December 26, 2012

Stila 10 Pan Eye Shadow Palette: Too Rich for My Tastes

It’s a difficult leap from high end to budget and budget to high end. The new Stila 10 Pan Eye Shadow Palettes tries to gain some footing on the ladder of high end.

But is it missing the mark?

Stila had some trouble a few years ago and things looked a little bleak for the brand. But thankfully enough Lynn Tilton swooped in and saved the day.

In that time, Stila has created some really fun budget picks. How unheard of to have Stila offering $10 palettes! It was a time for rejoicing. Stila had always had some higher end pricing….they weren’t really mid-range and they weren’t really fully high end but they seemed to fit right smack in the middle somewhere.

To suddenly be confronted with some very inexpensive and cute palettes from the brand really floored fans like myself. It started a little bit of a craze and race as well to collect all these cheap little palettes that Stila was introducing.

Fast forward a year or two and the endless “budget” picks were getting a little too repetitive.

Now Stila seems to want to grab on to the ladder and make it’s way back up to possibly where it was at some point in the past. But is it possible to go from offering $10-$15 palettes back to offering $75 dollar ones in the blink of an eye?

Their new 10 Pan Eye Shadow Palette features ten eyeshadows in what I hope is full size.

Shades:

  • 14k (bright gold shimmer)
  • Copper (copper shimmer)
  • Mystic (shimmery blue-green)
  • Terracotta (orange-red shimmer)
  • Wisteria (shimmery lilac)
  • Rain (matte dark taupe)
  • Cassis (shimmery deep purple)
  • Azure (deep blue)
  • Jade (shimmery jade green)
  • Dahlia (matte purple-blue)

It’s a beautiful selection isn’t it? But when you have brands like Urban Decay offering twelve full size eyeshadows in a single palette for $50 I think perhaps Stila’s $75 price tag could miss the mark by a few miles.

In such a competitive market I’m unsure why they think anyone would want to pay that much? They’ve killed their own market by offering inexpensive palettes for such a long time one has to question if anyone is willing to dish out more?

As gorgeous as this palette is I’m unsure if I’m ready to shell out nearly $100 for it.

Are you?

P.S. Finally watched the last two Dexter episodes. How the hell are they going to get out of this one??!

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‘.

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Comments

  • breyerchic04

    It’s nuts, especially when compared to the In the Moment and In the Know palettes that are ten shadows for $39 (and imo better color combos for using together).

  • Hayles

    I watched the last few episodes of Dexter and I HAVE NO IDEA!!!!! I had never seen it before but I’m on board now. I’ve almost finished the last episode of the first season and the second season is ready to start right after. This show is cray!

    PS, I like Stila, but no way I would pay that much for a palette unless it was extremely high end and extremely amazing.

    • the Muse

      hayles it gets crazeeeeeeeee this season! I mean he’s been in situations before but NONE like this. I dunno how they are going to write the two of them out of this one ;D next season is the last final one, I wonder if he and deb are going to get a death sentence ;-D

      me either $75 is too much :-/

  • Carrie

    Love the colors. But that price tag? No thanks. Not only have they been budget pricing but IMHO, the quality was more budget than luxury too. If they wanted to move back up the ladder the move should have been more incremental!

  • Liza Chung

    Wow. What a rip off. I bought nearly all these shades on their sale section or Haute Look way cheaper.

  • auroragyps

    They had this palette on Hautelook (I think… brain is fuzzy, but it’s like the only place like that I check out regularly) not too long before Dec. for half the price.

  • Sara Arrigoni

    Those colors are gorgeous individually, but I’m not sure how they expect anyone to use them together… especially given the lack of any sort of base or blending shades. Anyway, I totally agree they have killed their own market for the high-end palettes, and these are more expensive than even their old palettes used to be. (The old palettes routinely sold for around $36 with each collection.) I miss their old collections of palettes, such as the Fierce Femme palettes. *sigh* In any event I welcome a return to the “regular” shades being used in palettes, since I’ve felt most of their budget palettes weren’t even worth the $10-14 they were charging and I ended up regretting nearly every one of those purchases I did make. I would love it if they would just return to the “old” Stila–what it used to be before Estee Lauder and now a seemingly endless series of other buyouts compromised the brand.

    • Sienna

      Oh, man. Those Fierce Femme palettes… They were amazing. The Fierce Taupe has my favorite eye shadow of all time (the middle shade).

  • Manda

    $75 for this palette?! I recently snagged their In the Moment palette for $31 in Stila’s own 20% off and free shipping sale, and the In the… palettes are much nicer than this in my opinion!

  • katie

    75$ is way too much. Seems like a poor decision to me. I think 40$ would be more appropriate.

  • charlotte

    Um.. no. That price is insane. Besides the price the other problem I see is a bunch of colors that do not coordinate. A bunch of brights, one brown, no highlight, no variation of tone within shades either. I want a palette that I can pull out and wear in a variety of ways, the only exception is a specialty “rainbow” palette or something similar.

  • Amanda

    Holy smokes! I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw that it was $75! I hope this isn’t the end of those cute $10 palettes!

  • Lori

    This COMPLETELY missed the mark for me. The shade collection isn’t outstanding. Worse is that it doesn’t even have the high end feel (i.e. Guerlain palettes with the lace design/heavy palette) to warrant the price tag.

  • Lisa

    my coastal scents palettes that are usually around $19 to $25 are the highest i’ll pay for any eye shadow, even though i really want the naked palettes.

  • Amy

    If this palette does indeed contain 10 full size stila shadows, $75 isn’t a bad price. The $39 palettes aren’t truly full size shadows. The Urban Decay palettes do not offer the shadows in full size. $50 is way to much for the naked palette. And considering stilas singles cost $18 each, you are saving $105 (if these are true full size shadows).

    • the Muse

      amy not sure what you mean about urban decay not offering full size, the naked palette contains 12 x 0.05 oz eyeshadows, one urban decay eyeshadow is 0.05….? that’s 12 full size eyeshadows in each of the naked palettes.

  • amy

    *If* the pigmentation is there, and they’re full-size, $75 isn’t that bad. I have the In The Light palette, and while I like it, I do have better neutrals; however, if the purples in this one prove worthy, I may have to submit. When broken down, $7.50 apiece isn’t too bad, and all the shades look wearable.

  • Emily C

    Ridiculous. No way. I struggled with $50. Certainly not spending $75 for this.

  • Marilyn @ Lipgloss and Spandex

    I’m pretty surprised by this. It just doesn’t scream “best seller” to me. The colors don’t really go together and are really bright. And the price tag is definitely more than I want to spend.

  • Marta

    Personally, if a pallete is worth more than 50 dollars I just sample which shades I want and buy them individually. After building up your make up stash you don’t need 10 new shades anyway, just get the special one and that’s it. I have tons of eyeshadows, and only 2 of them I hit pan on. The rest are beautiful and fun to use though 😛
    Ugh, Dexter. How I loved you the first 3 years. I think the actors are great but at this point I know there is no risk at all for Dexter. And what Debra did is SO dumb (police agents need to give account for each one of their bullets, I think). Still the show had great moments so I don’t regret watching it.

      • Marta

        Well, if we have learned anything from cop shows is that they will know. I don’t think I want to watch a (probably) last season of Dexter with most of the original cast dead and buried and his only relative in jail. I’m not counting the baby, which has basically become part of the scene set and could have been replaced by a Cabbage doll for the last ten episodes and I don’t think Dexter would have noticed. What do you think? Doll or real baby? Is the nanny going to end up getting an early retirement considering she works 24/7, always?

  • Michelle

    This pallet for $75?! (grabs heart and falls over) Uh, I’m gonna say no. I got 8 full sized Stila eyeshadows for $32 from Sephora from one of their limited collections (Park Ave maybe?). Anyway, this is way too expensive for me. Too bad, the colors are quite pretty.

  • Nat

    I totally agree with you. I don’t think I would pay that price to get it and you got to the point! “Why do they think anyone would want to pay this much?” What about the pigmentation? Does it beat Urban decay though? I bet it doesn’t! 🙂

  • Rachel

    I absolutely love this palette! But there is no way I’m going to pay 75$ for it. Hopefully it goes on sale! D:

  • Jeanne

    Hm Stila’s full sized eyeshadows are 0.9oz (I think UD’s are 0.5) so a palette containing full sized Stila shadows could cost more (doesn’t mean they should lol). I did spend $60+ at Sephora for just 3 full sized Stila eyeshadows and a 3-pan palette, then I discovered that Stila is often on HauteLook and has their own sales so I never purchase anything full priced from Stila anymore.

  • OrangeLipstickBlog

    $75?! Ummmm no. No way. Like you said, if I can get huge palettes from Urban Decay for cheaper there is no way I’m springing for this!

  • LINDARRAGNAR

    I never though I would see the day where Stila is more expensive than Guerlain/Dior and as much as Armani!?!?!?!

    ahhahah I can foresee this being on the sale section of sephora’s website!!

  • Cynthia Ramirez

    $75 Dollars? Pardon my french but Hell no!!

    As for Dexter…. zomgldhkjsdfh I KNOW. SERIOUSLY!!! AH. Dude. DUDE. That last Scene where Deb does that bad thing I went “HOLY SHIT DEB” wasn’t expecting that!!! AHHH. I can’t wait for the next season!

    • the Muse

      me either i thought she’d go for him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gasp! imagine she ends up being pegged as the BHB! OMGZ!

      • Cynthia Ramirez

        I had read that the next season was supposed to be the last season, but now there is talks of maybe one more season after that. It kind of bothers me because as much as I love Dexter, I feel like it’s gone slightly down hill (Impossible to top Season 4) and if they try to stretch it out more they might jump the shark. I hope the next season is the last one so they can concentrate on writing one final fantastic season. And I can TOTALLY see Deb taking the fall and letting herself get pegged as the BHB. Dex has Harrison, and well Deb doesn’t really have anything! And she’s in LOOOOOVE with her brother (eww ewww eww). I’m curious what Hannah is gonna do if she does come back next season too.

  • Lynnie

    I have this, but didn’t pay directly for it – it was a bonus for spending $75 on other stuff on the Stila website sometime around Cyber-Monday. The palette isn’t worth $75, because it is impractical for everyday use.

    The pans are full-sized, but the palette has a no-nonsense, low-budget feel. No mirror, since it’s big (around 8-9″ long) and the colors aren’t made to coordinate at all, although some are quite nice and it does have a magnetic closure. I’m thinking about digging a few pans out of this version to use in a smaller interchangeable palette.

    For better deals, check out “phased out favorites” from the stilacosmetics website. Their own sale prices are (mostly) better than Hautelook’s.

  • LilLouLou

    I got this for free with a $75 purchase on Stila’s Black Friday/cyber Monday sale. It is a really lovely palette and I bet they’ll have more promotions with it around the spring.

  • KatBrink

    I agree the price is a bit steep & would probably wait in hopes that Sephora or Ulta puts it on clearance but when you break it down to price per eye shadow….$7.50 each is drugstore makeup pricing for a semi-premium product. That being said, I do expect a discount when I buy a big set since some colors may not be to my liking. A way I use eye shadows is to double up their usage by using them as eyeliner too, all you need is a good eyeliner brush. So some shadows that might not work for you for their intended use may make a fabulous eyeliner for you.

  • Tammie

    For a palette that seems more like a thing you would have to use with other things you already own this is a heckuva lot of money…even if it coordinated it’s a lot!!!

  • Tammie

    Ps. Initially I thought that this might be a handy palette to have since I tend to gravitate towards neutrals and sweet pastel colors. I could use a palette of colors I generally wouldn’t get on my own…but definitely not at this price point, yeesh.

  • Michelle

    There is absolutely NO WAY I would pay $75 for this palette and I enjoy their eyeshadows a great deal. I put together a 10 color palette from Inglot using their freedom system and it was just a little more than this. I can understand that the Stila company wants to work their way up to a higher end place in the beauty world but, go there slowly. If they charged $50 for this palette, I’d be in and probably, so would many others.

  • Nanalouu

    I just got into beauty this year, so sorry if I sound dumb. What happened to stila a few years ago?

    • the Muse

      they were on the verge of going out of business, pulled out of the uk, asia, etc….