I remember a time when everything this brand launched with had a ton of hype surrounding it. The pace of their new releases slowed in recent years, so much so that I didn’t even buy anything from them in 2024.

When I think about my ABH purchases in 2025, I’ve realized that nearly all of them were bought to replace something I missed out on. I didn’t get the brand’s first iteration of powder bronzers because I didn’t think the darkest shade (Mahogany) would work for me. I ended up buying their Smooth Blur Bronzer instead. In 2016, I wasn’t interested in the Anastasia Beverly Hills Master Palette by Mario, but later regretted not buying it. So, Embers seemed like the next best thing.
I also always wanted a dark skin friendly version of the Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy Highlighter, but they didn’t create additional colors. So, I hoped the newest shade of Glow Seeker Highlighter could fill that role.
I finally bought the Stick Blush four years after it launched, figuring ABH had no plans to expand the range further. I feel like the production of the Magic Touch Blush Trios are confirmation of that. Lastly, the only product I didn’t buy to fill a void of something I missed out on, is the Smooth Blur Contour Stick. I liked the cream bronzer so much, along with the powder bronzer from the “Smooth Blur” line, that I eventually caved and bought the contour in the hopes I’d like it too.

Let’s dive into the reviews and see if these products ended up being worth getting!

Embers Mini Eyeshadow Palette

I acknowledge that this is a soft color story, and that soft tones don’t pop as easily on dark skin. However, I expected these muted eyeshadows to still be pigmented, along the lines of the Nouveau Palette. Most of the swatches in the photo above needed to be built up in 3-5 swipes instead of my usual 1-2. I have five other ABH palettes and none of them require the amount of building up I’ve had to do to with Embers. I have to be so precise with my placement of the deepest shades in order to avoid the other eyeshadows blending into it and lightening it up too much in the process. I have to actually dampen my brush when using some of the satins in order to aid in packing on the color.

I was looking forward to having a subdued and earthy palette, but these shadows are more gently pigmented than I could have anticipated. After all, according to the brand, “Anastasia Beverly Hills Embers Mini Eyeshadow Palette was designed to spark artistry with depth, warmth, and intensity. Featuring 9 full pigment shades—including rich, blendable mattes and molten metallics that glow like firelight…”

I’m sorry, but to call any of these non-mattes a molten metallic is wild! Which of the shades in my swatches are rich or intense? Is the “full pigment” in the room with us?

Anyway, because it’s so easy to create toned down looks, I did my best to show the maximum color payoff I can get with this palette. The end result is at the subdued level I wanted, so my only issue is how much effort it took to create the three looks below.

Creating a bold look isn’t going to be a problem for someone within the fair to medium skin tone range, but those expecting high-shine metallics (instead of sooty satins and low impact shimmers) might still be disappointed.

To anyone who was hoping to achieve the kind of look that’s featured on the official website, I recommend managing your expectations. I couldn’t get that depth of color from the browns, so I checked the brand’s YouTube page to see what kind of techniques were used. I am fairly certain the “Terracotta Spice Fall Eyeshadow Look,” is the one used. How the makeup appears in the video looks washed out, but how the photo is depicted on the Anastasia Beverly Hills site looks manipulated to appear bolder. The truth might be somewhere in the middle!

The mattes blend and layer decently, but I had a hard time creating depth with C3 and struggled to have B2 show up. I expected B2 to be like Metro from Nouveau, but it’s not. When I think about that palette compared to Embers, I start to feel like perhaps I should have just stuck with the former!

If the Master Palette never existed, I would have thought Embers was meant to be a companion palette and/or a softer version of Nouveau.

A1, A2, and B1 are the inner corner type of shades, which I’m satisfied with. C1, C2, and B3 are the visual standouts, but they have a sooty quality to them that I can easily see when I rub them into my skin. I’ve seen this kind of effect from multichromes, duochromes, and sparkly formulas to look even more intense. With the type of finish these have, I feel like these colors veer away from the muted category and closer to dull. I wish these had more of a wet metallic finish instead.

On the bright side, I don’t have issues with creasing or fading throughout the day. I get quite a bit of kickup in the pan, but I feel that’s pretty normal for ABH. The shadows are soft to the touch, but not creamy or buttery. The eyeshadows don’t feel like they were pressed hard into their individual pans, so it makes sense that it’s easy to pick up a lot onto my brushes.

The Nouveau Palette is more to my liking because of the formula. The Nars Climax Palette has a similar vibe to Embers, but the mattes are more pigmented and the shimmers have so much impact. Metaphorically, Climax and Embers aren’t sisters, but they could be cousins! Climax is also a light neutral palette with pops of green and blue!

Joking aside, I don’t feel as bad about making this purchase considering I didn’t pay full price for it. I’ve had far worse performing palettes in my collection: ones that stick in one place and are patchy, ones that don’t layer well on each other, some that don’t adhere to the lids, etc. So, I consider the quality to be at least “okay.” I don’t know how this formula compares to the other minis in the 9-pan format, but I don’t consider it to be as good as the brand’s larger palettes (excluding Fall Romance).

A final point I should mention is that I had the worst experience with these eyeshadows when I applied them on skin primed with the MAC Paint Pot. Using the Lisa Eldridge Liquid Silk Eyeshadow as a base gave better results. Perhaps the Embers Palette would look even better on top of ABH’s own primer, but I no longer have that one.

Smooth Blur Cream Contour Stick in Core Shadow

I’m the one in my friend group that everyone comes to for beauty product recommendations, but this cream contour was actually recommended to me instead! I held off on buying it because I felt unsure if Core Shadow would be the right shade for me, in addition to me being on a cream product low-buy.

It turns out this shade is great around my cheekbones and jaw, but I can see a touch of red when I apply it along my nose. The consistency of the cream also breaks down my concealers. In addition to the bridge of my nose, I usually also apply a little on both sides where I have discoloration. Putting product on these particular spots gives the illusion of pushing those spots back, which makes my nose look less flat. Unfortunately, this trick just doesn’t work with this shade of contour and this kind of cream formula.

When I tried to take a photo of the contour below my cheekbone, it looked too natural. So, I drew on more product and left it unblended so it would be easier to see the sculpting power of the Core Shadow shade on my skin tone.

When I use my go-to cream and liquid contour brush (by Patrick Ta), it’s too easy to go overboard. If I use a small amount of the cream contour and try to build it up, it doesn’t look as well blended in the end because some parts have dried at different times and other parts have a heavier look from the overlapping of layers. If I use a normal amount, it looks better blended, but it’s more intense than I want. So, I end up having to use leftover foundation from my brushes to try and tone it back down. It’s an extra step in my routine that I would rather not have to do.

This product isn’t as stiff as the Milk Makeup Sculpt Cream Contour Stick, but it’s stiffer than the one from Uoma Beauty that I used to use, and it’s a little drier than the Fenty Match Stix Contour Skinstick. I hoped this would be more like the Rare Beauty Warm Wishes Effortless Bronzer Stick that is so easy to blend and melts into the skin. Even the Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Bronzer is easier to spread. While it’s typical for a stick version of something to be firmer and less emollient than a pot version, I didn’t expect this one to be more difficult to blend than the Anastasia Beverly Hills Stick Blush. Perhaps this is a tradeoff for longevity, because this contour at least lasts on my face all day.

I don’t have a lot of contours (compared to my collection of bronzers), so even though this isn’t perfect for me, I’ve continued using it beyond the testing phase. At the discounted price I paid, I don’t regret buying it. However, I still think there are better options out there, especially at a lower price. It gets the job done with extra effort, and the packaging is nice to look at, but I’m a little reluctant to recommend it.
Between the cream stick blush, cream bronzer, and now cream contour stick that I’ve used from ABH…the best product is definitely their Cream Bronzer.

Glow Seeker Highlighter in Enchanted

I can’t think of another highlighter that has received as much long term hype and praise as the ABH x Amrezy Highlighter from 2018. It was the standard by which all highlighters were compared for so many years. Even Champagne Pop from Becca x Jacyln Hill in 2016 didn’t manage to stay relevant for quite as long. Becca’s highlighter (technically now Smashbox x Becca) might have made more sales overall, but Amrezy’s continues to be referenced more in the makeup zeitgeist of the past decade.

When ABH released the “Iced Out” highlighter four years ago, so many influencers were claiming it was the same formula as Amrezy’s. I was suspicious when I found it online for 25% off in just the first few weeks of launch. Then, I understood. It is pretty, but dry, and the color is yellow gold with a slightly greenish tinge (thankfully the green didn’t show up on my cheeks). To me, it wasn’t similar enough to the Amrezy texture to feel like my wish was fulfilled. I was so annoyed by the intentional or unintentional trickery that I never ended up reviewing it on my blog.

Now, we have the Glow Seeker Highlighters that everyone has been saying is practically the Amrezy formula. I can’t help but feel slightly led astray again. This highlighter has a lot more of a shimmery mica sheen, and it doesn’t have as much of the wet-look shine that I associate with gelee formulas like the Amrezy one. The Glow Seeker formula seems to have less squalane and more glycerin. It’s at least less dry than the Iced Out highlighter, but I still wish there was more slip considering I have dry skin and prefer highlighters to look slick and smooth. I can admit that I’m extremely picky about highlighters, so other people will probably say the two products are similar enough to be dupes. This is most likely also the closest ABH will get to making the Amrezy highlighter without recreating the formula completely. Someone who likes high impact and shimmery (but not glittery) highlighters will probably be pleased with this.
The brand launched a single shade at first, called Sun Idol, but now there are two additional shades: Ethereal and Enchanted.

I like glow, and I’m glad this isn’t sparkly with large shimmer particles, but the shimmer isn’t quite as refined enough for me to like this as is. However, there is a bright side. I have found that when I use a finishing powder on top, it tones things down and makes my highlighter application look smoother. Typically, I use a finishing powder first before adding highlighter as the final step in my makeup routine to avoid dulling down the shine, but it works better for me to swap the order in this case! Using this method has made me like the highlighter a lot more.
I don’t like adding extra steps to my routine, but since it’s merely adding finishing powder to a spot I usually skip, I don’t consider this to be a problem.

I unfortunately can’t do comparison swatches with either of the previous ABH highlighter formulas because I left them in the US.

Color, finish, texture, and all other preference things aside, I don’t have any issues with this product. I can pick up the amount I want easily on my brushes, it adheres and blends well enough on my cheeks, and the glow doesn’t dim or disappear until I’m ready to remove it myself.

I didn’t pay full price for this, and the full presentation of the weighty packaging and embossed highlighter surface is beautiful, so I wouldn’t regret buying something like this under normal circumstances. However, I can’t feel like it was a great purchase if it hasn’t surpassed my top highlighters (Hindash and Prada included). I was only interested in this highlighter for nostalgic reasons, wishing I could capture the Amrezy excitement that I didn’t get to fully participate in because the color of that highlighter was too light for me. So, this wasn’t a good buy for me personally, but it’s nice enough that I wouldn’t discourage someone else from ordering it.

I would say the quality is on par with Nars, and theirs is $42. I’m more inclined to recommend Hindash’s Gradiant Highlighters, which cost the same $40, but ABH does have better packaging. My highlighter favorites tend to be quite expensive, but I’d rather buy something with worse packaging if the tradeoff is an amazing formula.

As a side note, Amrezy debuted her own brand in August. They only have lip products at the moment. I’m guessing Amrezy doesn’t have the rights to ABH’s formula, but I wonder if she will try to capitalize off of the past hype and come out with her own highlighters too.

So, that’s all I have for today! I’ve been impressed by this brand stepping up their packaging and releasing decent products, but they haven’t really become staples for me. I would say perhaps others will have an even better experience with the makeup than me, but I don’t think the brand is doing so well right now. After all, Anastasia Beverly Hills’ credit rating was downgraded after missing their payment to their creditors in August. So, that’s not a good sign regarding the brand’s finances.

In any case, I hope this post has been helpful. My opinions of these products may seem a bit critical to some, but there are plenty of other reviews going around the web singing the brand’s praises. I wish someone had told me some of the downsides to these products before I bought them. They’re not bad, but they’re not going to be right for everyone.

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤