Review: Stila Blockbuster Colour Palette and 1940's Hollywood Glamour FOTD

I recently picked up the Stila Blockbuster Colour Palette from my local Costco (!) for just £19 and decided to share my thoughts with you on this makeup kit.

It consists of 30 eyeshadows, 15 lip colours, 3 blush colours, 1 bronzer and 1 highlighter, black kohl pencil and lip liner pencil and an assortment of mini sponge applicators/brushes.

The Eyeshadows

The eyeshadows range in colour from neutral, through to bronzey browns, to purples and blues and a couple greys and black. The pans are around the size of a 5 pence piece. The colours are actually very pretty and useable - no odd lime greens, or 3 shades of neon pink - more everyday kinds of colours so I was satisfied with the range and know I would feel comfortable making use of the colours. I wasn't blown away though as there are no particularly unique shades.

As for the formula, well they certainly do not appear to be the same formula as standard Stila eyeshadows. They are very, very dusty. I was disappointed about this as I was hoping that for £19 I would be able to rely on the Stila branding but I think they have just decided to stick their logo on something they have created outside of their usual standards - shame..

The shadows mostly seem to contain a shimmery aspect to them, however, some colours are more matte. Given that they were so dusty what I wasn't expecting was the pigmentation - they are very pigmented which I was pleasantly surprised about. They are also fairly easy to blend out too. Even the lighter champagney colour when quickly washed over my eyelid without a primer or concealer, was really true to colour. I am actually very pleased with the pigmentation of the shadows.

Lip Colours

These are again the size of 5 pence pieces. The colours vary from nudey pinks, to brighter pinks, oranges and reds. At first glance they look like they would go on very sheer, however, again the pigmentation is good. The colours go on true to colour and then oxidise very very quickly to a pinkey/red colour. Again, it is a shame that the usual Stila quality has not come through in this palette. Having said that, the deeper red colours work with the oxidisation and almost act as a lip stain. Weirdly enough I have somehow managed to find my perfect red lip shade in this palette! It gives me that gorgeous 1940's style old Hollywood glamour lip - the saving grace in the lip colours. I will be taking this along to MAC to match to a proper lipstick though!

Blushes and Bronzer/Highlighter

3 shades of blush, from pale dusky pink, medium dusky pink to a warm berry pink colour. Highlighter is more of a nude peach colour and shouldn't really be called a highlighter in my opinion. The bronzer is a goldeny molten brown colour. The pigmentation is good, apart from the palest colour, which due to my skintone just doesnt show up at all. The bronzey colour works pretty well as a contour shade actually. I do like the blushers, especially as I tend to go for more peachy shades so its nice to have the pinkier colours.

Lip Pencil and Eye Pencil

The lip pencil is a browney pinkey shade and as such is kind of neutral as a lip pencil and therefore plausible as a lip pencil. The problem I had is that it is quite dry and therefore drags the skin. It definately benefits from being warmed up on the back of the hand first. It definately has good staying power too.

The eye pencil is black but not at all well pigmented unfortunately. Again, very dry and not creamy at all so it actually scratches the skin - NOT GOOD around the eye area!

Brushes/ Applicators

Two words: cheap and crap..! OMG what was the point in these crappy, little plastic and nylon, spongey objects? Pointless, utterly utterly useless. *Sigh*

Overall

Ok so I would award this palette 2 and a half Angel Wings. It is not the usual Stila quality at all unfortunately, but having said that if you are starting out and need some eyeshadows to practice with these are decent as are the blushes. Pigmentation is excellent! I wasn't too thrilled with the lip colours as they oxidised like mad on me, but I feel some warmth towards the lip colours purely because they happen to contain the perfect shade of red for me. It is fairly cheap and I believe only available in Costco.

To prove that you can actually use this palette to create looks, here is an FOTD based around a classic red lip. Enjoy!

Products Used:

Face

Lanacane Anti Chafing Gel

NARS Sheer Glow in Syracuse and MAC Studio Finish stick in NC42

MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW35 just on blemishes

Benefit Erase Paste in No 3 under the eyes

YSL Touche Eclat to highlight down the bridge of the nose and tops of the cheekbones

MAC skinfinish in medium dark

Cheeks

Stila palette middle shade blusher and highlight shade mixed

Eyes

MAC Bare Study Paintpot as eye primer

Yellowy-champagney shadow from Stila palette all over lid - top row, 4th across from the left

Medium brown shade lightly in the crease 2nd row, 3rd across from the left

Sleek Eyeliner Gel in Dominatrix

Primark Fluttering Lashes

MaxFactor Masterpiece Mascara in black

Lips

Stila Blockbuster palette lip liner

Red lip colour from Stila Palette - 4th row, last column

xoxo Angel5ace xoxo