Stila Collectible Beach Palettes

You'll have seen these collectible little palettes on a number of blogs, I suspect, but I'm going to ignore that fact and show you them myself, because they're very lovely.  And, at a cost of just £10 each, they're a real bargain, and perfect for those last minute stocking stuffer presents you might need.

There are three palettes in the collection: Striking in South Beach, Living the Life in Laguna and Wonderful in Waikiki and there is something to love in each of them:

Packaged in cardboard with a magnetic closure, they're not the most durable of palettes, but for the price point, they'll do. Each one contains four eyeshadows and two blushes/bronzers, along with a mini-makeup lesson. Let's take a look at the insides:

Striking in South Beach:

A grey, a blue, a charcoal, and a lilac, alongside a pale pink blush and a medium bronzer with just a hint of rose, this is a cool-toned girl's dream.  Here's how they swatch:

They're all well pigmented - these are swatched without a base, and with fingers, and the coverage is good.  I find that most of the shades are a little on the chalky side for me (that blusher in particular looks like it'd be a very difficult wear for all but the palest of pale skins), but I'm sure I could get a very dramatic eye look out of those shadows.  I'll definitely be giving this one a go.


Living the Life in Laguna:

Probably the easiest to wear of all the palettes, Laguna is a symphony in rosy neutrals, and it's really rather lovely.  Again though, the blush shades are a little on the pale side, and I'm not sure I'll get any use out of them, but I'm sure they'll suit a few people:

This is great for daytime wear, and it's the one I'll probably get the most use out of.

Wonderful in Waikiki

By far the most dramatic of the palettes, Wonderful in Waikiki features some coppery/orange shades, all set off with a glorious matte blue.  I think this would be the best palette for women of colour, but I suspect the blushes would - again - be too pale, whereas I think they'd actually be a touch too orange for the pale of skin:

This could work either as a day or a night-time palette depending on how you use the blue shade (which is a little chalky, but is suprisingly well pigmented for a matte colour), as a liner it'd just add a pop of bright colour to a slightly more wearable look, whereas you could use it to create a more vivid evening look too.

Overall, I'm very impressed with the quality of these palettes for the price, even with some reservations about the choices of the blush shades.  Even if you discount those, this works out at £2.50 an eyeshadow, which is a bargain in anyone's book. 

I have to say that I'm very glad Stila is back on these shores, and is far more widely available than it used to be, too.  Try your larger Boots stores near you, to pick these babies up.

The Fine Print: PR Samples.

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MORE bargains! Stila

After my last (dreadful) experience with Stila, I was in two minds whether to pick up any more, but these were such a bargain that I thought even if they're awful, it's not too much of a loss.  I picked up four loose shadows and a smudge post in Jade for just £10! Thank goodness for the random bargains you can find in TJ Hughes ... Then I discovered that I'd actually bought two shadows which were the same colour, but hey ho ... look out for it in a giveaway soon!

Onto the swatches etc, first the loose shadows:

I have numbers 7, 3 and 12, as you can see they're all very shimmery, 7 is a nice metallic taupe, 3 is a very pretty lilac, and 12 is a soft copper.  Here's how they look on the skin:

 

 

As you can see, they swatch pretty sheer, but the colour pay-off is still better than last time. These have been swatched dry over bare skin, I expect if swatched wet, or over a primer they'd be a lot more vivid.

Here's the smudge pot, I like this mossy green a great deal, and I'm a bit annoyed they didn't have any other colours that I could find:

 

The colour pay-off in this is excellent, and it blends well.  I'm really looking forward to getting on with some FotD's with these.