Review: Anastasia Beverly Hills Norvina Palette

Photo: Anastasia Beverly Hills.

     Have you been dreaming of the heavenly hues of Anastasia Beverly Hill's Norvina Palette? If so, you're not alone. I've been wanting to snag this palette for such a long time. I was instantly taken with this palette; its pretty celestial shades were a makeup dream come true for me, and I considered it the perfect palette.

I already own the Modern Renaissance palette and love it, so I expected the same amazing quality from the Norvina palette that Anastasia always provides. Unfortunately, I was left more than a little disappointed. Let's get into that.

The Details

Norvina Soare, the president of Anastasia Beverly Hills, designed this to be her go-to palette. There are fourteen buttery shades; seven are metallic and seven are matte. The shadows are 0.74 g each, and the shades are: Dreamer, Base, Summer, Soul, Wild Child, Incense, Rose Gold, Love, Celestial, Volatile, Dazzling, Eccentric, Drama, and Passion. Like Modern Renaissance, the packaging is a sleek faux velvet box that includes a mirror and dual-ended brush. This palette costs $55.00 CAD at Sephora.

Norvina said this of her palette:

I have always wanted to create a palette that embodies my spirit. I'm a dreamer at heart and get lost in my own fantasy world daily. It's a whimsical place that leaves you feeling carefree. If I had to explain how those colors made me feel, I would say "Happy".

Norvina's wisteria color scheme does bring a smile to my face, but will her palette?

At a glance, my palette is looking pretty messy after just one use.

First Impression

The above photos are a perfect example of expectation vs. reality in cosmetics. I took this photo after swatching only a few of the shadows once, using my fingers to apply them to my eyelids with little force. The shimmery shadows felt wet to the touch, and Rose Gold immediately crumbled in its pan. I wondered momentarily if my palette was defective, somehow getting wet in Anastasia's warehouse. I attempted to blend three colours: Rose Gold on my outer corner, Wild Child on the centre of my lid and Dreamer in my inner corner. The look quickly turned muddy, and I found the shimmery shadows very hard to blend. Disappointed was an understatement.

A close-up of Norvina's shades.

My biggest gripe with the Norvina palette was the fact that Rose Gold seemed to shatter irreparably as soon as I ran my finger over it. I did read that other customers have had luck resetting the shadows with Mac Fix + Spray after each use and pressing them back into place, but honestly that just seems a little ridiculous to me. When I spend $61.60 CAD (including the tax) on a makeup palette, I expect it not to fall apart after each use!

Of course I knew this could be my own fault, so I researched the experiences others have had with this palette. The huge majority of people love this palette despite many acknowledging the massive amount of mess and fallout, so it seems this is simply the formula of the eye shadows at work.

I've seen some incredible looks created with this palette, but in the end, I just couldn't make this formula work for me, no matter how much I love the shades and packaging. It's a huge letdown because I was honestly so enthused about this palette. However, Anastasia has just released the Norvina Pro Pigment Vol. I Palette. Perhaps the shadow formula has been improved; I will have to try it out to know for sure.

Final Thoughts

Pros: The shades are truly buttery soft (maybe too much so), and the colours are as lovely in person as they appear in ads. I've heard some complain that the matte shades don't offer enough color payoff. I disagree, and found that they easily built up for bolder results. The shimmers were very vivid, but I found it best to apply only one at a time because of the muddiness issue.

Cons: The shimmery shadows are messy, and fall apart too easily. There's a lot of fallout on the face as well, so if you do purchase this palette, it may be best to apply your eyeshadow, clean up your under-eye area, and then apply your face makeup. Some shades don't blend well together at all, and the palette itself will be very messy; there's just no helping that I think.

Overall, I give this palette 2/5 stars. It's a beautiful concept but for me, it's unworkable in practice.

Have you tried this palette? What did you think of it?