Being a long-time collector of Stila palettes, especially those featuring the Stila Girls illustrations, I couldn't resist picking up the two Ulta-exclusive palettes that were released last October. Like the five Beach Palettes released last year, these retailed for US$14 each. They are no longer available on Ulta but I thought I'd review them anyway.
Stila has been releasing so many palettes exclusive to various retailers such as Macys and Nordstrom, that I've given up on being able to collect all of them. There was even a Glam and Glitz palette offered as part of Sephora's Black Friday sale. The last straw was their recent release of three Nordstrom Rack-exclusive palettes that were essentially a re-packaging of the Travel Palettes released back in 2010 (see reviews on Vampy Varnish and Nouveau Cheap). I disliked the Convertible Colors in those palettes, so it's not worth trying to buy them off Ebay just for the cute cover illustrations.
Like the Beach Palettes, 'Tis The Season to Dazzle and A Few of My Favorite Things each contain four powder eyeshadows, a cheek color and Kitten bronzing powder. While Kitten may be Stila's most famous shade, it's a bit of a waste to include it in both palettes as one can only use so much of a frosty highlighter!
When I first opened up 'Tis The Season to Dazzle, I was captivated by Wrapping, which looks like a complex blackened purple with violet shimmer. Sadly, the violet shimmer is for the most part, too subtle to be noticeable when applied. I wonder if Star and Candle were mis-named as Star is a flat pale beige that disappears into my skin while Candle is a metallic beige. Tinsel is a greyish taupe with silver sparkles.
The blush in Cheer has the worst color payoff I've ever encountered from Stila. It was virtually impossible to pick up any color no matter how many times I ran my brush across it. Even swatching it with my fingertip took several tries. While I liked the cover design, the quality control on the production of this palette was lacking. The rest of the shades in the palette, except for Star, had decent payoff.
These swatches done on bare skin without any primer underneath. Most consisted of two to three layers to get the shades to show up well.
A Few of My Favorite Things is a peach and brown combination that works well for the daytime. Most of the shades had pretty good color payoff although Chocolate and Marshmallow feel dry and slightly dusty to touch.
Again, while I love the cover illustration, the eyeshadows and blushes don't appeal to me that much. The shimmer that you see in the swatches is actually much less obvious under most lighting conditions.
Here's the look that I did with 'Tis The Season to Dazzle.
For this look, my skin is very blotchy with a lot of redness as I'm not wearing any foundation or powder, as I was still trying to let my skin recover from the recent bout of eczema. (Thanks to everyone who shared their experience and recommendations with regard to eczema! After using the Avene Cold Cream for a few days, my skin is now back to normal.)
Here's the look that I did today with A Few of My Favorite Things.
For this look, I'm also wearing Rouge Bunny Rouge Milk Aquarelle Liquid Foundation, which was part of my recent Zuneta.com order. The shade 025 Almond Milk Parfait turned out to be an excellent match for my skintone. It helped to even out my skintone although it did not cover blemishes and pigmentation marks completely. The satin finish felt lightweight and it didn't oxidise over more than eight hours of wear. My skin needed blotting about every three hours, which is pretty good for me (but in general, my skin requires much less blotting in this dry winter climate than in Singapore's humid tropical weather). I'll post a more detailed review after I've tested it out a few more times.
Stila has been releasing so many palettes exclusive to various retailers such as Macys and Nordstrom, that I've given up on being able to collect all of them. There was even a Glam and Glitz palette offered as part of Sephora's Black Friday sale. The last straw was their recent release of three Nordstrom Rack-exclusive palettes that were essentially a re-packaging of the Travel Palettes released back in 2010 (see reviews on Vampy Varnish and Nouveau Cheap). I disliked the Convertible Colors in those palettes, so it's not worth trying to buy them off Ebay just for the cute cover illustrations.
Like the Beach Palettes, 'Tis The Season to Dazzle and A Few of My Favorite Things each contain four powder eyeshadows, a cheek color and Kitten bronzing powder. While Kitten may be Stila's most famous shade, it's a bit of a waste to include it in both palettes as one can only use so much of a frosty highlighter!
When I first opened up 'Tis The Season to Dazzle, I was captivated by Wrapping, which looks like a complex blackened purple with violet shimmer. Sadly, the violet shimmer is for the most part, too subtle to be noticeable when applied. I wonder if Star and Candle were mis-named as Star is a flat pale beige that disappears into my skin while Candle is a metallic beige. Tinsel is a greyish taupe with silver sparkles.
The blush in Cheer has the worst color payoff I've ever encountered from Stila. It was virtually impossible to pick up any color no matter how many times I ran my brush across it. Even swatching it with my fingertip took several tries. While I liked the cover design, the quality control on the production of this palette was lacking. The rest of the shades in the palette, except for Star, had decent payoff.
These swatches done on bare skin without any primer underneath. Most consisted of two to three layers to get the shades to show up well.
A Few of My Favorite Things is a peach and brown combination that works well for the daytime. Most of the shades had pretty good color payoff although Chocolate and Marshmallow feel dry and slightly dusty to touch.
Again, while I love the cover illustration, the eyeshadows and blushes don't appeal to me that much. The shimmer that you see in the swatches is actually much less obvious under most lighting conditions.
Here's the look that I did with 'Tis The Season to Dazzle.
For this look, my skin is very blotchy with a lot of redness as I'm not wearing any foundation or powder, as I was still trying to let my skin recover from the recent bout of eczema. (Thanks to everyone who shared their experience and recommendations with regard to eczema! After using the Avene Cold Cream for a few days, my skin is now back to normal.)
Here's the look that I did today with A Few of My Favorite Things.
For this look, I'm also wearing Rouge Bunny Rouge Milk Aquarelle Liquid Foundation, which was part of my recent Zuneta.com order. The shade 025 Almond Milk Parfait turned out to be an excellent match for my skintone. It helped to even out my skintone although it did not cover blemishes and pigmentation marks completely. The satin finish felt lightweight and it didn't oxidise over more than eight hours of wear. My skin needed blotting about every three hours, which is pretty good for me (but in general, my skin requires much less blotting in this dry winter climate than in Singapore's humid tropical weather). I'll post a more detailed review after I've tested it out a few more times.
8 comments:
These are nice Haru, Stila always has good quality eye shadows, these palettes are so convenient.
Hi Iris
So glad to hear you have recovered. Have a prosperous Dragon year and thank you for the effort you make to keep us informed :)
What lipstick colour are you wearing for this 2 looks?
Hi,
It's Esprique Mellow Forming Rouge RO620.
http://rougedeluxe.blogspot.com/2011/11/esprique-mellow-forming-rouge-ro620.html
Hi Katina,
Thank you, am so relieved that the eczema cleared up!
Hi, thanks for the Lipstick colour. By the way, I love both your looks.
Hi Haru, i have been following your blog for the recent couple of years but never knew you had eczema. I am also battling this condition myself as it often breakout once or twice each month on my face. i have seen a doctor and i'm currently using a cream from my her. But this steroid cream is pretty harsh on the skin as my doc says that it will thin the layers of your skin from prolong usage and i am now experiencing it round my nose area. Imagine using this every mth since i have to curb the dryness and bumps! So now I am trying to look for alternatives to replace this cream (which works 100% all the time) without the harmful side effects. May i know what are you using now other than the cold cream or if you manage to find something else that's effective, do let me know! :)
hi Karen,
I only developed eczema after moving to Switzerland and more because I was not diligent enough in moisturising regularly. The Avene Cold Cream was effective for getting rid of the eczema on my cheeks which no longer have that rough, bumpy texture. After my skin healed, I switched to Yes to Cucumbers Calming Facial Moisturiser, as the Avene Cold Cream contains mineral oil, which I'm afraid will be too heavy for my skin. The Yes To Cucumbuers seems to be working well.
My doctor gave me a steroid cream, Fucicort, to apply on the areas on my legs and back where my skin got infected and developed nasty scabs after scratching (due to the dryness). For the face, I only used Avene Cold Cream since there was no infection there. Hope your eczema clears up soon!
Hi Haru, thanks for sharing! I'm already experiencing eczema breakouts here in humid sg, i can't imagine you in switzerland! Are you moving there permanently or just for holidays? Not sure if i have missed out your blog post mentioning this change.
Anyway, i went to my doctor afew days ago and she recommend me another body moisturizer from Cetaphil for use on my face. http://www.cetaphil.com/products/restoraderm-moisturizer/ At first i was skeptical because i cannot imagine using body stuff on my face but to my surprise it actually works! and it's gentle enough for daily use. Just want to let you know about this so you can also give it a try to relief your skin. Hope it helps! :)
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