When I first heard of Ardency Inn's Modster Manuka Honey Enriched Pigments almost exactly a year ago, I was set in trying to get all 12 shades. But, of course, there was a lot of hype around them and many of the shades were never in stock (I still can't get my hands on Royal, a deep purple shade that really put the spotlight on this formula). These appeared all over beauty blogs and YouTube videos, and regardless of whether you tried getting them in store or online, at least half of the shades were always sold out. So, yes, it took me about a year to get nine shades. I told myself that I wouldn't post about these until I got all of them, but now that they are being pulled out of Canada entirely, I decided to forget about getting the last three shades and just to post these now. The reason I'm still posting this is because Ardency Inn will still be carried in its entirety in the US (on their own website as well as Sephora), so they're technically still available to purchase (only the liquid liner appears on the Sephora Canada site now). They are described as "a collection of organic and mineral pressed pigments enriched with mānuka honey," which is "a mono floral honey produced in New Zealand and Australia from the nectar of the Mānuka tree, [and] was used for the first time in a colour cosmetic formulation to provide unparalleled creaminess and staying power." Each Pigment comes in a black clear-lidded plastic pot with 1.7 grams of product, and retails for $21 USD.
Disco is a medium-dark cool-toned silvered purple in a metallic finish. It is a permanent shade. It has a soft but thin texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It is cooler and less sparkly than MAC Black Grape, more muted than MAC Grand Galaxy, lighter and more silver than Makeup Geek Caitlin Rose, more purple than Makeup Geek Mesmerized, cooler and more silver than Urban Decay Rapture, and more muted and more silver than Urban Decay Psychedelic Sister.
Orchid is a medium vibrant cool-toned fuchsia-violet with blue-violet shimmer-sheen in a frosted finish. It is a permanent shade. It has a soft, almost buttery texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and brighter than MAC Stars 'n' Rockets and Urban Decay Fishnet, brighter than MAC Pink Pearl Pigment, lighter and more pink than Makeup Geek Masquerade, and brighter and more blue-toned than Make Up For Ever ME912 Orchid.
Hell is a dark warm taupe-brown with a grey pearl in a metallic finish. It is a permanent shade. It has a soft, almost buttery texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and more reddened than MAC Satin Taupe, darker and greyer than MAC Mulch, slightly more reddened than Urban Decay Hustle, more grey than Urban Decay Lost, richer and more metallic than Makeup Geek Taupe Notch, and darker and more brown than Makeup Geek Mesmerized.
I am so freaking sad that Ardency Inn was pulled out of Canada because these are some of the most gorgeous eyeshadows I have ever had the pleasure of using, in terms of texture, pigmentation, application, and colour pay-off. These give off rich, saturated colour without any effort, and blend out like a dream, too. I'm especially impressed at the wear-time, which reaches about the ten hour mark without fading or creasing, even without eye primer. I would say that they're the most comparable to Makeup Geek's Foiled Eyeshadows (which ships outside of the US), but I do think that Ardency Inn has more shades that are more wearable and universally flattering overall. Unfortunately, Ardency Inn doesn't ship outside of the US from their site, and they are only carried at certain Sephora locations in the US and on the US Sephora website. So for those of you who live outside of the US who don't want to bother with the hassle of acquiring these, you can definitely make do with Makeup Geek's Foiled Eyeshadows (which are indeed fabulous, but currently only come in pans so you have to put them in a custom palette)... But if you live in the US or are visiting the US, these are totally worth the hunt.
