Battle of the Brands

I’m a cool tones girl.

No, that was not a punchline.

Whenever I do my makeup, I always seem to gravitate towards browns, greys and neutrals with a cool undertone. When I heard that Anastasia Beverly Hills Cosmetics was coming out with a new palette, I knew I would fall in love with it since I’m a big fan of the brand. When I found out that it was a palette of warm colors, I was sure I wouldn’t be a fan. But when I saw the colors in the palette, I knew I had to get it.  

The palette itself is filled with colors ranging from “neutral to berry”, according to Sephora.com. The coppers, oranges, and maroons are so different from the popular Naked (Urban Decay) or Chocolate Bar (Too Faced) palettes, which usually come with a ton of neutrals and only one or two of the ordinary colors.

So when winter break came around and I got my seasonal job back at Sephora, I gifted myself with the Modern Renaissance palette.

I immediately texted my friend Caitlyn, a fellow beauty lover, about my purchase and sent her multiple pictures of swatches of my favorite colors. We virtually freaked out to each other and I assured her she could look at the palette as long as she wanted to when we got back to school.

A few days later, when the holidays really came, Caitlyn sent me a picture of a gift she had received. A palette named Fall into Frost from the brand Morphe. One that looked similar to the tones in the Modern Renaissance palette, so like any other makeup lover would do, we decided to test them out and find which was best …

These were the results.

Number of colors
Winner: Fall into Frost

Fall into Frost – 35

Modern Renaissance – 14

Quality of Shadows

Winner: Modern Renaissance  

I could speak about this palette for DAYS. The eyeshadows blend easily and smoothly. You can control the intensity of the colors, so don’t be afraid of the bolder tones. The shimmer shadows have sparkle evenly distributed throughout and the matte shadows fully cover with an even application. What you get is usually what you pay for and this palette proves it.

Least amount of fall out

Winner: Fall into Frost

I’m going to be completely honest, I was a little disappointed with the Modern Renaissance palette. While the color payoff is GORGEOUS (see next point), it comes with a price. Though the fall out isn’t too bad when applied (i.e. it doesn’t fall beneath your eyes), it does leave excess pigment in the palette.

Shadow Colors

Winner: Modern Renaissance

Now hear me out, while Fall into Frost is gorgeous, I don’t know if all of the colors should have been included in this specific palette. Other than the ordinary shades, I don’t think that a black or a green is necessary. These colors should be reserved for palettes with more neutrals, blues and other cool tones.

Modern Renaissance follows the color scheme. All of the colors fall into the orange, pinks and reds on the color spectrum. Because of this, they all work well together, giving you the ability to use all of the colors to create different looks.

Pigmentation

Winner: Tied

Since the colors are not exactly the same, it’s too hard to choose when there is a shadow that is a shade darker to the most similar swatch you have. However, I will applaud both brands for creating high quality shadows that deliver serious color.

Left– Modern Renaissance