Recently, Stila released a Love & Empower Set comprising a face palette and their bestselling Apricot Lipglaze as a tie-in with the movie, "The Help".
The Love & Empower palette is the same size as the Beach Palettes and contains four powder eyeshadows, a blush and a bronzing powder. At US$29, this seemed pricey in comparison to the Beach Palettes, which usually retail for US$14, especially since the Lipglaze is in the "classic" size of just 0.05fl. oz/1.5ml. Nevertheless, I picked it up to complete my collection of Stila palettes.
When I first saw the palette on Stilacosmetics.com, it looked pretty staid with typical OL-friendly ("office lady") shades of pink and brown. In real life, the shade combination turned out to be flattering and very easy to wear.
The shades are Love (satin pale beige), Empower (pearlescent golden beige), Dignity (pearlescent dusky mauve pink) and Cherish (rich pearlescent chocolate).
I especially liked the Joy bronzing powder (peach with a soft glimmer) and Hope blush (matte rose pink), both of which had good color payoff and a smooth texture.
The suggested application steps.
Using Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Candlelight as the base, I applied Love over the browbone area, Dignity in the crease, Cherish along the upper and lower lashline and Empower slightly above the crease. I also used the silver cream shade from the Body Shop 4 Step Smoky Eyes Palette 01 Silver Black at the inner corners and along the lower lashline. Next, I used RMK Ingenious Waterproof Pencil Eyeliner 01 Black to line the upper waterline and applied Ettusais Bitaba Mascara.
The four eyeshadows had decent colour payoff and a very subtle glimmer. They produced quite a bit of powdery kick-up when touched with a brush, so the palette can get messy easily if one is not careful. I ended up liking the shade combination more than I had anticipated. It's an easy, breezy look for the day/office.
Apricot Lipglaze applies clear on my lips, and looks more like a glossy lip balm. I didn't fancy this much as it felt sticky without much slip and had a slightly artificial peach scent. I was surprised to see that this was also made in China, like the face palette. Given the tiny amount of product, my guess is that this will last at most three weeks with daily usage. I have used it about six times to date, and the plunger has already moved from the "l" to the "s" of the brand name on the tube.
The other products used for this look include: RMK Smoothing Polished Base under Lancome Maqui Miracle Foundation O-01, RMK Super Basic Concealer EX-01 and K-Palette Real Lasting Eyebrow 01. I just started using the RMK Smoothing Polished Base SPF13 PA+ (S$41, 20g) this week and it's fast becoming a Holy Grail for me as it provides good oil control and helps to smoothen out the skin surface, giving it a soft focus finish.
List of ingredients
The Love & Empower set is not available at Escentials as far as I know, but Escentials at Tangs Orchards currently has all five Beach Palettes in stock, as well as the Daydream Palette and holiday set of 8 lipglazes.
The Love & Empower palette is the same size as the Beach Palettes and contains four powder eyeshadows, a blush and a bronzing powder. At US$29, this seemed pricey in comparison to the Beach Palettes, which usually retail for US$14, especially since the Lipglaze is in the "classic" size of just 0.05fl. oz/1.5ml. Nevertheless, I picked it up to complete my collection of Stila palettes.
When I first saw the palette on Stilacosmetics.com, it looked pretty staid with typical OL-friendly ("office lady") shades of pink and brown. In real life, the shade combination turned out to be flattering and very easy to wear.
The shades are Love (satin pale beige), Empower (pearlescent golden beige), Dignity (pearlescent dusky mauve pink) and Cherish (rich pearlescent chocolate).
I especially liked the Joy bronzing powder (peach with a soft glimmer) and Hope blush (matte rose pink), both of which had good color payoff and a smooth texture.
The suggested application steps.
Using Too Faced Shadow Insurance in Candlelight as the base, I applied Love over the browbone area, Dignity in the crease, Cherish along the upper and lower lashline and Empower slightly above the crease. I also used the silver cream shade from the Body Shop 4 Step Smoky Eyes Palette 01 Silver Black at the inner corners and along the lower lashline. Next, I used RMK Ingenious Waterproof Pencil Eyeliner 01 Black to line the upper waterline and applied Ettusais Bitaba Mascara.
The four eyeshadows had decent colour payoff and a very subtle glimmer. They produced quite a bit of powdery kick-up when touched with a brush, so the palette can get messy easily if one is not careful. I ended up liking the shade combination more than I had anticipated. It's an easy, breezy look for the day/office.
Apricot Lipglaze applies clear on my lips, and looks more like a glossy lip balm. I didn't fancy this much as it felt sticky without much slip and had a slightly artificial peach scent. I was surprised to see that this was also made in China, like the face palette. Given the tiny amount of product, my guess is that this will last at most three weeks with daily usage. I have used it about six times to date, and the plunger has already moved from the "l" to the "s" of the brand name on the tube.
The other products used for this look include: RMK Smoothing Polished Base under Lancome Maqui Miracle Foundation O-01, RMK Super Basic Concealer EX-01 and K-Palette Real Lasting Eyebrow 01. I just started using the RMK Smoothing Polished Base SPF13 PA+ (S$41, 20g) this week and it's fast becoming a Holy Grail for me as it provides good oil control and helps to smoothen out the skin surface, giving it a soft focus finish.
List of ingredients
The Love & Empower set is not available at Escentials as far as I know, but Escentials at Tangs Orchards currently has all five Beach Palettes in stock, as well as the Daydream Palette and holiday set of 8 lipglazes.
5 comments:
Those are such classy shades! Too bad about the lipgloss not being too great, but you look very pretty.
I love the RMK polished base too! Definitely helps in oil control without looking too flat/matt.
Those are amazing shade; all very wearable on a daily basis! I'm going to search for this now :) Thanks for the share!
hi haru, any recommend loose powder for combination skin? what's the different between loose powder and pressed powder? i want to apply it after bb cream.
hi,
Loose powder is usually more finely milled than pressed powder and gives a more refined finish. Pressed powder is more convenient for touch ups on the go. The level of coverage and shade depends on the individual powder. Both RMK and Paul & Joe make very good loose powders. For a more affordable option, you can try Bourjois' new Flower Perfection powder.
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