Anastasia Soare is amazing! She is not just a celebrated brow and eye expert with her own line of products, and a salon catering to the glitteratti in Beverly Hills, she’s also considered by some to be the one who brought professional eyebrow shaping into popularity.
While The Advice Sisters have recommended some of Anastasia’s products going back as far as 2005, she has expanded quite a bit. Stunningly new and great are some innovative palettes that might put your budget back a little bit, but they also have skin-nurturing benefits that do more than just look pretty on the outside
Get a good look at the photo above, featuring just one of the new, Anastasia Beverly Hillls Illumin8 Eye Shadow Palettes (full product name: Illumin8 w/ Youthful Synergy Complex Eye Shadow Palette $30.00/each). These are not just pretty on the outside, they feature something so unique, you’ll be thinking about buying at least one. These products feature “Youthful Synergy™ Color,” a beautifying color cosmetic that also multi-tasks with good-for-your-skin, benefits. It is (clinically tested) and designed to firm, smooth and illuminate the appearance of skin. It also soothes and hydrates. The Youthful Synergy™ Complex contains Vitamins A, B, C, E and F, as well as naturally rich Brown Algae, Sea Whip and Macadamia. The shadows also have an exclusive, antioxidant-rich, “Balkan Botanical® Infusion,” that soothes, softens and hydrates skin. And, if this isn’t impressive enougj, the products are also hypoallergenic, dermatologist-tested, and made without Parabens, Synthetic Fragrances, GMOs or Triclosan.
There is a color palette for everyone. For some reason, however, “#1 Cavalli,” has four twin sets of complimentary colors while the other palettes have just one dual pan, and three larger squares of color.
Palette #2 Cafe Americano
Earth tones are always popular in the Fall, and so I recommend “#2 Cafe Americano ” featuring coffee-colored earthy tones of ivory, milk and dark “chocolate” and a dual pan of gold and copper. Palettes #3, #4, and #5 feature primarily blue, green and trendy bold colors.
With these luxe palettes, you get versatility. Worn dry, the colors are opaque but soft. Applied wet (use a damp brush), they are bold and metallic, with the shimmers offering a deep radiance.
No matter how you choose to apply these, they are really beautiful.
Color Cosmetics are “Skincare”: As with all products claiming skincare results, it is challenging for me as reviewer to confirm all of the benefits, claimed. I can tell you without reservation that I love the chic, shiny, silver, mirrored compacts, and I love the colors and the performance and versatility of the shadows. But when it comes to actual skincare in color cosmetics, I’m reluctant to confirm or deny the skincare benefits.
The published results right on the box and on the Anastasia web site claim that clinical test results after 4 weeks (in the eye area where you have applied shadows) show firmer, smoother, lighter and less puffy skin. Anastasia claims (right on the box) that consumer test results after 4 weeks of use resulted in: 70% noticed reduction of the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles on the eyelid; 77% noticed eye area appears illuminated; 83% noticed eyelid appears smoother; 70% noticed eyelid appears firmer; 68% noticed hooded lid appears less visible and 83% noticed overall eye area appears lighter/brighter. Anastasia’s results also claim a 29% increase in skin hydration in just one hour!
As with all good skincare, most real results take some time to develop, and results will vary depending upon the individual. Even Anastasia cautions that not everyone is going to turn back the hands of time in a dramatic way with her pretty eye shadows!
But still, I really, really, really loved these eye shadows, solely on their merits as beautiful, luxurious, eye shadows. And, since a lot of the ingredients listed in these shadows do have proven, anti-aging, skin-nurturing benefits, it sounds likely you will get some good benefits, too. If these shadows help the look for your lids and brow area, so much the better. Even if the anti-aging ingredients don’t readily give you visible results, you’ll still want these because they are excellent shadows, beautifully packaged.
The press literature informed me that the palettes are $40.00 each, but they are selling on the Anastasia Web Site for $30.00. That seems steep until you consider the fact that the palettes have eight colors in one, five in the others. And they’re high performance. The colors slide on your lids like silk, so smoothly that you won’t even need to use a brush (but most of us will use one to keep fingers clean). The formula is intense, but not garish). If I didn’t get these products to review, I would go out and buy them. They are worth it. Get yours at Sephora and the Anastasia Beverly Hills Website: www.anastasia.net
