November 30, 2011

Stila A Few of My Favorite Things Review, Swatches, Photos

Ok, I admit, Stila has overdone the entire Travel Girl/Beach Girl Palette thing. We all agree that they aren’t the best formula in the world and we all agree they do sport the cutest packaging…!

And many of us will agree we’ve overindulged in these palettes a time too many. Honestly, no matter how bad they get, somehow, someway, that collector’s disease rides me hard and I end up needing to own every single one of these damn things.

It’s a terrible thing people.

Recently, Stila introduced two exclusive Ulta palettes for the Holidays (I believe these are available at Ulta only but don’t quote me) and of course, I had to go on my merry way and purchase them.

Let’s have a look at one of them today.

The Stila A Few of my Favorite Things Palette is a nude, natural palette that features a few delicate peaches, some natural shades of brown, and sadly a big old Kitten Highlighter.

Someone recently expressed complete disgust over applying Kitten on their face in my comment box and essentially with these Kitten-like powders that’s exactly what you are doing. As really, they have the texture and feel of the eyeshadow so why in the world would you want all that frostiness on your face? Let’s be real, it’s hard to do it on eyes never mind your face. So indeed not only is the release of Kitten in the palette annoying because the shade is simply overdone to the max but also because they pimp it as a highlighter/illuminating powder. If you can work it on your cheeks, props girl (or guy), props! If not, well, you just scored yourself another Kitten Eyeshadow to add to the growing pile.

Now I’m going to go ahead and throw it out there and you can agree or disagree with me. All of these palettes have been a mixed bag but for the most part they are decent in the formula department. Nothing you’d write home to your dear old mum about but decent enough to enjoy and not to rant about too much. In the case of a A Few of my Favorite Things I will say it’s the worst of the palette releases thus far. I have…what…maybe 12 or 14? Perhaps more of these $10/$14 palettes and they all have their ups and downs but this one was just down, down, down.

Kitten is the highlight of the palette in terms of formula and pigmentation. It’s a lower quality than a normal pot of Kitten but not by much. It’s rich in pigmentation, has a smooth buttery formula, and is very typically what Stila is about.

However, everything else here has a weaker formula. The eyeshadows run on the sheer side and in most prove difficult to pick color up here without the aid of a sponge applicator to build shades up. The exception is Creme Brulee (a chocolate brown with gold sparkle) which had decent pigmentation and Chocolate which is a matte chocolate brown liner shade which also has decent pigmentation and a workable formula. Marshmallow (soft beige matte) and Bon Bon (light golden peach) are both quite sheer.

The worst offender is the blush shade in Peachy (light peach) which is a very dry formula that yields very little color even with the heaviest hand applying it.

The color selection is a good one with alot of potential but what falls short here is the formula. I was slightly surprised as I expected either decent or very nice as hey some of these palettes have proved very nice in the past. I didn’t however expect poor and in this case the quality was just very bad.

If you can hold strong and not give in to the evil pokemon disease, I’d say avoid it and spend your $14 on something else.

If you already did purchase it do share your thoughts as perhaps you had better luck than I did.

I look forward to hearing it!

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  • Suzanne

    Hi Muse,

    I’m glad I’m not alone. I tried the other Ulta palette (Tis the season to Dazzle) and I find 3 of the 4 shadows are very sheer. I also find for some of the shades, the shimmer is not fine milled, looking like small glitter. Not a good look on me who is older than a teenager 😛

    The blush also have very low pigmentation. All of the colors felt like they are pressed really hard, and so I can’t get any color off them.

    I like the color combos Stila put together for their holiday palettes, but the formula did not make them work. I want to say the palettes that came out in the summer had better formula than these ones.

    I agree there should be better way to spend 14 bucks… Now, I’m looking forward to your review on Physicians Formula’s Nude shadow palette 🙂

    • the Muse

      Hey Suzanne I agree 100% with all you said. I haven’t tried the other palette yet but this one was a sore disappointment. I thought the drier, hard packed formula yeild very little color. I was surprised as I think the Beach Palettes were a step about the Travel and these are a step below the Travel, I expected decent or at the least a nicer formula but…mmm…seems it went very downhill here.

      I can’t wait to get my hands on that nude palette, sadly no drugstores have them yet around here blah! gonna keep hunting ;-D! xoxox!

      • FadBurger

        Hey Muse, check CVS…I’ve been to a couple today and they both had the Phys. Formula displays! Nobody else yet though. I hope Ulta gets it because I want to use one of those $3.50 coupons on it.

      • kiwikiwidragon

        I found the PF Nude palette in the normal area, don’t know if they meant to do that but my CVS had put them there. I didn’t think I would love the fashionista palette, but I do! I got all but the casual one, plus a set of the liners in the smoky version. I am wearing the nude palette today, love it, it reminds me of the Romantic palette from TF as far as color goes. It was a huge haul from CVS, lol.

  • Maria

    Have you tried the Macy’s palette Muse? I was kind of excited about it, but now I’m worried it’s going to be a dud.

    • the Muse

      maria no luck getting it. it sold out online and I haven’t seen it in stores grrrr it looked so nice too!

  • Christina

    This is my first Stila palette and I actually like it…I don’t have anything else from Stila to compare it to though.

    • yelena

      same here. it was the first palette i got and i liked it. the blush is a lil hard to pick up but i think with a nice base it shows trhu and my skin is olvie tone. on the eyeshadows i found i really liked them on top of my UDPP in sin (shimmery gold). perhaps thats what made them stand out but i loved the end result.

  • Sarah S.

    I’m actually a bit relieved to hear the blush is sheer. I have this but haven’t touched it yet. Just yesterday, I accidentally gave myself clown cheeks with the Love and Empower palette, so anything that can lighten my hand may be a good thing!

  • Jonny

    Hey there lover!! 🙂

    Just sending you a quick line to make sure everything is alright as I’ve not heard from you in a while?

    P.S I’ve kept away from roofs as per your request.

    Love you

    Jonny

    Oh got some funny stuff to tell ya!

    Xx

  • Majick

    I am taking a bow = I do not have a single one of any of these palettes. Not sure how I made it through but I did. Now don’t talk to me about other “collector” items. ugh… 😀

  • Laura

    This is also my first Stila Pallette and I like it too – I thought the colors were great – and the blush is light – but paired with a nice bronzer and it looks quite natural

    And I was able to use kitten as a highlighter easily

    I’m one of the lucky few who actually doesn’t own anything kitten!

  • nuriz

    Muse,how about the 3 palette from Urban Outfitter? look nice and collectible,as usual 🙂