Tag Archives: Stila

Holiday 2017: What I’m Buying & Passing On

It’s my absolutely favourite time of the makeup year because the holiday collections are coming at us hard and fast! There’s always so much to choose from, and I usually end up making a shortlist (errr something longlist…) of things I want and what I’m going to pass on. Here’s how my list stacks up so far.

The “To Buy” List

KAT VON D Everlasting Mini Liquid Lipstick Set

Starting off with the set I’ve already purchased – the Kat Von D Everlasting Mini Liquid Lipstick Set! I *loved* this set last year and was so, so excited to see that they’ve brought it back again this year. What’s even more amazing is that there isn’t a single duplicated shade from the previous year! I prefer minis because there’s no chance in hell I’ll be finishing a full sized tube any time soon. If you want to see swatches from this year’s line up, I’ll have a full video posted to my YouTube channel tomorrow.

Sigma Creme de Couture Eyeshadow Palette

This is another item I’ve already purchased and it’s currently in transit to me. The Sigma Creme de Couture palette will be my first foray into Sigma products, and it’s long overdue! This palette is actually a re-release from about five years ago. Back then, I had seen Leesha of xsparkage rave about this palette in multiple videos, but I had never pulled the trigger on purchasing it. Since it was limited edition, the palette eventually sold out before I decided to buy it. AND I WAS SO REGRETFUL! Several years passed, and they never restocked it, so it truly felt like one of the ones that got away. Imagine my surprise when, five or six years later, they’ve decided to re-release it! I couldn’t believe it – I’ve never seen a brand do something like this half a decade later! Of course I snatched it up and am eagerly awaiting it in the mail.

Too Faced Unicorn Survival Kit

This one is causing me a little bit of panic because I haven’t seen any kind of release date advertised anywhere AND the Too Faced Unicorn Tears lipstick is an Ulta exclusive item. So does that mean this will only be available at Ulta?? Either way, the Too Faced It’s available on Ulta.com now MUST BE MINE. I’ve been itching to get the Unicorn Melted Latex (which was only recently released on Too Faced‘s web site) and I’m dyyyying to see what that blue-ish-purple highlighter looks like!

UPDATE: It’s available on Ulta.com now! Go get it quickly because I don’t know how much stock they have and they sold out REALLY fast on TooFaced.com!

Too Faced Gingerbread Melted Matte

Ohhh yes! Last year Too Faced released a specially scented Candy Cane Melted Matte with pretty packaging, and this year they’re bringing it back in a Gingerbread version. I really love that they’re creating one new shade and throwing some scent and pretty packaging on it. It feels like a makeup Christmas ritual to me now, and I will be really happy to add this to my collection!

Too Faced White Chocolate Bar Palette

This one isn’t actually released yet, but I did receive press information to indicate that this would be released with part of their holiday 2017 lineup. Does the makeup world need another chocolate bar palette? No, probably not. Am I going to get it anyway? Yes, absolutely. I’ll admit the colour assortment in this palette is very odd. I felt like it could’ve done with more pastel brights, but I’ll wait to reserve complete judgement until I’ve tried it out myself. Still, I have to keep my Too Faced Chocolate Bar family together right??

Stila Glitter & Glow Set

I’m about thirty seconds away from screaming bloody murder at this set. I WANT IT SO FREAKING BAD, and yet Sephora Canada has had it out of stock on their web site for going on three weeks now. Although it’s never actually shown up on the Canadian site, it’s readily available on the US side. I freaking LOVE the Stila liquid glitters and I have about four of them in the full size tubes. This set is great because it’s got six shades in mini format so you get a lot of bang for your buck. NOW IF ONLY IT WOULD COME IN STOCK ON SEPHORA.CA! ARGH!

Tarte Tartelette Toasted

Oh man, I want to get my hands on this one so badly too! The tarte Tartelette in Bloom came out of nowhere and slapped me in the face with how good it was, so I cannot wait to see how the Toasted palette is! The shades in this one are a bit more up my alley (although very similar to Urban Decay’s Naked Heat) so I’m super anxious to play around with them! This one should be out fairly soon!

MAC Snowball Collection

It’s been a long time since a MAC collection really drew me in, but holy smokes the packaging on the Snowball collection is beautiful! I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be picking up yet, but you can check out the entire colour story over on Temptalia.

The “Pass” List

Kat Von D Saint & Sinner Eyeshadow Palette

I can’t quite put my finger on why I’m passing on this palette. I love the crazy ornate packaging, I love KVD‘s eyeshadow formula… and I’ve seen swatches of this palette and it looks hella pigmented and gorgeous. BUT… there’s something about the eyeshadow layout that just isn’t speaking to me. I don’t feel especially inspired about this combination of colours, so I think I’ll just take a pass on it… for now.

Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops Set

So while I’m passing on this set because I already have two of the shades (Halo and Celestial), I actually think you should pick up this set if you have none of the shades. I freaking LOVE the Cover FX liquid highlighter formula – it has one of the most beautiful finishes I’ve ever seen and the colours are absolutely gorgeous.I’m so glad Cover FX has put out this set because it’s a great way to get access to several shades at once since the cost of this set is equivalent to the price of a single full size bottle!

Too Faced Bossy Lady + all of the items with agendas

I found the whole Too Faced Holiday 2017 collection kinda meh to be honest (which really saddened me). I’m not a paper planner person and I’m so not interested in planner decorating either, so this entire range of products just left me feeling deflated. Although it seems they’ve started manufacturing their holiday palettes in the US again and I believe the quality is markedly better, I just don’t see the point in picking up these sets when I’m super not into the planners. There is, of course, repetition amongst the eyeshadow shades year over year, and since I own the last three years of holiday sets, I don’t really feel like these have anything new to offer me. Instead, I’ll dump my money on the Unicorn Survival Kit and the other items that seem unique to me!

Tarte Blush Bliss Palette

There’s a few things with the palette I’m a bit iffy on. First of, I love the colour selection – those shares are right up my alley… BUT – they’re all too similar. They are way too same samey and I’d like some variety if I’m going to be purchasing a blush palette. Number two… there’s no bronzer. And I realize Tarte hasn’t put in a bronzer since the Off The Cuff palette (which is my freaking favourite), but ever since they did that, I now expect them to put in a bronzer. I bring my Off The Cuff palette with me everywhere I travel, and a large part of that is the variety of shades plus the bronzer it houses. Number three… I think Tarte is still outsourcing their holiday products to China and I’m a bit tired of the quality inconsistencies… so this is just a pass for me.

The “I’m Not Sure” List

Anastasia Beverly Hills Prism Palette

Oh man, I do not know what to do about this one. I have a few ABH palettes that I absolutely love, and there have been a few times where I’ve really kicked myself for not getting some of their limited edition items. However, if this palette is made with the same formula as the Subculture palette (which I did not like and promptly returned), then I want nothing to do with it. So yeah… not sure about this one.

And that’s about it! Phew, that was a long list. Of course, there’s other things I’ve considered, but I think this post was long enough and was really focused on the items that caught my eye the most this holiday season. I’d love to hear what you’re going to be picking up or ignoring this holiday makeup season!

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Stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighters (Review & Swatches)

stila Heaven's Hue Highlighters in Transcendence and Kitten

You may remember that stila released a trio of highlighters called Star Light, Star Bright for the 2016 Holiday season (Temptalia’s review of that is here). I remember playing around with it at a PR event and loving the look of it, but HATING the texture. It felt like putty and I could never really get any kind of colour payoff on my finger swatches, so I kind of figured it was just a dud.

So when stila released these Heaven’s Hue Highlighters… I was a bit skeptical. The texture and appearance look absolutely identical, but how were they going to play out on my face?

stila Heaven's Hue Highlighters
stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighters

There are three colours in the Heaven’s Hue Highlighter range: Kitten (stila‘s infamous bronzey-pink shade), Transcendence (an ethereal purple-pink) and Bronze (which I don’t have). These are the same shades as the ones that appeared in the holiday trio, but I really feel like these got a formula update. I say that because the colour payoff is amazing and completely unexpected because the product feels like putty under my fingers. I was expecting that a brush would get zero colour payoff because of the weird texture, but that was not the case at all – my brush picked up plenty of product!

stila Heaven's Hue Highlighter in Kitten
stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighter in Kitten

stila‘s infamous Kitten shade is a warm copper-bronze with a pink tinge. This is verging on too dark for my skin tone (around NW20), but I wear it anyway because it has enough of a reflective tone that it doesn’t look like it’s deepening up my cheek that much.

stila Heaven's Hue Highlighter in Transcendence
stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighter in Transcendence

The fun colour in this collection is Transcendence – a beautiful lavender-pink shade. I love that more and more brands are hopping on the oddly coloured highlighters bandwagon. This is not a shade for those of you who want something that looks natural. If, however, you want to look like some ethereal being, this is definitely the highlighter for you!

They have a putty-like texture!
They have a putty-like texture!

See what I mean about the texture? IT’S SO BIZARRE. The product is impressionable, but it will buckle and pucker if you apply too much pressure (look at the space between my fingers – the product cracked and broke a bit there). Granted, I doubt most people are going to be jamming their fingers in this – but it was certainly fun to play with while I did!

And yes, just to reiterate – your brush will pick up the product, even though it looks like untouchable pudding. I’ve seen a few reviews where people couldn’t get colour payoff, and I’m not really sure what to say to that other than that I used my Real Techniques Contour Brush and had no problems whatsoever.

stila Heaven's Hue Highlighter swatches - Transcendence and Kitten
stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighter swatches – Transcendence and Kitten

Swatched out you can see that Transcendence has that ethereal sheen (although it looks more impressive in person to the human eye) and Kitten is definitely a bit deeper in tone than you’d expect. Neither highlighter has any particles of glitter within it.

stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighters – Face Swatches

I’m wearing only the highlighter on my cheek in these shots (on top of foundation).

Wearing Kitten
Wearing Kitten

Kitten does have a deeper tone than my skin, but when you blend it out you’re left with mostly a sheen.

Wearing Transcendence
Wearing Transcendence

Transcendence is a lot of fun. The purple-pink glow is so, so much fun to wear!

Final Thoughts

As all of my input in this post has been positive, I think it’s safe to say that you already know that I’m really into these stila highlighters!

For me, the most impressive part was seeing how well my brush picked up that weird putty like texture and applied to my face. It also applied as if it were powder too, so this highlighter is basically witchcraft as far as I’m concerned. I’ve been enjoying wearing both of these shades for the last 2-3 weeks and I never cease to be amazed at how well they apply and wear on me throughout the day. If you’re looking for a new unique highlighter, I think one of these is definitely worth your money!

The stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighters are available on sephora.ca for $42 CAD each or on sephora.com for $32 USD.

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow (Review & Swatches)

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow

Having been a lover of makeup since the age of 12, and a blogger for going on four years now, there are very few things left in makeup that will make me gasp out loud with delight. So when I find one of those products, you know it’s going to be a showstopper.

And the Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow is an absolutely jawdropping product.

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow
Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow

I originally saw everyone raving about these on YouTube and I was kinda like “the hype is too real right now, I’ll just hold off on trying them”. Over the next few weeks (months?), I kind of forgot about them until I went to a PR event that was showcasing some of the new Stila launches and my interest was once again piqued. I asked for a few of the shades, and was kindly sent one to try out.

You guys… it was love at first swatch.

I have *never* felt or used another product like this before. It’s like a liquid eyeshadow with glitter particles suspended within the base. It is absolutely breathtaking. It’s even more beautiful than a straight up glitter because of the coloured base that really helps to amp up the colour of the sparkle. It’s like a molten metal with lens flares thrown in for good measure!

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow
Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow

The applicator is your standard flat paddle-foot, and the stopper inside the bottle does a good job of removing excess product. You’re left with just the right amount of consistency for application on the eye. I originally thought I’d end up using a brush to apply this to my eye, so imagine my surprise when I tried the paddle applicator and it actually deposited the colour beautifully. You can even turn it on its side and get into the tiny crevices of the inner corner of your eye without causing a mess. Again… I was astonished.

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Kitten Karma - swatch
Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in Kitten Karma – swatch

Photograping this was an absolute bastard. There is SO MUCH glitter in the product that the autofocusing on my camera was having a field day (I was doing this without a tripod so switching to manual focus wasn’t an option). So I’m giving you two shots of Kitten Karma to show you how this product looks. The left side is out of focus and shows you how the glitter pigments really explode with light on your skin. The right side is more in focus and shows the more copper/bronze base of the product with some of the chunks of glitter. Hopefully this will give you an idea of what the product looks like. Also… that’s one swipe – not layered!

Wearing Kitten Karma on the lid
Wearing Kitten Karma on the lid

Standard eye shot so you can see what it looks like mixed with some neutrals.

Wearing Kitten Karma on the lid - close up for texture
Wearing Kitten Karma on the lid – close up for texture

And a closer up shot so you can take a look at the texture of the product on my lids.

Wearing Kitten Karma on the lid
Wearing Kitten Karma on the lid

And of course, you can always mix them with some colour!

Final Thoughts

While this Kitten Karma shade was sent to me by PR, I have already purchased more because I am over the moon with this product. The application is unlike anything I’ve used before and I am head over heels for it!

I was also astounded at the lack of creasing with this product. On the day I wore it to work, I made the mistake of only wearing one eyeshadow primer (I normally wear two because one is never enough to stop even just regular eyeshadows from creasing on me) and I figured for sure this would be creased within an hour. That’s not at all what happened – by the end of the day I still had zero creasing on my lids and I was properly astonished. It is worth mentioning though that you will experience some fall out with the glitter flecks. Even Stila knows that and indicates that this product will provide “minimal fallout”. I’m not personally bothered by a few glitter flecks ending up on my cheeks (I think it looks quite pretty actually… like glitter freckles!), but I know some people cannot stand glitter fallout at all, so I figured it was worth mentioning.

So, in short, I think this is a wonderful product. If you want to try glitter but can’t be bothered with glitter glue, or sticky bases, or fussing with brushes… then this is the product for you. And if you’re someone who just freaking love glitter like I do? Then this is also the product for you!

The Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadows can be purchased on sephora.ca for $31 CAD or on sephora.com for $24 USD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for consideration. Post may contain affiliate links.