Anastasia Beverly Hills: Tamanna Palette Holiday 2014 (Review & Swatches)

If you saw my preview post on the Tamanna Palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills right after its release, you'll know that I am such a huge fan of this international makeup artist series by the brand. I own all of the other palettes from this collection (Amrezy and Maya Mia) and I did a pretty in depth comparison of the colors in the Tamanna palette compared to the others (and even to the Lavish palette).

I couldn't help myself and purchased this on the Anastasia Beverly Hills website when I saw it had already sold out at ULTA and Sephora! That was pretty fast considering this is supposed to be the Holiday 2014 palette from the brand. The best part about this palette is that it is so inexpensive at only $29 with free shipping!! YOWZA!

The packaging on the palette was chosen by +DressYourFace aka Tamanna and she chose an Eastern-inspired print, which reminds me of a floral damask, it's really stunning, specifically in the gold and burgundy shades she chose. As a gift, this is absolutely precious and anyone would be thrilled to receive it! The packaging is the same size and shape as the Amrezy and Maya Mia palettes from this same set.

I must admit the colors that jumped out at me and the reasons that I purchased this palette were: Venezia, Gilded, Sangria and China Rose (obviously the most "colorful" and impactful in the pan. 

You also receive the same dual-ended eyeshadow brush that came with all the other palettes. One side is great for packing on eyeshadow (left) and the other side is good for fine detail crease work (right side). This brush is perfectly usable and great for applying makeup on the run.

Anastasia Beverly Hills - Tamanna Palette - Holiday 2014 - Top Row Swatches

After swatching the colors, I was less impressed by the intensity of Venezia, which actually required some building up and was a little bit less pigmented than Aqua from the Maya Mia Palette. Overall, the performance was good and consistent with other ABH eyeshadow palettes. I do think that their eyeshadow formula has improved over time and I was extremely impressed with Blush, Gilded and Custom. Custom was the standout shade and is a nice taupe shimmer, of which I cannot recall owning too many in my vast collection (bonus!).

Anastasia Beverly Hills - Tamanna Palette - Holiday 2014 - Bottom Row Swatches

The second row had two major performers, which were Bengal and China Rose. Bengal achieves full opacity very quickly and doesn't require building up whereas China Rose is a beautiful crease topper that provides just the right amount of sheen to any look. Sangria was a little less pigmented on the eye than it appears in the swatch but it performed well. Chocolate is a strong pigment that stains the skin a little so you have to be careful with placement or you can make your look appear muddy. Noir was the poorest performing shade because I found it a little bit too powdery and when applied in thicker layers it tended to fly off the eye a little (I'm a bigger fan of LBD from the Amrezy palette).

5 Get The Look Cards featuring Tamanna's eyeshadow creations with her palette

It's nice that the set includes five "Get The Look" cards, which is a trend ABH began doing with the Maya Mia palette. These are probably the most thorough look cards that any company produces with very precise instructions and detailed, high-res photographs! You get a nice variety of daytime to evening looks.

The backs of 5 Get The Look Cards from the ABH Tamanna palette

Here are the steps listed on the back of the cards to give you a good idea of the amount of detail that goes into each one.

I absolutely love this palette, it's great for a variety of holiday and even every day looks, I like that there's a nice variety of pops of color as well as basic neutrals mixed in. The palette also consists of various shades ranging from ultra matte to shimmer which allow for even more diversity when used. Overall there are 6 shimmer shades and 4 mattes in the palette.

Do you own this palette? Will you be purchasing it? Let me know your thoughts and if you have any questions about this wonderful holiday gift.

New Release: Anastasia Beverly Hills Maya Mia Palette (Limited Edition)

This week, a brand new palette was released from Anastasia Beverly Hills, and it is a collaboration between them and the Tanzanian makeup artist Maya Mia (maya_mia_y on Instagram), this is right on the heels of their Amrezy Palette Release last month. I notice familiar names between their latest palettes so let me delve right into my review of this palette.

The outer packaging and the cover of the palette itself are identical on top, the color choice is vibrant and frankly my favorite to date from Anastasia. I feel like their packaging has gotten more attractive and complex as their palettes have progressed over time.

The palette itself comes with the same dual-ended brush that was seen in the Amrezy palette and it is a very handy, usable brush (one side is a shadow packing brush and the other is a fine crease brush).

The back of the outer packaging includes a small preview, short explanation of the style of the palette, and details ingredients used.

Repeat colors from the Amrezy palette: Glisten, Vanilla and Caramel. 

Repeat colors from the Lavish palette: Sienna.

Unique colors: Nude, Deep Brown, Warm Taupe, Aqua, Fresh Peach, Gold Bar.

Out of the unique colors, the ones which performed best were Deep Brown, Warm Taupe, Gold Bar and Fresh Peach. I found that Aqua had to be packed on in multiple layers to get decent pigmentation, otherwise it just seems like a sheer wash of light blue. I really liked the impact of Deep Brown, it's a great shade to cut your crease with and darken your outer corner. I like that although there are repeats of colors in this palette range, the pops of color are unique, since those are probably the colors used least.

This palette included something extra special: 5 free look cards which detail how to achieve each look on the back - this is a great inclusion to inspire your daily makeup, especially if you want to do something extra special.

I used the first look card, it consisted of 4 shades: Vanilla, Warm Taupe, Sienna and Deep Brown. I chose to go with a less dramatic black winged liner, and this is the look I achieved:

Overall, I really thoroughly enjoyed this palette and I was able to pick it up from the Anastasia Beverly Hills flagship salon and store in Beverly Hills, close to Rodeo Dr. - which made it an even better experience for me! I also picked up a Contour Kit and am excited to review that for you soon (I have used it every day since purchasing it!)