Eyeshadow Palette

By Tiffany 2 years ago.

Nice tones for golden light-medium skin tones. After awhile though I felt all my looks seemed pretty similar. A solid fall/winter palette.

By Dana 3 years ago.

The first ABH palette I received as a gift! Despite ABH's reputation, I was really worried about the colors as I tend to steer away from very warm tones as well as browns, yellow or orange shades. I put on a brave face and proceeded to experiment with the eyeshadows. The Youtube.com reviews weren't wrong, as the eyeshadows are buttery but also give lots of kickback (poof!). Nonetheless, the eyeshadows applied well and blended better than I expected. All shadows are quite pigmented, so best to apply with a light hand and build up. I prefer using my fingers or a small brush for the shimmers. The color scheme isn't bad, and I feel works for all occasions if you don't have a neutral palette.

By Mariella 4 years ago.

I can only echo what Arena said in her review - what a shame this was discontinued when so many inferior palettes from ABH have remained or new ones have been released. This is such a versatile and excellent quality palette. While Bloom is not a shade that I personally would choose to use ever, all the other shadows in here are flattering shades for me, and the variety of finishes and undertones (cool, warmer and neutral) make this a really wearable palette.

By Arena 4 years ago.

Shame it was discontinued! Easy to use, day to night, versatile.

By Sasha 4 years ago.

This is a workhorse neutral palette and a great choice for someone who is newer to makeup or looking to step it up in a professional environment. The shimmers are tasteful shades that blend beautifully, there are plenty of mattes (including at least 3 shades that are deep enough to double as eyeliner shades), and there is a mix of warm and cool tones that allows for some variety while still being pretty user-friendly. My only real gripe is with the shade Tempera - it's a repeat from Modern Renaissance, and a little too light for a lot of people to use regularly.

By Katherine 5 years ago.

This is my first and only ABH palette, and I'm really in love with it. There was a bit of a learning-curve with how these shadows operate (and I'm very unskilled in make-up application), but I have really enjoyed the texture and performance of these shadows and get great use out of them. I would love to see a few more mid-toned mattes and perhaps fewer shimmers, but I do love and use each and every shade in this palette. This can do it all from one-shadow quick looks, or high-drama complex looks. It's become a real staple product.

By Stephanie 5 years ago.

I really liked the color story of this palette. These are colors I would only sometimes need when I want to do something a little different. If you mixed the wrong colors it would get muddy quickly. There was a lot of kickback and axis stained my lids. That being said when I chose the right colors and worked with them a little I could really create a beautiful look. I rarely use this as a stand alone palette but will pick a color here and there in addition to my other palettes to fill in a missing color or to add something different. Not the best quality of shadows. Lots of dust and I had to work them a little for a smooth blended look. Not the worst but not the best!

By CAROLYN 5 years ago.

Several youtubers I follow were hyping this palette up and I bought it because a) I don't have a neutral/cool palette and b) because it was deeply discounted on beautylish. I wasn't in love with the color story, but I like ABH's formula so I thought I would give it a shot. Hot damn, I love this palette! I haven't been able to put it down. The color story looks...so blah but the shimmers are divine and the mattes blend out like a dream. The colors pair so nicely with other flashier palettes and make beautiful looks on there own. I like it so much I even debated buying another one as a backup...which is crazy so I didn't. The formula oversall is better than soft glam's. I wish they would make it permanent. The colors last all day on my oily lids, even without a primer or concealer base, which I am convinced is witchcraft. The packagine looks luxe and the glitter doesn't shed or flake off. The brush that comes with it is a nice blending brush. Highly recommed and you can still purchase it off beautylish since it is no longer for sale at Sephora or Ulta.

By Jane 5 years ago.

I am happy to support the collaboration because I enjoy Jackie's videos, but product wise, this palette just seems like it's missing cohesion, as if a couple of in-between transition shades are missing for lighter tones. I am NC37, medium or light-medium (for some brands) and I desperately need a brow bone matte highlight color and a taupe-brown matte lid color. The shades blend pretty well; however the glitter shades aren't fine enough for me (mature eye, so a bit of texture, which I was surprised as Christine's eyes looked so nice with them, but I am older than I think eye wise at least , LOL!). Though the pink shade pops, in light doses it is a pretty sunrise-type transition color.

By Taylor 5 years ago.

I absolutely love this palette, but there is a learning curve to it that makes it lose a star. It is very powdery and loose, and also very pigmented. All you need is a small dab with a brush, instead of a normal swirling motion, otherwise its too much product and its impossible to blend out and you just look like you have a nasty bruise. This palette also has A LOT of fallout, and you NEED a good primer for shades to not crease or otherwise disappear. But this palette is just so great at doing grungy, darker, moody looks. Its a great fall palette. And there are enough neutral and warmer brown shades to do a more subdued look with it, as well. It doesn't look like it at first glance, but it is a very versatile palette. The shimmers are amazing, as well, and can really change a look when layered over any of the matte shades. If you can find a palette with the better formulation, definitely go for this palette.

By Hope 6 years ago.

I had zero interest in this when it came out - to me, the colors were ugly. As a person with green (hazel) eyes, I never wear teals or army greens as they make my eyes look far less green and more brown and yellowish. And then Subculture-gate took over and I figured I had dodged a bullet. A few days ago, I found a brand new and unblemished palette at Marshall’s, and it was marked for clearance for a really low price. I bought it, figuring I could give it to a family member. I ended up playing around with it, and I love it! Is there a significant powder kicked up? Sure - but what highly-pigmented matte shadow doesn’t? This appears to be just like Modern Renaissance in terms of powder. I’d call myself an untalented beginner at makeup despite my age, and I use products somewhat sparingly and build color slowly (I’m “an old,” and in a conservative line of work). I’ve had no problems whatsoever with the palette looking like hell, and I absolutely love how easy it is to apply and blend. The colors, especially Edge, New Wave and Roxy, look great on hazel-green eyes, and Cube and Electric are totally fun and original. The only colors I don’t use are Destiny, Untamed and Axis, making Subculture - at the robbery price I paid - totally worth it.

By Jana 6 years ago.

As far as eyeshadows go, Subculture by ABH is my problematic fave. Almost a year after Subculture's initial release, I fell in love with the bold color scheme and shades such as All Star, Edge, Electric, Axis and Cube. I'm a late bloomer, I know. While this ensured that I purchased Subculture after it's update/reformulation and therefore own what is considered the more reliable and less dusty version of the palette, I still can't help but treat the palette with kid gloves. Partially because I'm a novice at makeup, all too well aware of Subculture's notoriety and partially because even after ABH tweaked it, Subculture still remains somewhat... temperamental. Cube and Electric, originally considered total duds, work great for me but Roxy and Dawn are almost -too- powdery for my tastes and much messier to use than any other shades in the palette. The performance overall isn't consistent, either. Sometimes, the eye-shadows partially disappear from my lids within half an hour after application (and yes, I always prime my eyes with an eye-shadow primer and set the primer with eye-shadow). Sometimes, they go on patchy and can't be blended out nicely. On other days, the palette is perfectly well-behaved and allows me to create great grungy looks inspired by Sam Ravndahl's Subculture video. I have no idea what makes the palette tick and I'm not sure I'm skilled enough to ever figure it out. Do I like Subculture despite all of its and (potentially mine) flaws? Absolutely! But would I recommend it to others? I honestly don't know.

By foxwaffles 6 years ago.

Probably the best, most unique interpretation of "warm toned palette" I have ever seen. I know, it's really hype, and I love it as much as the bandwagon, but it is really good. HOWEVER, a warning!!! I have noticed that this is pretty consistent with most ABH palettes! The pigmentation is so good, you need so little product, that these palettes do NOT play nice with cheaper brushes. At all. I have brushes made by Chinese companies in Amazon (you know, the ones that are Amazon's top choice if you search), I have a brush set from Shop Miss A "All About Eyes", and finally I bought a few Urban Decay brushes when they went on sale. The performance varies even with the same technique, the same palette, and the same priming process. The best performance I got was out of my softest, fluffiest brushes, which are my Urban Decay brushes and some of the Amazon brushes (not all of them). Most glowing reviews I saw used MAC, Tom Ford, and Hakuhodo brushes, and I think the brushes are a big part of why. You definitely will have more trouble with this palette if your brushes are cheaper. Use a light, light hand and be patient with building up the pigment and you will be able to work with it. Not beginner friendly! Sometimes pigmentation can become too pigmented, and in the case of ABH they really ride that delicate line. If you are new to eyeshadows I'd recommend picking a palette with less pigmentation and less powderiness than ABH's infamous formula. I am looking to invest in Hakuhodo brushes in the future and look forward to seeing how MR performs, but the ideal beginner or everyday palette is one that works amazing with amazing brushes and good with not-so-amazing brushes, so this is definitely not accessible to everyone.

By foxwaffles 6 years ago.

The formula is not beginner friendly. I bought it just this past June 2018 so the formula and press is definitely different than the original batch. The darker colors are so pigmented they become patchy and hard to blend, so a light hand, patience to build up the colors, and really good blending skills and brushes are a MUST. I have tried this palette with brushes ranging from cheap to mid-end and this palette will perform as well as your brushes. My Shop Miss A "All About Eyes" brush set performed really poorly on this palette. My Urban Decay brushes performed better. I think if you have higher end brushes you will get a lot more mileage out of this palette. However, the color story is unlike anything I have ever seen. Using a combination of the green, yellow and orange flatters my monolids in a way many other eyeshadows simply don't. This absolutely flatters my olive/warm undertones and looks so good on medium to tan skin. The shimmers are awful for a brush. Use your finger and you will get flawless results. The biggest disappointment in this palette is Cube. It really doesn't perform well. I use it as a shadow topper or as a highlight for my face. Works much better as that. Do not buy as your very first palette ever, this is a 5/5 add-on palette and a 5/5 color story, but 3/5 if you only have cheaper brushes.

By Stephanie 6 years ago.

I have had this palette for a week now and after an initial bit of disappointment, I have used this palette every day and I have to say that I haven't enjoyed playing with a palette this much in a while. My first bit of disappointment stemmed from the fact that in person, most of the colours in this palette are rather warm-toned and much more warm-toned than what I had expected from promotional pictures and swatches online. The only really cool-toned shadows in this palette are Volatile and Soul. Another thing that I had not expected was that the shadows are not very pigmented, much in contrast to my Modern Renaissance palette from ABH. This goes for most of the mattes and most of the shimmers. Furthermore, the shadows are nearly all very dry and powdery, that goes for all of the mattes and nearly all of the shimmers. The shadows are, however, very easy to blend out and are also easy to build up. The blendability of the shadows also makes it very easy to combine and mix the mattes to create a new shade. The colour scheme is overall warm and, to my (positive) surprise very muted. The sheerness and mutedness of the shadows makes most of the colours work very well with each other and makes it easy to create subdued daytime looks. It is also possible to build up the shimmer shades or to spray them with water to make them opaque metallic shades, so glam looks are achievable with this palette as well. One more note about the colour scheme: This is not a purple palette. It is possible to achieve purple or plummy looks with this palette, but in total, 3 of the 14 shades are purples, and the rest are golds, pinks, rosy tones and browns. I personally find that Soul on its own, the standout, cool grey-purple shade of the palette, does not go well with the other purples in the palette. However, Soul mixed with other mattes, for example in combination with Volatile, makes it easier to combine with other shades. All in all, I think this is not a perfect palette for everyone, but it does work very well on me. - The shadows are not very pigmented, but blendable and buildable; the matte shadows are easy to combine into new shades - It is easy to create subtle, rosy looks with this - It has mostly warm, muted shades (which can look ashy on some people) - The shimmer shades can be chunky with fallout, but are still not very pigmented; they become pigmented with a bit of spray though

By Marlee 6 years ago.

There's a reason this palette is so popular. The formula is great; pigmented, but blends well. The palette is mostly mattes, with a few shimmers. Both the mattes and shimmers are good. I really love the mixture of neutrals and more bold shades like Love Letter, Red Ochre, and Realgar. My personal favorite shades are Vermeer, Red Ochre, Buon Fresco, Warm Taupe, and Tempera. It's my go-to everyday palette for a simple but pretty, warm eye look.

By Katie 6 years ago.

A great highly pigmented palette with a good variety of neutral and bold shades to create a wide variety of looks, and it can be used for day-to-night looks!! The red-based shades feel a little gritting, but blend out very well and still have good pigmentation...I just wish there was more of a difference between the 3 red shades (they are different when swatched but too similar to go in the same palette, in my opinion).

By Amanda 7 years ago.

I love a more grungy- undone look, so I'm not a big shadow blender which is a major deciding factor in how Subculture is going to work for you - to get the fantastic pigmentation that these shadows have means that the shadows are very softly pressed, so firmer application and overworking the shadows will just muddy the shades into a patchy mess. We get a nice mix of warm, cool, and neutral tones, and [having hooded eyes] I love the matte to shimmer ratio. There's some pretty, more toned-down 'everyday' work looks. However it's when I add one or two of the more punchy shades to take my look up a notch [I find myself gravitating towards New Wave, Roxy and Edge all of the time]. that I really fell for subculture - if you have blue eyes like me and/or love autumnal shades, you'll love the shade selection too! I've got quite a few new palettes within the past year, but none of them pack as much punch visually with the shade selection; it really encourages me to step out of my comfort zone. I've not had any issues with fading, oxidizing or creasing to feedback - I believe those problems are being caused by people applying too much product. Any let downs? The duo chrome shades Cube and Electric aren't as soft and apply on the sheer side, but almost every duo chrome shadow I've tried is, so I guess that's not a real negative for me as the shadow seems to be designed as shadow toppers. Dampening the dense shader end of the supplied brush for application of these two shades, gives a more intense look, compared to applying the shades dry. So there we go; I mostly like my Subculture palette and will rebuy it when I need to. I think it's just a question of preferred application technique with the very soft shadow, rather then good batch versus bad patch. I think that if you are used to using softer shadows and aren't a big shadow blender, then this palette will work for you. If you prefer to use a firmer hand for shadow application and love your blending, then you might want to sit this one out.

By Lubna 7 years ago.

It may have received some lacklustre reviews, but I personally really like this palette. I like that it has some similarities to Subculture, but that the shade selection is more varied and wearable. I tend to use the shimmers with a damp brush, and find that they perform very well that way. I feel it’s a comprehensive and coherent palette that can be used on its own to create a wide variety of beautiful looks. For me that is a great plus. I like that the brand has been releasing palettes and shades that are somewhat new, creating new combinations and trends. Some experiments, like Subculture, didn’t work out as planned, but Prism in my opinion is a success.

By Vanessa 8 years ago.

This is my holy grail palette! I love every shade and there is so many great combinations of looks that you can create within this collection of colors. The colors are so buttery smooth and apply so well to the lid. Thank you for all the reviews you do! You're amazing and I appreciate all of the work you put into reviewing things .

By Mariella 8 years ago.

I hem'd and ha'd about getting this palette and was really on the fence about it. My main motivation for wanting it was that I have 5 or 6 ABH shadows I really like and I also regret not getting the Self-Made (as opposed to self-made) palette. My only complaint with the Mario palette (besides the Kardashian connection - I personally abhor that entire bunch) is that there is no light ivory highlight in the palette. Several of the mid-toned warm shades are similar enough that they could have taken out one of them (maybe Hollywood) and put in a true brow-bone highlight shade, which make this a perfect travel palette as well as an every day one. As it is now, I have to reach for something else to highlight my brows and brighten my tear-duct area. A few of these are prone to a bit of fall-out, but nothing dreadful and it's easy to remove (unlike Urban Decay Maui Wowie's fall-out, for example). I'm a huge fan of murky neutral eyeshadows so colours like Bronx and Paris lure me in every time. I also love sheen so Marina, Muse and 5th Avenue just make me happy. I really enjoy this palette but one little tweak and it would have been perfect.

By Yvette 8 years ago.

Looove this palette! It's so beautiful. Every color blends and applies very well, this was a great impulse buy!

By Emily 9 years ago.

I love this palette, I think this is my favourite palette I have ever tried! It is so blend-able and I love how this palette can work for all seasons because it has such a versatile colour range. The eyeshadow last 12 hours on me with no primer and I am in love with colours. Also the price is a lot cheaper than my other palettes! Can't get enough of this palette :)

By Cat 9 years ago.

The pigmentation and texture of the shadows varies by shade. I've found the shadows easy to work with and blend (over primer) and I'm very happy with the palette as a whole. I especially love the way certain color combinations bring out the blue in my eyes.