Stila Eyes Are the Window Shadow Palette 'Mind'

Stila is bringin' their 'A' game to the table, folks, so you best prepare yourself for what's to come.  Stila is a brand known for some of their cult favorite products such as 'kitten' eyeshadow and their all day liquid felt tip liner. Other than those few products, generally the brand has lacked a true following, particularly of the older demographic. With this in mind, Stila recently relaunched their eyeshadow palettes and have gone from cutesy and cardboard to sleek and beautiful. Presenting the packaging for their new 'Eyes Are the Window' Shadow palettes:

Gorg. I gasped when I slipped this out of it's glossy navy container.  This reflective palette is sleek and beautiful and feels so luxurious in my hands.  Though its made out of plastic, the palette definitely feels weighty and substantial when you hold it. It opens up to reveal a full size mirror on the inside:

Yaaaaaaaas. I love that this palette is all about the eyeshadows. No wasted space for a brush I'll never use or an eyeliner I'll take out leaving an empty cut out behind. 

The palette I got was the 'Mind' palette which features all matte colors.  This has mostly warm colors and I love the range of light to dark included. 

Swatched on my arm with primer underneath, I went down the vertical columns for the order of these swatches.  I at first was concerned as some of the shadows felt a bit hard and chalky and lacked pigmentation (particularly the lighter colors), but all it took was some rubbing away at the uppermost layer of shadow to get to the good stuff.  The colors were all true to what is in the pan (as I expected from matte shadows) and swatched beautifully on my skin.

If you are interested in the colors, there is a guide on the back of the palette as well as a little booklet included with the palette. The booklet also includes 3 different eye looks if this many eyeshadows is overwhelming for you to pick what colors to use at first!

The first time I used this palette, I wanted to go with a professional day time muted look so I used mostly the colors in the lower left area of the palette. I was tremendously surprised and excited by how warm the colors ended up appearing on my lids and by how easy they were to blend and use!

I think this palette is extremely versatile and unique given the range of matte colors you get in a single palette. If you like the shimmer, then this isn't for you, but for a warmer palette that will transition PERFECTLY into the Fall weather, this is THE palette to pick up!  This palette also comes in 3 other variations (Body, Spirt, and Soul) with slightly different colored packaging and different toned colors (including shimmers!).

This palette is $49 for 12, 0.51oz eyeshadows. For comparison's sake, Urban Decay's Naked palettes are $54 for 12, 0.05oz eyeshadows. You get quite a bit more product with these Stila products but the shadow formulations are quite a bit different from Urban Decay. It's all about what you prefer!

I am so pleasantly surprised and excited with my new toy! You know what else is pleasantly surprising? This:

Kitten in a pot!

xxSJ