Ardency Inn Modster Manuka Honey Enriched Pigments in Heaven, Vintage Gold, and Peacock

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.

Heaven, Vintage Gold, and Peacock
Heaven, Vintage Gold, and Peacock

Heaven is a light-medium cool-toned antiqued gold 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 cooler than Ardency Inn Sunday, darker and more metallic than MAC Retrospeck, slightly lighter than NARS Kauai #1, more gold than Makeup Geek Charmed, cooler and more metallic than NARS Dione, darker than Make Up For Ever D504 Celestial Beige, and warmer than Make Up For Ever D552 Crystalline Gray Beige.

Vintage Gold is a medium-dark warm khaki brown with sparkly gold shimmer in a frosted 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 can be layered and blended out easily. It is more sparkly than MAC Soba, darker and warmer than MAC Patina, darker than MAC A Harvest of Greens #2, more golden than Makeup Geek Barcelona Beach, darker and more sparkly than Make Up For Ever S638 Mocha, and sheerer and more sparkly than Make Up For Ever D640 Golden Snake.

Peacock is a dark burgundy-brown with dark teal 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 similar though more teal than MAC Blue Brown Pigment and Makeup Geek Insomnia Pigment, and similar though brighter than MAC Club, Urban Decay Lounge, and Make Up For Ever ME302 Peacock.

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. The only shade that is disappointing is Vintage Gold; it's a lovely colour and works well for all skintones, but the texture is less buttery and pigmented than the other shades in the range. 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.