Anastasia llumin8 Eye Shadow Palette No. 4 Swatches & Review

Welcome to the future of wrinkle reduction: an eyeshadow palette claiming to reduce the appearance of fine line and wrinkles. Could the Illumin8 with Youthful Synergy Complex Eye Shadow Palette by Anastasia actually work?

From Anastasia’s website: “Straight from the beauty innovator Anastasia Soare’s Illumin8 Eye Shadow Palette features her Youthful Synergy™ Complex. This complex is created from vitamins A, B, C, E and F, as well as naturally rich Brown Algae, Sea Whip and Macadamia. Shadows also feature Anastasia’s exclusive antioxidant-rich Balkan Botanical® Infusion that soothes, softens and hydrates skin. Formulated to help keep the eye area looking youthful and maintain elasticity, this palette is perfect for women of all ages.”

There are some pretty lofty claims that are written right on the inside of the box it comes in. They claim that 29% of people had an increase in hydration within the first hour of using these shadows. They also say that after 4 weeks of use, the eye area will appear firmer, smoother, lighter and less puffy. But my question is, do you have to wear ONLY these eye shadows every single day for a full 4 weeks to have this happen? This is why I am skeptical. Also there is no way I could only wear these colors, I am too flighty for that.

The words “Clinical Results” and “Scientific Breakthrough” always leave me highly doubtful and skeptical. I have tried wrinkle cream upon wrinkle cream over the last 15+ years and I cannot say a single thing has ever really worked. People do say I look younger than I am, but I have been wearing sunscreen every day on my face since around age 21, and also my whole family looks younger than they are. Is it from Genes? Sunscreen? Immature personality? Who knows.

The wrinkle reduction claims aren’t even what drew me into this palette initially though. The COLORS in here are in a word: insane.

I was hoping beyond hoping it would look as good and be as pigmented in real life as it turned out to be.

There are five of these palettes that number 1-5 and this one is number 4. They all contain five colors each, with one of the pans containing two colors. The only one that doesn’t fit this mold is the first one, which contains eight colors.

Hmmm, major use of the word “clinical” and percentages going on…

I love the mirrored finish of the palette and the design, though it does fingerprint quite easily. It feels pretty sturdy and nice, not cheap.

It opens up to a nice sized mirror and a double-ended mini applicator brush. One side is designed for applying color all over lid or brow-bone, and the other for using in your crease or wet as a liner brush.

#1

#2

#3 & #4

#5

1st color – pale soft white with heavy gold duochrome flash
2nd color – deep murky olive green with slight yellow flash
3rd color – vivid purple
4th color – bright citron
5th color – dark, chocolate brown with multi-colored shimmer

As you can see, the pigmentation is really quite nice on all of these. I barely had to touch my finger into the palette and loads of color came off. They are super soft and velvety as well.

There is something about these colors together that totally get me. I just love them and think they work together so nicely. There are so many combos you could do; from a more natural look using #1 and #5 to something super bright using #3 and 4 to a sultry smokey look using #2 & 5.

Overall:

SOLD! I am definitely going to check out her other palettes, though I’m not quite as drawn to those colors as I am to these. The only negative I can say about them right now is that I wish the shadows had names instead of numbers. They could also be a little less expensive but $40 for 5 amazingly pigmented shadows isn’t that bad.

Availability: Exclusive to Sephora

Pricing: $40.00

What do you think about these colors?

-Kelly