Spend vs Splurge : Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance eyeshadow palette vs BYS Cosmetics Berries eyeshadow palette.

Hi lovelies!

As you all know, the Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH) Modern Renaissance palette is probably one of the most sought after palettes of all time. It's a palette I've owned for a while now, and it's truly a beautiful palette with a range of unique, yet wearable shades that will flatter any skintone. It's also a palette that I know many of my readers have had trouble getting their hands on, due to it selling out so quickly.

That's one of the reasons I was so excited when I attended a blog event that BYS Cosmetics held a couple of weeks ago, as I knew that one of their best selling palettes, the Berries palette, was said to be a fantastic dupe of the Modern Renaissance palette. Luckily, we were fortunate enough to receive one in our goodie bag from the event, so I was really excited to try it and report my findings back for all of you!

As the photo shows, both palettes are very similar at first glance, but let's take a closer look and see how close the comparison really is, shall we?

Spend vs Splurge: Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance (top) vs BYS Cosmetics Berries (bottom) palettes.

First up, let's talk packaging. Both palettes have a similar colour scheme, but the Modern Renaissance is packaged in a velvet feel cardboard palette with a magnetic clasp while the Berries is housed in a click-shut tin. The Modern Renaissance is also a little shorter and wider than the Berries palette, which bears a striking resemblance to the Urban Decay Naked Palettes (specifically, the 2, 3 and Smoky) in design. In this instance, I have to say I have a personal preference for the Berries packaging; the Modern Renaissance does feel a bit more luxurious but the velvet feel means you have to take extra care not to get it dirty (especially if you are a neat freak like me), and the Berries just feels more sturdy overall.

Keep reading after the jump!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance (top) vs BYS Cosmetics Berries (bottom) palettes.

In terms of the brushes/applicators that are provided with each palette, the Modern Renaissance wins, as you get a double ended blending/shading brush while the Berries only offers two small double ended sponge applicators and brushes, though the quality is decidedly lower than that of the Modern Renaissance brush. To be honest, this doesn't matter overly much to me as I have my favored blending brushes (Zoeva, in case you were wondering) which I use for all my eye makeup looks, but it's a nice inclusion to have a good quality brush included if you take the palette travelling. Both palettes also have a mirror inside, which is always a nice touch (scroll down to the last photo to have a look at the mirror in the Berries palette).

Spend vs Splurge: Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance (top) vs BYS Cosmetics Berries (bottom) palettes.

Now, let's take a look at the actual shadows. Both palettes have names for each of the shades, which is always helpful. You get 14 shades with the Modern Renaissance, and 12 with the Berries. The shadows in the Modern Renaissance are smooth, buttery, pigmented and don't have much fall out, with the exception of a couple of shades, which I find is commonplace with more matte shades. Some of the shades are pretty close to my skintone, as you can see in the swatch photo below, which means that it doesn't really pop on my skin as much as I'd like. My personal favorite shades from the Modern Renaissance are Love Letter, Primavera, Red Ochre and Venetian Red.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette.

The shadows in the Berries palette are also incredibly smooth and pigmented, and I didn't find much fall out either, which really surprised me! Similar to the Modern Renaissance, some of the more matte shades do have a bit of fall out, but it's nothing that a light sweep with a fan brush won't fix. I find that these shades somehow suit my skintone a bit better, as almost all of them are noticeable on my skin. My personal favourites from this palette are Radiance, Glow, Cherry Bomb, Juliet and Antique.

BYS Cosmetics Berries palette.

In terms of quality/application, I'd say both palettes are beautiful to work with, with shadows that blend together beautifully. I do believe that the quality of the Modern Renaissance is slightly superior, but the quality of the Berries palette is still remarkable.

Spend vs Splurge: Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance (top) vs BYS Cosmetics Berries (bottom) palettes.

What about the price, you ask? This comes down to one of the most important points in this discussion. The Modern Renaissance retails for $75 at Sephora Australia, while the Berries retails for a much more reasonable sum of $20.

What's my verdict? Truthfully, I really love both palettes, and couldn't pick one over the other...but I think the spend vs splurge question comes down to personal preference. If you're someone who loves quality items and also prides herself on collecting high end pieces, you can't go wrong with the Modern Renaissance palette. However, if you're usually someone who only wears neutral shades and need some practice getting comfortable with using colours, the Berries might be a great way to dip your toes in at a much more reasonable cost. It's also a lot easier to get your hands on the Berries than the Modern Renaissance, which is usually sold out (though the Modern Renaissance is currently available AND on sale at Sephora Australia for 20% off if you're a black or gold member at the time of writing this blog post).

There you have it, lovelies, my review of both these palettes! Now, tell me honestly, which palette would you pick?

Much love,
MM.
x


Note: The BYS Berries palette was kindly provided in a goodie bag for editorial consideration, while the Modern Renaissance was purchased with my own money. This has not affected my opinion in any way. For more information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.