Under the Mistletoe

Yep, today I have a review on a holiday themed palette a few weeks late but I thought it might be worth a review anyway! It is the Stila Under the Mistletoe Collectible Holiday Palette which is actually from the 2012 holiday collection. Despite this, I stumbled upon it while shopping a week back where it was on sale for $12 from $25 - which I thought was a pretty good price! Also, my Mecca at least had about twenty of them, so they definitely weren't running short. As far as I'm aware, none of the shades in this palette are permanent.

The palette contains six eye shadows and one of their Convertible Colour dual lip and cheek creams. This is all housed in a small and thin cardboard case with magnetic closure, and windows to see the products. The shadows are arranged in a snowflake pattern which is very cute but the pans are still easily accessible with a brush.

What I was quite pleasantly surprised to find was that out of the six eye shadows, four are matte. It's rare to find the majority of shadows being matte, especially in a small palette. The colour range is quite purple-y toned but whilst still being neutral.

Snowfall, Holiday, Mistletoe, Snuggle, Garland, Candy

As I said, the colour tone to this palette is quite purple. Mistletoe, Snuggle, and Garland are the most purple-y in the palette. All three are matte and all have a dusty, muted quality allowing them to be more wearable. However as they are not bright, if applied too heavily or not properly blended these sorts of purples can tend to look a little bruise-y especially Snuggle. Snowfall is the other matte shade being an off-white but leaning more to the grey side rather than cream. This can tend to look a little ashy on my skin tone. Holiday has a matte cool dark brown base with a fine silvery shimmer running through it. Candy is a light, cool toned pink that borders lavender. It has more of a light frosty finish.

I've heard a lot of raves about Stila's eyeshadows, however I have to say that I found these eye shadows quite disappointing. Although they are soft to the touch, they just aren't very pigmented, the matte shades in particular. They can tend to apply patchily or unevenly and require multiple layers to reach a good amount of colour. Another issue is that the shadows are too blendable, so much so that with a lot of blending, you can blend the shadow away which results in the need for multiple layers. Even when applied over primer the formula isn't much improved and the lasting power is actually pretty poor (also even over primer). They don't really 'stick' to the lids. They aren't chalky at all but when compared with other higher end shadows I've tried, I just found these very lackluster. 

Swatched, blended

The Convertible Colour in Pink Poinsettia was probably the main reason I bought the palette as I've heard so many good things about these cream blushes. The shade itself is a very wearable, medium neutral pink, something similar to Lillium from the permanent range. This pan contains just over half the amount of a full size which retails for $40, so I think the palette is worth it for even the Convertible Colour alone!

The texture is very creamy that when you put your finger in the pan it's quite slippy and emollient. The pigmentation is good and it blends very well, layering may be required if you desire a brighter colour. It is not a cream to powder formula, however it still has a relatively matte finish on the skin. It can be worn on the lips also, though I find the matte finish a little drying and line accentuating. The lasting power is average, it's pretty good for a cream blush in my experience. I like applying it with either my Real Techniques Stippling Brush or my fingers.

Overall, I don't regret purchasing the palette but I probably could have gone without it. I'm glad I got to try out a Convertible Colour and it's definitely something I will continue to use and enjoy! The eye shadows on the other hand were quite disappointing though I find the purply shades to be quite unique. If you see this around, I wouldn't recommend getting it for the eye shadows, but I think it's worth the Convertible Colour.