette. So that says a lot. Wish they had more palette options though.

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  3. The lime crime is my personal favorite! I also have the ABH and the Naked 3. But the Lime Crime is sooo much better. It has better quality and i love the presentation.

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  4. I don't know if you have a dud MUR Newtrals palette, but I've had this palette for over a year and your swatches look NOTHING like the palette. It's so much more pigmented and buttery - perhaps bad lighting, or a dud palette - I don't know. I just know those swatches don't come close to doing it justice.

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  5. Any advice on applying the anatasia resistance colors they seem to blend together and make one color :( and it irritates my eyes . I'm not dark more olive color and they don't show up that well

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  6. Venus is my favorite. Bought it just because of packaging :)
    But I used it every day, like, literally every day only this one. It looks incredible on photos.
    Found this post because I wanted to buy abh palette, but I don't like that case :(

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