Anastasia Beverly Hills Prism Eyeshadow Palette for Holiday 2017

OK, friends. Buckle up, we're talking about an Anastasia Beverly Hills eyeshadow palette.

And unlike the last ABH palette I purchased, I'm actually going to talk about this one. Why yes, I do own the Palette That Shall Not Be Named. I chose not to post about it because of the drama it invoked.  In a small voice... and I like that palette, too.

Given the drama this summer, Prism arrived again with additional controversy. Would this be like Modern Renaissance or would this be Subculture Part II? Let's dig into this.

Prism ($42, 14 pans x 0.7g each) is another velvet-encased palette with 14 shades designed for holiday. This has mattes, duo chromes, and metallics. Unlike most of the other recent releases, this isn't a mostly matte palette.

I like how this looks as a whole. I wish ABH would move past its velvet packaging because it gets so dirty.

Let's talk formula. While writing this post, I have the last four ABH palettes (Prism, Subculture, Master Palette by Mario, and Modern Renaissance) sitting beside me as reference.

Something changed after the Master Palette, which has the MR formula. Prism and Subculture are very similar in formula, but having played with Prism for over a week I have a theory. I think Prism was pressed more than the initial batch of Subculture- which is what I own. The mattes were also the big issue in Subculture, and Prism is only 50% matte.

One quick note about the brush that's included- it's actually good, including as a nose contour!

OK, back to the colors in Prism. My camera was having issues with balance because of the contrast.

This gives me the feeling of gilded fabrics, velvets, and opulence- that's holiday in a nutshell.

Let's break these down into four parts. All descriptions are credit to Anastasia Beverly Hills.

Row 1

Lucid is "duo chrome white gold with pink reflect"
Eden is "ultra-matte coral pink."
Unity is "ultra-matte nude ochre"
Sphinx is "metallic warm bronze"

I found Lucid to be an interesting shade. It's got that wet feeling that the metallics in Subculture have- and it's way too strong for an inner corner highlight.

Eden is a pleasant surprise as a transition or in the outer crease. It's really pigmented and works well. It blends really nicely.

Unity is close to my skintone, so I use it to tone down other shades and blend things out. It's nice and pigmented.

Sphinx is nice, but I have so many nice bronzes so it's not unique.

Osiris is "metallic midnight violet with red reflect"
Sphere is "ultra-matte electric green-yellow."
Obsidian is "ultra-matte deep black."

Oriris requires a bit of finesse but I think it's lovely as a deep and mysterious lid shade.

Sphere is slightly patchy but blends well. It's an interesting addition to the palette.

Obsidian requires building. That's not a bad thing- ABH has a super black shade already (Noir) and this shade can be used to deepen anything else.

Row 2

Dimension is "duo-chrome silver-grey with pink reflect"
Parallel is "ultra-matte truffle"
Pyramid is "metallic yellow gold with green reflect"
Throne is "metallic blackened blue-green with multicolor reflect"

Dimension really pulled me into this palette. It appears as a lilac. I love these shades all over my lid.

Parallel is one of those gorgeous ABH mattes that are pigmented and blend like a dream.

Pyramid is your glitzy holiday gold that will make this palette a must-have for holiday.

Throne is stunning. I can't wait to really use this for evening. It's so beautiful.

Saturn is "ultra-matte terracotta"
Eternal is "metallic violet copper"
Lure is "ultra-matte ashy lilac"

Saturn is another one of those outstanding ABH mattes with all of the positives that are mentioned with that formula.

Eternal is a weaker shimmer, but it's buildable quite easily.

Lure reminds me of those lovely shades in MR that I adore.

I don't have any photos of this on my eyes to share, but I have plenty of thoughts.


This is not Subculture-gate Part II. I find Prism an interesting palette. There are warm shades, cool shades, neutrals, jewel tones... you've got everything you'd need (almost). I do think it's useful to have a few other mattes nearby to add in, but this is a great palette.

I'll be honest- I was nervous to order, but did since this is limited edition. Although I wasn't thrilled with my experience with ABH customer service, I did receive my palette in one piece. This is available via the usual retailers, and I highly recommend checking it out.