Ok, so the honeymoon period for the Stila Precious Pearl eyeshadow palette is over and its been defiled by my fat fingers :) “And for the better too!” I can hear you cry because we now have swatches (picture taken with muted flash to show off shimmer).
The Stila Precious Pearl palette is Stila’s limited edition offering for Spring 2009. I personally like the bright colours because I’m like that. However if you are just starting to experiment with colour, this might be a good palette too because you get a whole bunch of colours to play with.
What is nice about the Precious Pearl palette is the colour variety and pigment. The colours are very soft as befits Stila eyeshadows, and nicely pigmented. The swatches are swiped twice and once on the skin – nice strong pigment. Oh and they are shimmery so if you dislike shimmer, you might not like this palette much. Still, its nice soft pearly shimmer not huge chunks of glitter. The colours contain real pearl – is that a good thing?
Some Pearl trivia: Pearl powder has been used in cosmetics and for medicinal purposes primarily in China and Japan and is supposed to enhance the complexion and promote skin whitening. Pearl powder also adds iridescence and shine to eyeshadow and powders.
How does the Stila Precious Pearl palette perform then?
I’ll be honest. It disappointed me somewhat. I was looking forward to the deep blue and green colours. These are my favourite sort of colours. However when swatched, they were rather light. The navy blue especially swatched a more matte dull shade. The green swatched less emerald than it looks.
I was a bit thrown by the pinks initially, but I ended up pairing them with the navy blue. Light pink all over the lid, dark pink in the outer corners and navy blue to line. I thought the effect was quite nice and for the first time I did not look like a rabid rabbit! I tried lining the lower lashline too – too much?
The next day, I used emerald green all over, khaki in the outer corner and the cream-white to highlight. I loved this combination and although the emerald was a little light when swatched on the hand, I liked it on the eyes. (Don’t ask me why I look so serious LOL… ).
Yet another day, I went a little nuts and used green on the outer corner, and light pink on the inner corners with navy blue to line. I didn’t think it looked too bad. A bit colourful maye eh? :)
So, although the colours do look a little bright, they play well together and the navy blue is dark enough for accent and for lining.
The palette feels heavy which I think is caused by the mother of pearl inlay in the cover. I like the heft – it makes the palette feel expensive (which it is :P ) and the cover looks pretty too.
I use either a brush or fingers to apply the colours – I am never fussed about the lack of applicators in palettes because I never use them most of the time.
I purchased my Stila Precious Pearl palette for US$40 from Sephora. It will retail in Malaysia for RM190 and is due out in counters in March 2009. If you consider that you are getting 6 colours for the price, it doesn’t work out too expensive.
Pros: Bright colours, good pigment, nice shimmer, lovely looking palette
Cons: Some colours are sheerer than they look, Pricey
[rating:4/5]
The other products in this collection are:-
- Pearl Shimmer Gloss – RM85 each
- Pomegranate Crush lipglaze – RM85
- Pomegranate Crush Smudge Pot – RM75
Been waiting for your review of this! I like what you did with the colors, all three combinations!
Hi giddy tigress
Thank you! Its taken a while for me to get the pictures LOL…
# Pomegranate Crush lipglaze – RM85
# Pomegranate Crush Smudge Pot – RM75
i feel like having this 2!
the colour combo is pretty, but somehow i feel like as though i have these colours stack somewhere around :P
Hi plue
Lucky for me I’m over gel liners and am not into lipgloss hehe… but those 2 colours look so pretty online. It’ll be nice to check them out at the counters when they come in.
Damn your green EOTD is extremely pretty. Green is totally your color :D I am contemplating on buying these…but I am not so sure anymore ^^;
Hi Xisa
Thank you – I am very partial to green for the eyes :) Try it out at the counter first to see if you like it. Its one of thost that you have to try before you buy.
love your #2 look. gold seems to work well on lower line :D i cnt have gold on my upper lid, it will look like as tho i have been punched!
Hi prettybeautiful
Thanks! This gold is a very light cream-gold. I usually can’t wear strong gold colours too. I look tired.
eeekk I love this palette, though you’ve used a couple of colors, it doesn’t look overboard! and I was going to ask why you look serious, but don’t worry, I’m not asking anymore :D
Hi Nikki
Yep the colours are sheer-ish so they play well together. I can’t imagine why the eye shots look so serious. But when I smile then you can’t see the colours :P Oh well… ;)
It’s already here in melbourne, will retail for $78 (exchange rate 2.2 to give it RM171, not much diff). I’m not sure if I need another palette. actually, rephrasing, I don’t NEED another palette but I sure as hell want it. And, after this fab review, I’m even more upset because I really liked it. Late night shopping tomorrow, hmmm…… PB, IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT! :D
Hey Geekchic
Erm… ooops! :P None of us need another palette but this one is pretty. Play with it and see how you like it! ;)
Aww!! They are so pretty, but the price????I think Stila stuff are just freakingly expensive, just like Benefit. No even mroe expensive than Benefit. I think it’s even more expensive than my favourite Estee Lauder!!
But I like their lip glazes and lip glaze sticks so much!!! The price……huh!! RM90 for each glaze. lip glaze stick also the same RM90 each!!! it’s crazy!!
Hi Vonvon
I do agree that Stila is slightly steeply priced here. Their lip products aren’t quite up to the RM90 mark which is putting it near brands like Guerlain. Pity really. If they were more competitively priced, they might do better too. I still like their eyeshadows and I don’t think they are that expensive compared to the other products. Besides at RM190 for 6 colours, its a pretty decent price per colour if you do the math ;)
The colours aren’t really my thing, but I have to say that I like the packaging. Pearl’s always so pretty and classy :)
Hi Tine
The packaging is really nice. This is definitely a palette for the adventurous :)
HI ParisB,
Thanks for dropping by my blog.
I love the Stila Precious Pearl Palette packaging, like what you’d mentioned it makes the pallete looks worthy. Compare to Dior 5 colours palette is about RM180, I won’t consider RM190 is expensive for 6 colours. Especially if the quality is great but I probably won’t go for this palette bcoz pink/red makes me look like a goldfish. I still remember there’s once my fren tot I got beaten & swelling eyes…*arghhh* but it’s a versatile palette though, from ur EOTDs i feel elegance on pink & sexy on green.
Hi Synaesthesia
To be honest, I can’t compare Dior and Stila because I think Dior quality trumps Stila. That said, Stila has more vibrant colours. Its all a matter of preference :) I actually rather like the pink in this palette. It was a lot less “red” than I expected!
I like the 3rd look best! You pull off cool colors so well…
Hi Connie
Coming from you its an honor! :) It was an experimental look. I’m glad it looked ok hehe…
i like seeing your eyes!!! i did the most stupid thing to collec all stila baked trios even though they are good. but it’s not right to get all. however, after i see this palette, at least the colours are more interesting compared to normal stila neutrals.
i am passing most stila now as for some reason i find i get all the same thing over and over. even though this palette looks better and has more variety, it doesn’t have a special shade that ties it down. (same problem with my Smashbox Muse).
ps: love the new format. a lot easier and tidier!
Hi Jojoba
Thanks! I have the Bronze trio. Its surprisingly quite nice. I wouldn’t get the rest though – they look too similar to me. I got this palette only for the colours. However, knowing Stila this might be the only Stila I get for a while unless they come out with more interesting palettes in future!
Done the deed, PB. Done.The.Deed. :)
Hey geekchic
Woohoo! :D
Came over here from your link in your instagram post. The packaging is really something!! And wow bright eyeshadows! :D Me like! Love look #1 & #2 on you, especially #2 because that’s how I’m wearing mine today! Coincidence, huh? :)
Hahaha you know I had to read back the post to see which ones you were referring to LOL Gosh, my old photos make me cringe
Hey you’ve got thousands of posts so it’s not easy to remember the details? haha
If I had taken photos of my makeup face from n-years ago, I would have cried… T_T pale blue eyeshadow WITHOUT eyeliner. Yeah that one left a huge impression on my husband that he teased me about it from time to time. Cruel man. How I wish to delete that picture from his brain!! And brownish lipstick with purple undertone… so very gothic eh? My only lipstick at the time. And I thought I looked damn cool…. HAHA… obviously not. :p