I headed over to Ulta on Friday and trying to grab some NYX items and since I had my camera with me (I have it with me all the time) it was not particularly cloudy and I was wearing short sleeve shirt...Guess what? The swatch arm is back in business.
I know you guys have been seeing plenty of swatches of Barbie Love Stila All Doll-ed up palette, I just reckon some of you might want to see it with a different background (Temptalia has a nice golden olive skin tone so the eyeshadow should look a bit different on people whose skin tone is pastier/cooler) and dying to hear my view on the palette (I doubt this is the case...) .
The first trio pan is a bit boring, it reminds me too much of Stila Pon Pon gerbera palette, which itself is 70% similar to the Ravishing Rose Trio, which I also have. But for people who are relatively new to Stila, they makes really nice basic (for swollen eyes makeup.)
Going counterclockwise, the second pan with teal, charcoal and purple is definitely the gem among the four. The teal isn't too turquoise (like most teal shadow out there) and has a really nice metallic sheen to it. The charcoal and purple are both rich and creamy as well. While the whole trio has a texture consistent with the standard Stila pan (creamy, silky and pigmented...nothing like the eyeshadow duo!) This trio seems to to be the most satiny of all.
Let's hear some boo this time. The third combo is probably my least favorite, the blue seems to be a bit gaudy, the silver at the right seems to be very familiar (like the Wet n Wild mega eye trio in Diamond, only grittier) the black at the center is a bit difficult to work with: it's the only color among the 12 that requires double, even triple dip to get a reasonable swatch-able color. It's such a shame, really, as the black has some really unique navy shimmer.
The last trio pan is also quite nice (although admittedly boring) The beige makes a perfect canvas color and the brown, not to orange or red based, should be flattering on many skin tones. The soft green at the far right does look nice and fresh (I love green so it's unlikely that I will hate it.) but it's doesn't look all that unique,especially I have several green shadow pans from Stila already and they all looks better.
Overall, I think this Stila Palette is indeed a great deal even if you ignore the fact that there are 3 colors in each pan. Let's do some baby math: at Beauty Crunch, you are expected to pay 7 dollars for each eyeshadow pan and the refillable palette is already more than 10 bucks. (Not to mention beauty crunch only carries old stock and you can't escape the 8-dollar shipping and handling.) See, 46 dollars for a quad of old stuff compare to 28 for 12 colors palette and a pretty compact, what would you pick?
But then again, there are something that stop me from buying this quad as well.
1) Although there are 12 colors in the palette, I am interested in only 4 of those colors.
2) Since each pan is packed with colors (literally) , it would be difficult to pick one color without messing up the rest (in their video, their makeup artist Sarah Lucero used the #30 brush, which is like 32 bucks... I have the brush myself so it's not a problem for me. But I believe many of you prefer other brands when it comes to brushes.)
3) Forget about using a bit fluffy brush to get an allover color!
4)It's sold out...Along withe the Barbie smudge pots, Smitten with Kitten collections everythig (Kittem smudge pot is so pretty!)
Good job stila!
P.S. At Stila's Website, Use
"FREEFALL" coupon code at and get a golden noir smudge pot with any purchases till Monday midnight.
"BARBIE" Free shipping with any Barbie Purchases,
"FALLBEAUTY" free golden noir smudge pot with the fall trend set (A new barbie item pair with something from their old stock)
(I cannot find a way to duck the shipping though...)
P.P.S. Oh back to why I went in ULTA in the first place, I was quite interested in the Daffodil (a lilac eyeshadow with satin finish that get super good review in makeup alley 100% rebuy rate.) and their orange soda (love the name!) round lipstick. They were nowhere to be found and all my back up choices (Beanie eyeshadow their nail polishes) were not there, I really couldn't convince myself to buy something else as I had generally had a negative experience with NYX and their packaging would be what I call eyesore purchase (have them around would irritate me.) So...that girl who want to hear my view on NYX...Sorry girl, I think I will just have to wait for another Cherry Culture free shipping sale (Thanksgiving isn't that faraway.)
P.P.S I sort of got 5 bottles of nail polishes though...(Thus totally overkilled the green nail polish thing) Anyway, China Glaze Custom Kick(it's such a unique and beautiful teal!) is sold out, what a bummer!
I know you guys have been seeing plenty of swatches of Barbie Love Stila All Doll-ed up palette, I just reckon some of you might want to see it with a different background (Temptalia has a nice golden olive skin tone so the eyeshadow should look a bit different on people whose skin tone is pastier/cooler) and dying to hear my view on the palette (I doubt this is the case...) .The first trio pan is a bit boring, it reminds me too much of Stila Pon Pon gerbera palette, which itself is 70% similar to the Ravishing Rose Trio, which I also have. But for people who are relatively new to Stila, they makes really nice basic (for swollen eyes makeup.)
Going counterclockwise, the second pan with teal, charcoal and purple is definitely the gem among the four. The teal isn't too turquoise (like most teal shadow out there) and has a really nice metallic sheen to it. The charcoal and purple are both rich and creamy as well. While the whole trio has a texture consistent with the standard Stila pan (creamy, silky and pigmented...nothing like the eyeshadow duo!) This trio seems to to be the most satiny of all.
Let's hear some boo this time. The third combo is probably my least favorite, the blue seems to be a bit gaudy, the silver at the right seems to be very familiar (like the Wet n Wild mega eye trio in Diamond, only grittier) the black at the center is a bit difficult to work with: it's the only color among the 12 that requires double, even triple dip to get a reasonable swatch-able color. It's such a shame, really, as the black has some really unique navy shimmer.
The last trio pan is also quite nice (although admittedly boring) The beige makes a perfect canvas color and the brown, not to orange or red based, should be flattering on many skin tones. The soft green at the far right does look nice and fresh (I love green so it's unlikely that I will hate it.) but it's doesn't look all that unique,especially I have several green shadow pans from Stila already and they all looks better.Overall, I think this Stila Palette is indeed a great deal even if you ignore the fact that there are 3 colors in each pan. Let's do some baby math: at Beauty Crunch, you are expected to pay 7 dollars for each eyeshadow pan and the refillable palette is already more than 10 bucks. (Not to mention beauty crunch only carries old stock and you can't escape the 8-dollar shipping and handling.) See, 46 dollars for a quad of old stuff compare to 28 for 12 colors palette and a pretty compact, what would you pick?
But then again, there are something that stop me from buying this quad as well.
1) Although there are 12 colors in the palette, I am interested in only 4 of those colors.
2) Since each pan is packed with colors (literally) , it would be difficult to pick one color without messing up the rest (in their video, their makeup artist Sarah Lucero used the #30 brush, which is like 32 bucks... I have the brush myself so it's not a problem for me. But I believe many of you prefer other brands when it comes to brushes.)
3) Forget about using a bit fluffy brush to get an allover color!
4)It's sold out...Along withe the Barbie smudge pots, Smitten with Kitten collections everythig (Kittem smudge pot is so pretty!)
Good job stila!
P.S. At Stila's Website, Use
"FREEFALL" coupon code at and get a golden noir smudge pot with any purchases till Monday midnight.
"BARBIE" Free shipping with any Barbie Purchases,
"FALLBEAUTY" free golden noir smudge pot with the fall trend set (A new barbie item pair with something from their old stock)
(I cannot find a way to duck the shipping though...)
P.P.S. Oh back to why I went in ULTA in the first place, I was quite interested in the Daffodil (a lilac eyeshadow with satin finish that get super good review in makeup alley 100% rebuy rate.) and their orange soda (love the name!) round lipstick. They were nowhere to be found and all my back up choices (Beanie eyeshadow their nail polishes) were not there, I really couldn't convince myself to buy something else as I had generally had a negative experience with NYX and their packaging would be what I call eyesore purchase (have them around would irritate me.) So...that girl who want to hear my view on NYX...Sorry girl, I think I will just have to wait for another Cherry Culture free shipping sale (Thanksgiving isn't that faraway.)
P.P.S I sort of got 5 bottles of nail polishes though...(Thus totally overkilled the green nail polish thing) Anyway, China Glaze Custom Kick(it's such a unique and beautiful teal!) is sold out, what a bummer!
very pretty purple in the third pic!
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