Friday 20 January 2012

Stila Eyeshadow Palette: Review

Sorry about the hiatus people. School is just murdering me already...
So let's not talk about it and get straight into the review shall we?

I recently picked up the new "In the Moment" eyeshadow palette from Stila. I have owned Stila eyeshadows before and they were just "meh" for me. For example, I have the so described "cult classic" eyeshadow in "Kitten" that everyone and their mom is supposed to love. I wasn't loving it. 

However I couldn't resist this new palette. It's the "In the Moment" palette and it has 10 eyeshadows total, some really great neutral, wearable shades and some really beautiful purples as well. The lid of the palette is magnetic and the case is very sleek and portable. 
The palette is $51 and it's available in stores Sephora or online at Sephora.com.


The shadows are great quality. All are very pigmented and they're very soft, almost creamy textures which makes them great to work with. 
From left to right (top row): Instinct, Impulse, Glance, Improvise, Catalyst
From left to right (bottom row): Desire, Wonder, Spontaneous, Whim, Captivate
I'm not sure if these shades are sold individually or outside this palette but I thought I would include the names just in case.


This palette also comes with a full-sized smudge stick in "Tetra" which is a very beautiful dark plum eyeliner with a light purple shimmer.
I have tried the smudge sticks before in "stingray" (black), "purple tang" (black with purple shimmer) and they are SO worth it. They are creamy, soft and some of the most pigmented liners I have ever tried and they are the automatic, twist-up kind which I love. Seriously, this palette is worth it for the liner alone.


A downside about this palette (if you care about this kinda thing) is that of the 10 shades, only 2 are matte colours- desire (light, pinky beige) and glance (deep purple). I personally don't mind that because the shimmer on some of the other shades is so subtle you barely notice it.


This is the inside cover of the palette. A quick google search tells me that Sarah Lucero is a makeup artist with Stila. 
This palette also comes with a "lookbook" which is a little book that shows you how to create six different eye looks with the palette. I thought it would be interesting to re-create one and see if the look actually turned out any good. Surprisingly, it did. The looks in the book are easy to do and range from subtle everyday looks to darker, smokier looks.


I chose to recreate the first look in the book called "wide eyed wonder" - it's the most wearable, subtle look suggested. I chose it because I was doing this before class one day and didn't want anything to overdone. I tweaked it to my own tastes so it's a little different from what it says in the book.


*Note: try not to judge the eyeshadows based on these photographs. I took them in bad light and only after many hours of wear. The "whim" colour in my crease is actually much darker but it gets washed on in the photos. Sorry!

I applied "wonder" all over my lid and blended "whim" in the crease of my eye.  
I blended out the dark brown colour with a skin tone shade (which would obviously vary for everyone).
I used "desire" lightly as a highlight on my browbone and in my inner corner. 
I also went back with the "wonder" colour but I used MAC Fix+ and used it wet right in the middle of my lid to make the colour stand out.
I used the "tetra" smudgestick that came with the palette for my liner.
I'm not positive but I think was wearing MAC "prep and prime" for lashes with L'oreal Million Lashes on top.

Overall: This palette is amazing quality and while $51 may seem like a lot, it's really a great deal.
10 shades divided by $50? Even a journalist can do that math, that makes each shade only about 5 dollars (not to mention you get a full-sized liner for $1).
If you're new to makeup and want a palette with neutrals that also offers some colourful options- this is a great place to start.
If you're kind of a makeup junkie like me with a huge collection, you don't necessarily need this palette but it is very useful and travel-friendly.  

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading guys!
-Tash <3