About a year ago I purchased Stila's Eyes Are The Window Shadow Palette in "Soul". Now, since I didn't have my blog back then you only get to see it now ;) But as you can still get Body, Mind and Spirit from BeautyBay (where I purchased mine), Soul although sold out (no wonder, what with all its bronzy shades) might still reappear. And you never know, you could still find it in your local beauty watering hole!!!
I must say, although I tend to stick to the cheaper side of things when it comes to eyeshadows (I have yet to own a Naked Palette...I know, shock horror!!! #dupesalltheway) this £30 palette was definitely worth it! It was a hard decision picking from the four beautiful Stila palettes of this Eyes Are The Window Collection, but ultimately it was nearing autumn and bronze shades really suit my green eyes, plus, I'm not going to lie, the rose gold packaging won me over! :D
These eye shadows are all buttery smooth, pigmented and blend superbly (except Character; small patchiness issues with that one, but nothing major) and there is the tiniest amount of fallout (I have yet to come across eyeshadows with zero fallout...don't think they exist!) but doing your eye shadow first, wiping off the fallout, then doing foundation/concealer, solves this issue with no problem.
By now you must know that I like to show swatches of products (which are always colour corrected to make them the most accurate) but for an eyeshadow palette I thought that giving you 3 "wearable" looks additionally would be the most useful (Allana Davison on YouTube is #queen when it comes to doing 3 looks with 1 palette, so I highly recommend watching her videos for some tutorials too). I have to say I did struggle a bit to think of 3 "unique" looks without going the extreme smokey eye route or the barely there why did I even bother with eyeshadow route, all without being too repetitive, but I love the final results!
THE EYESHADOWS (going horizontally left to right, on my arm by threes as presented in the palette)
Light, Individual, and Being: the "matte row", these eyeshadows are the transition/blending shades. Light is the perfect eyeshadow to place all over your lid to set your eyeshadow primer in place and provide easy blendability for the rest of the shadows (if you skip this step, eyeshadows will tend to be patchy as the darker colour will try to stick to the primer...this will happen unevenly though, so always have a "skin toned" powder over your primer before starting...my pressed face powder from N°7 works equally well for this step).
Kitten, Affection, and Character: these are the shimmery versions of the 3 colours above. Kitten is a classic and the first Stila eyeshadow I ever purchased. Always try an individual shadow before splurging on a full palette (particularly in Europe since you can't return makeup, it will save you a lot of money in the long run, especially if you end up being allergic to the stuff!). Kitten is the perfect inner tear duct and brow bone highlight (I tend to skip highlight as I don't like the look on me, plus I tend to keep most of my eyeshadow to my mobile lid, but if highlighting suits your eyeshape, then this colour is a good one!). Character as previously mentioned is a tad patchy and the more red-ish bronze glitter flecks which you can see in the palette do not translate on the eye, it really is just the shimmery version of Being above.
Thought, Heart, and Peace: the "bronze row", these eyeshadows are a lot more brown toned compared to Individual and Affection the more coppery/almost orange-y shadows of the palette. Heart is another matte in this palette (Thought and Peace are shimmers) and just like the "matte row" it makes for the perfect blending/transition shade. Plus, it's a lot cooler toned which makes it ideal as a crease shade to cool down a very warm eyeshadow on the lid, or warm up a cool toned one. Because of this versatility, Heart is definitely my favourite shade of the bunch.
Vitality, Substance, and Essence: compared to Kitten, Vitality is a lot yellower; almost a pale gold in contrast to the champagne of Kitten. Substance is the only completely cool colour of the palette (a grey) and although you may think it sticks out, it actually provides this palette with a much needed flexibility...LOOK 3 (below) makes a lot of use out of this one. Essence is the standard matte black needed in a palette for eyeliner or to help make your look smokier; an essential! ;)
LOOK 1
You may recognise this look from my KIKO Rebel Romantic Collection post, granted the lipstick and blusher make this look a little bit more dramatic than it needs to be, but I'm not shy when it comes to makeup, so I would wear this during the day (more so autumn/winter time hence why this is the perfect autumn palette).
I had my standard N°7 pressed face powder all over my lid to set my primer. Then I went in with Individual all over my lid and crease area, over which I added Affection to provide the shimmer. I also put Affection close to my lower lash line and connected it with the eyeshadow in my outer corner in a more rounded shape than the standard V-shape. I skipped all eyeliner and just put on a couple of coats of my favourite mascara; Lancôme Hypnôse Precious Cells in black (now discontinued a good alternative is the Lancôme Hypnôse in black).
As previously mentioned, my blusher is 04 Passion Red Wine and my lipstick is 06 Melodious Wine both from KIKO's Rebel Romantic Collection. On my nails (if interested) is a BarryM polish in Plum On Baby light My Fire from their Daylight Curing range.
To make this eyeshadow look more spring/summer appropriate I would pair it with an orange blush like my Clinique Cheek Pop blush in 02 Peach Pop, and a nude or peach lipstick (depending on my mood). For the eyes I would also add a bright turquoise or blue liquid eyeliner (KIKO and Collection have some good ones) in a cat eye shape (not too elongated) and either wear a blue or purple mascara (YSL 03 or 04 Volume Effet Faux Cils)
LOOK 2
Admittedly this look is pushing it a bit, to be a daytime one :P I'm wearing my Rimmel Scandal Eyes eyeliner in black on my waterline for this look which make my eyes way more intense (this is an easy trick when wanting to adapt your daytime look to a nighttime one, just add eyeliner on your waterline!). It is a beautiful look though to try for a date or any other occasion you feel like wearing it to.
Again I have my N°7 pressed face powder over my primer to set it. I went in with Heart all over my mobile lid and upper crease area then placed Peace over what I just did; concentrating it more on the mobile lid and creating quite a long V-shape on my outer corner. I also brought down Peace along my lower lash line (quite close to it to create a more "thin" line). Character was then used to create the cat eyeliner shape. Usually I struggle to create a long cat eye flick on my eyes (they never end up even...am I right?!!) but this time, first try I might add, both eyes looked the same...woop woop! (I used a flat angled brush I got in a Sephora brush set, yonks ago). I also added Character on the outer corner of the lower lashline to connect it to the cat flick. I then added eyeliner on my waterline to make the whole outer corner more seamlessly dark. Finally, I added a couple of coats of my trusted Lancôme mascara in black (you could even add false lashes if you can be bothered with that palaver).
Since my eyes are doing all the talking, I've left my cheeks and lips drama free. Hence, I'm not wearing any blush and on my lips I've kept it rather neutral with my daily N°7 lipliner in Nude with Revlon's Colorburst in Complex on top.
LOOK 3
Hard to deny the influence of the 60s for this final look...Twiggy anyone? But I've kept it a bit more modern with the double cat eye flick that seems to be on trend at the moment.
I wanted more of a highlighted/glowy overall look to my brow bone, so I put Light all over my lid to set my primer in place this time. I then put Heart in my crease (which added a bit of warmth to the overall look) to start off the shading of the 60s look. Then I went in with Substance in my upper crease to create the cut crease look, you don't want to blend it out too much as the harshness adds to the effect. I then lined my upper lashline with Substance (quite thinly, it mostly gets covered up by the liquid eyeliner) and connected it at the outer corner in a distinct V-shape with the Substance eyeshadow placed earlier in the upper crease. To finish off the look, I did a double winged cat eye on my top lash line using my Collection's felt tip eyeliner in black and added 3 little flicks (imitating lashes) on the outer corner of my lower lash line, re-creating that wide doll-eyed look of the 60s, just a little bit less intensely. And of course a couple of coats of my Lancôme black mascara later, the look is complete!
No blush on my cheeks for this look either, on my lips I'm sporting my Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 13 Marvelous Mauve over my N°7 lipliner in Nude. On the nails I have Essie's Virgin Snow from their latest Winter Collection, but Apres Chic would work just as well with the overall look.
So there you have it, 3 looks using 1 Stila palette. As I said earlier these shadows are well worth the money; smooth, super blendable and pigmented...basically a dream to work with! But there are four to choose from, so if these shades aren't to your liking, I'm sure one of the other three will be! :D
What's the best eyeshadow primer you've ever used? I'm still loving my Too Faced Shadow Insurance after all these years! :P
What's your favourite eyeshadow palette?
Do you tend to stick to drugstore or higher end eyeshadows?
What's your makeup trick to quickly turn a daytime look to a night-time one?
xxxemma