Anastasia Beverly Hills: Sultry Palette Review and Swatches!

Hi Friends! 

I FINALLY have the Anastasia Beverly Hills Sultry palette! This palette came out a few months ago but I have been waiting for the Sephora VIB sale to finally pick it up. I am OBSESSED with Anastasia eyeshadows – they are one of my favorite formulas and I love the color stories that ABH puts together.

I have to admit that I wasn’t super excited for the Sultry palette when it was initially revealed. It seemed a little boring compared to their previous palettes and it also didn’t seem very cohesive. BUT I couldn’t resist still. There were definitely still some beautiful shades and of course, I wanted to try it all out for myself!

So this palette does retail for $45 which is a bit more than their normal palettes although it still comes with 14 shades! There are a mix of shimmery and matte shades, of course. There are 7 mattes and 7 shimmers although when you look at the palette, it definitely seems like there are more shimmery shades. This palette also comes with a dual sided brush, just like other Anastasia Beverly Hills palettes.

The Packaging

Can we just take a moment to talk about the packaging? OMG. Anastasia Beverly Hills have really outdone themselves. I know a lot of people don’t like their normal felt packaging. I definitely do but I also like that they mixed it out a little bit.

This palette is COVERED it bronze glitter. Literally everything front and back, including the uni-carton is covered in glitter. Of course, the name of the palette (Sultry) and Anastasia Beverly Hills is stamped in on the front of the palette in a gold shimmer. Its so GORGEOUS! I think the packaging is very suiting for the shades included. This palette is all about glitz and glam.

The Shades & Swatches

In the first row, you have:

Fresh – This is the normal matte cream shade. This type of shade is ESSENTIAL for me. I use a matte cream shade everyday to set my eyelid. This one is on par with other matte cream shades in other Anastasia Beverly Hills palettes. It is a nice shade! 

Pearl – As the name suggests, this is a very pearly white shimmer shade. I think this is a really pretty, bright shade. It is kind of sheer when you initially touch it with a brush but you can build it up to the full intensity. 

Steampunk – The whole Sultry palette gives me steampunk vibes so this name is perfect. This is a GORGEOUS antique gold shimmer shade. It kind of has a green shift to it which is why I described it as an antique gold. It is a really pretty shade. 

Rose Quartz – This was actually the first shade that I reached for in this palette. Rose Quartz is a soft baby pink shimmer shade. It is just so dang BEAUTIFUL! This is such an easy go to shade for me. I really love the way it looks on the eyes. 

Ember – This is a brown shimmer shade with golden flecks in it. This actually appears a lot darker on the eyes when it is brushed on but its still a really pretty shade. It is definitely a sultry shade! It looks beautiful all over the lid and then to lighten it up a little I brushed Pearl over it. Definitely be careful with fallout on this shade though! It doesn’t wipe off easily. 

Bloom – This is a really confusing shade. Bloom is a pink matte shade. I have to admit that I haven’t figured out how to use this shade completely in this palette. Of course, you can add it in for a really simple look. Just blend it in the crease and add a shimmer shade all over the lid. It does go with Rose Quartz but overall I think it is out of place in this Sultry palette. 

Birch – This is a neutral tan matte shade. This has been my go to transition shade in this palette. It pretty much works for all the shades in the palette. 

In the second row, you have:

Cinder – This is a golden brown shimmer shade. Cinder is a bit more glittery than Steampunk or Ember but serves the same purpose. It’s a really beautiful all over the lid shade! 

Twig – This is a cool toned brown. It is a mid-tone brown somewhere in between Birch and Dystopian. I use this to deepen up my crease or outer corner. I also added it with Slate to warm up Slate in my crease. 

Teak – This is a shimmery bronze shadow. This is a similar formula as Steampunk and Ember, it’s a very smooth shimmery shade. Also a very BEAUTIFUL shade to spread all over the lids.  

Dystopian – This is a dark matte chocolate brown. Dystopian is a good shade to deepen up a look, I mainly have used this in the outer corner. I like this brown but I like the matte browns in the Soft Glam palette more. This one is not as soft and buttery like the other ABH matte shades.

Cyborg – The last shimmery shade in this palette is this silver shadow. This is one of the more unique shades in the palette. I didn’t know if I was going to like it but I actually really did! I have only used it with Slate so far since those shades seem to go together the best. 

Slate – This is a grey matte shade. Like I mentioned above, this shade really goes best with Cyborg which is kind of limiting. I did mix it with Twig to warm it up a bit so maybe you could make it work with other shimmer shades. I did really like it with Cyborg though. I will defintiely be reaching for that again. 

Noir – This black matte shade is actually also in the Soft Glam palette. I wish they wouldn’t have duplicated this shade but I understand why it was added to this palette. Obviously, black is important for a lot of smoked out sultry looks but I don’t really tend to reach for black shades. And if I did, I would just use the Soft Glam palette! 

My Final Thoughts

So… overall, there are definitely some pros and cons to this palette. Obviously, most of these shades are GORGEOUS. My heart melts for some of these shimmers. I am already really happy with the looks I have gotten from this palette.

However, I do think some of these shades are very limiting. I don’t see myself getting a lot of variety from Slate and Cyborg. Of course, I can use them together but I would like to have more options. So I might need to just play with that more. I also some what feel this way about Bloom. Even though Bloom is a pretty wearable shade – it doesn’t really fit in this palette, in my opinion. I won’t reach for it very much unless I am also incorporating other palettes. Which I totally don’t mind doing! Sometimes I use 2-3 palettes on my eyes in any given day. 

But even with that all being said, I already know I will get a lot of use out of this palette! It is so easy to throw a look together. This entire week, I would take a matte shade and blend it all through the crease and then pick one of the beautiful shimmers and just blend it all over the eyelid. So easy and pretty!

The formula is obviously wonderful. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Anastasia Beverly Hills. So overall, I would recommend this palette!

Let me know down below what your FAVORITE palette is! Do you have any Anastasia palettes? If so, which one is your favorite? I would love to know!! 

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