stila in the light

Stila In The Light Eyeshadow Palette

Having made the jump from almost never wearing eyeshadow to wearing it almost daily, I realised that I owned next to no neutral eyeshadow palettes. Every palette that I owned had at least one colour that I would never wear, so of course I just had to buy a new one to fulfil my eyeshadow needs - I use that word very lightly. Stila's In The Light caught my eye as it comes with ten eyeshadows in colours that I would actually wear, and an eyeliner to boot. SInce then, it's quickly become my most reached for in the way of eyeshadow shades.
Packaging-wise, Stila have hit the nail on the head. The palette is sturdy enough to survive a bump or two, and comes with a large mirror along with a sweet little quote by Stila's Global Artistic Director (what a job title that is). It's kept shut by a magnetic closure that is fairly strong, although I would take the precaution to wrap a hairband or two around the palette when travelling, just to be on the safe side.
The palette has four matte shades, which was one of the main selling point for me as I much prefer using matte instead of shimmery shades in the crease of the eye, since I find that they mimic an actual shadow far better. All the eyeshadows are well pigmented and the selection of colours are easy-to-wear, safe neutrals, but there's still all the shades you need for a smokey eye, including Night Sky, which is a gorgeous purple/gunmetal shade and Ebony, a decent matte black that doubles up as an eyeliner as well. My favourite combination for an everyday look is Kitten all over the lid, with Bliss in the crease and Sandstone in the outer corner, although I'm also fond of using Bubbly on the lid with Luster in the crease.

The only letdown is the Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in Damsel. I have no qualms with the pigmentation or staying power as they both are brilliant, but the packaging renders the whole thing useless. The automatic pencil is non-retractable so after curiously twisting the eyeliner all the way up to see how much product there was, I had to disassemble the tube and manually feed the eyeliner back in (doable, but an extremely messy job). Also, the eyeliner is so creamy that it is impossible to sharpen even with a sharpener specifically made for automatic eyeliners, so you're left with a blunt edge that makes applying the liner a pretty difficult job. I hate to say it as the pigmentation is nothing short of perfect, but it's just not worth the trouble.

Saying that, even with the omission of the eyeliner the palette is well worth the money and if you're in the market for a couple of new nude eyeshadow shades (or just are looking for something to put on your Christmas list) I'd highly recommend it.