Stila Holiday Blockbuster Palette Review, Swatches, Photos
Earlier this month Stila sent out an e-mail burst stating they had 50 of their brand new Stila Holiday Blockbuster Sets available and the makeup world proceeded to go ape sh*t.
50? Seriously? Only 50? WTH people! Needless to say it proceeded to sell out within a brief blink of my eye. I wasn’t one of the lucky 50 to snag it.
Flash forward several minutes later and comments and e-mails proceeded to flood me telling me, “Hey, wait a sec, that palette is at Costco for $20 bucks!”
Indeed, this palette is at your local Costco and merely $20.
Don’t ask why, or how or who but Stila stated it had the following items:
- 30 Stila Eyeshadows
- 3 Stila Convertible Colors
- 15 Stila Lip Colors and Glosses
- 2 Stila Sun Bronzers
- 2 Stila Cheek Colors
- 2 Stila All Over Shimmer Highlighters
- 1 Mini Mascara
Is it different from the Costco version? I honestly haven’t a clue but I do know that it was $8 bucks more from Stila and seemed to have a bit more involved as the one at Costco includes:
- 30 Eyeshadows
- 15 Lip Colors and Glosses
- 3 Cheek Colors
- 2 Stila Sun Bronzers
- 1 Lip Pencil
- 1 Eye Liner Pencil
No Convertible Color here, no mascara, no shimmer highlighters……
Are they the same palette? I think maybe they are and perhaps Stila put the wrong details up when selling their 50, super limited edition palettes, considering they posted on their Facebook that the 50 were from left over stock at Costco someone had mentioned but where did they get the details for that palette?
A mystery we may never hear about unless one of those lucky 50 purchasers are bloggers and review the one they purchased from Stila’s website.
Putting all this aside you may question whether this is a good marketing angle for Stila. Stila’s a mid-range brand with a high mark up. As in, it isn’t as cheap as other middle of the range brands and it does fall into the realms of a makeup luxury for some where as for others not so much. Really depends on your budget for makeup.
Hardcore fans might see this as a bad move considering it’s taking Stila down into the realms of being more affordable but you’re also losing the quality commonly associated with the brand. We all like to save money, yes, but I don’t think you want to save money by forsaking quality. Stila’s Holiday Blockbuster Palette is Made in China as well which could cause some outcry among makeup junkies.
Do you need this palette?
Maybe.
A large palette featuring products for eyes, lips, and face.
So here you have it, $20, and a hook up of product that includes 30 Eyeshadows, 15 Lip Colors and Glosses, 3 Cheek Colors, 2 Bronzers 1 Lip Pencil, and 1 Eye Liner Pencil. You can’t get a palette with this much for that little with quality to back it and in this case it does have a certain amount of quality to it.
First of all, no, in my opinion, this is not Stila Makeup or at least not as we know it. I have to question if it’s a bad move to put your name on a palette that doesn’t have your signature makeup formula to it. We all know Stila Eyeshadows have that smooth, creamy velvet-feel and we all know how much the Stila Travel Palettes lack that formula. In the case of the Blockbuster Palette, again, it does not have that formula. You can probably debate the topic by stating that most of the palettes Stila has been dropping on us lately sport a similar texture and formula. So is Stila creating some new formula in their shadows? Is the formula reserved for palettes but not singles!? It’s a big mystery to me.
The good news is I’m actually happy with the palette for the most part. It’s a good travel palette, it’s a good palette for quick, easy, yet nice looking eye looks, and it’s only $20 for alot of product so it makes a good gift for younger girls or those just starting out with makeup or color.
The formula of the shadows are surprisingly good. They have pretty great pigmentation, they wear well and true to color, and they apply and blend easily. I’m not sure what I’d compare them to in terms of texture and formula but I will say they are a step above the Stila Travel Palette formula since they have considerably better color pay off and a smoother formula to work with. I’d say all 30 shades are semi-matte but are very easy to apply and work with.
The blushes and bronzers are of equally good quality. I wore one of the blushes yesterday and it wore all day without touch up! Pretty impressive.
Sorry, the palette is just too big to swatch completely so I only did a few. Forgive me?
There are some downfalls…
I’m not keen on the lip colors and glosses. They have a hard texture and aren’t particularly great. However, I smeared some on for my looks in this review and topped with clear gloss, and honestly, they don’t look TOO bad.
One thing I sincerely don’t love about the palette is it does have a cheaper makeup smell. Kinda old makeup scent…I’m sure you know what I mean.
Sadly colors seem a bit limited. I liked all the neutrals included but they really missed the boat here as they included too many of the same color groups such as blue and brown. No teals, no greens here, and some of the shades of pink and purple are somewhat unflattering.
The shadows are pretty small, about the size of a penny, a bit smaller actually.
The lipliner and eyeliner are awful. Very hard texture and not really a fab formula. They’ll probably sit and rot in the palette as I’m doubtful I’ll make use of either.
- Anyone looking for an easy way to travel with color (this is nice for traveling as the palette is slim and not too cumbersome).
- Anyone looking for an inexpensive gift.
- Anyone who enjoys Stila (I admit, I purchased it because it had Stila’s name on it).
- Anyone interested in a decent palette to train with (this is good for makeup n00bs).
- Anyone uninterested in cheaper makeup.
- Anyone expecting Stila’s normal quality of product.
- Anyone who wants a variety of shades (I felt the palette was limited).
- Anyone not keen on Made in China makeup products.
You don’t absolutely need the Stila Holiday Blockbuster Palette and if you’re strapped for cash it’ll probably be better to just save and indulge in their higher quality Color Wheel Palette. However, if you have a little extra cash, I’d buy it. It’s actually not half as bad as I thought it would be. The colors are pigmented, they include alot of natural, nude shades which I’m loving lately and plus it’s a mere $20 bucks to spend, not bad at all. I have alot of these colors already that can easily be duped but I’m a fan of makeup all the way so I’m glad to have added this to my stash.
I wouldn’t call this the brightest marketing move by Stila considering some fans may strongly object but I liked it. I think you’ll be surprised how nice the products included really are as long as you go into your purchase not expecting the normal quality range of Stila products.
I know some of you already own it so feel free to shout out your thoughts!
Any those who don’t, tell me how you feel about Stila’s Holiday Blockbuster Palette?
Would you buy it?
No way?
Share it!
Thanks to my friend Carla at Product Girl for making this review possible. She went to her Costco (mine didn’t have this) and got it for me! Obrigado menina!