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Stila Color Wheel Swatches

There’s been a ton of curiosity and buzz about the new Stila Color Wheel palette for holiday 2010. Yes, holiday. It’s not even officially fall yet. Nevertheless, holiday. It’s here. The Stila Color Wheel Eyeshadow Palette is $38 at Sephora. Images may be clicked to view full size!

Swatches provided by perfumesheep. Swatched on NC20 skin with Urban Decay Primer Potion underneath. She says she thinks the palette is pretty nice, and while there are a couple of ‘duds’ pigmentation-wise, overall she likes the colors in the palette.

What do you think? Will you be picking up the Stila Color Wheel Eyeshadow Palette?

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Guest Swatcher: UD Naked Palette

The lovely Erika of Unintelligent Design has graciously offered to share her Urban Decay Naked Palette swatches! If you’re not familiar with Erika’s blog you should definitely check it out. She is *gorgeous* and posts really pretty eye looks as well as great mascara comparisons, etc.

So here are the swatches (complete with Erika’s cute tattoo!)…

As always, click to view full size!

Top Row: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Gunmetal

Bottom Row: Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep

Erika notes that since these were taken in direct sunlight the sparkly shades appear even more sparkly, and I can personally attest to that– this is as sparkly as they’re ever going to look! The swatches are done with one finger swipe on bare skin (no primer).

A word on the mattes…they look a little chalky in this photo, or at least not very pigmented/odd texture. From personal experience when working with matte shadows I recommend that you load up your brush and pack it onto the lid in a patting motion to get the best color payoff & evenness. Swiping as done with these swatches does not give you the true idea of how the product will perform on your lid if you apply it this way. Just a word of advice for if you’re ever in Sephora sticking your fingers in the testers, or if you are frustrated with applying your matte shadows. I can assure you that Urban Decay’s mattes are highly pigmented and smooth like butta.

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Stila Road to Radiance Palette

Ever since Stila announced their series of $10 travel palettes, I’ve been very excited about them. Then when I saw that the first travel palette would be in shades of pinks and purples, I was ecstatic. Stila + inexpensive palette + pink and purple. Um, could something be more made for me? Don’t think so. I got the very last Road to Radiance palette at my local Ulta! They had to check in the back for me, haha. I was like “GIMME!” I knew I had to have it. So lets take a closer look!

I’m so glad Stila has gone back to packaging similar to the vintage Stila we know and love with the Stila Girl illustrations. They’re so cute! This palette is pretty small, but at $10 it’s still an amazing value. Here it is pictured next to a MAC lipglass for size reference:

Am I going straight to hell for mixing my brands here? :)

Each travel palette contains 4 shadows and one convertible color, which can be used on both cheeks and lips. The shades in this palette are all new shades! And just so you don’t forget which is which, they include labels on the back of the palette:

I color-adjusted these photos to get the colors to be as true to life as possible.

Stila shadows in Snow Bunny, Valley Girl, Southern Belle, and City Chick. (R to L, T to B)

Stila Convertible Color in Hibiscus

I think the new shadows are really pretty, but the CC in Hibiscus is what really steals the show for me. It’s (I think) their prettiest CC to date. And it’s not available anywhere else but in this palette! I’m already arranging a swap for a back-up, lol. All of the products in the Road to Radiance palette are soft, sheer, but buildable depending on what kind of look you are going for. These colors look stunning on cool-toned complexions and the purples make green eyes pop! I probably couldn’t have asked for a better palette if I’d been able to tailor one myself.

What do you think? Does the Road to Radiance palette tickle your fancy?

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Dior 5-Color Eyeshadow – Extase Pinks

If you haven’t gotten around to updating your beauty look for spring, it’s time to get to it! Not only does your skin tone and texture change from season to season, but the clothing colors you wear change too. So you’ll want to experiment with new makeup tones that complement both your skin and your wardrobe. Now is also time to begin wearing sunscreen every day and to perhaps use a lighter moisturizer.

I’m a big fan of buying makeup sets. You may think that 80% of what you get in a set you’ll never use. But you’d be surprised how many different looks you can achieve with a palette of new shades to inspire you. It’s nice to have all those extra colors there when the creative urge strikes.

One of my favorites is Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow – Extase Pinks Palette. The new Dior eyeshadow formula with the prettiest shades for spring is sure to inspire you for new looks. The versatile set provides the various shades you’ll need for daytime and night time looks. The shadows are very soft and smudge-proof for all day wear. You’ll also be able to build and increase intensity of the shadows with a pigment based formula if you’re looking for a dramatic graphic look. Inside the sleek blue compact you’ll find a girly glimmering pink, dark grey mysterious shimmer, and a pale pink shimmer perfect for highlights. Add a bit of glimmer with the silver, and iridescent violet shadows.

Dior 5-Colour Eyeshadow – Extase Pinks, $58 at Sephora

Save on your purchases at Sephora from TheFind.com’s coupon site.

Guest post by our partners at TheFind.

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Still Looking For Alice?

Urban Decay‘s Alice in Wonderland book of shadows has been one of THE most buzzed about items in a long time. They launched it last Friday and it sold out within hours.

A little very stylish birdie wearing the latest in hot makeup told me that Sephora is going to start taking phone orders for the palette today.

Reps are available 6 am – 9 pm PST – call 1-877-SEPHORA.

On an aside, I think after reading the reactions to this palette that I must be one of the only girls in the world who isn’t in love with Alice in Wonderland. I do plan on seeing Tim Burton’s re-imagining of it, but other than a passing interest I do not really have any feelings about it. The reason for this, sadly, all has to do with elementary school. Yup, elementary school.

My name is Alyson. Growing up, numerous people thought it would be oh so adorable to call me “Alyson Wonderland”. Which is really annoying because then people started calling me Alice. Alice is not short for Alyson. I am really sensitive to people screwing up my first name because I have a very difficult (for some, I guess? apparently.) last name to pronounce/spell etc. I got over that quickly…I mean ok, it’s Israeli and a lot of people have never come across an Israeli name before. Whatevs. But Alyson? How could they screw that up. Well, there ya go.

Secondly…sigh, we studied Alice in Wonderland in elementary school. As in the original novel by Lewis Caroll. If there’s any way to ruin an experience with a novel, it’s studying it in elementary school and analyzing it to pieces. There’s also the fact that for some reason our teacher insisted that this other random teacher come in and read it to us aloud. Which as a 6th grader I found very patronizing, as after all I had been reading for years already… Not to mention her voice was annoying. LoL

So there you have it. I’ve been traumatized by Alice in Wonderland, hahaha. What a sad story. :P

P.S. if you’ve made it this far, wtf? Go order your palette. Oh, you must have already bought one because otherwise you’d be on the phone. :P

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Favorites

I don’t think I really did a November favorites post. Oops. But I’ll just talk about some stuff that is my favorite right now. Because does the month part really matter? Nah.

LIPS

My favorite lipstuff definitely changes a lot, but I can tell you for sure one thing I am loving for lips right now is Philosophy’s Kiss Me balm in pink. I got it in Sephora’s deal that they had online for like, a minute that had the balm with 2 mini bath items for $5. But if you want it, you’ll have to go to Philosophy’s website because I don’t see it on Sephora, and it will cost you $12. Philosophy says they created this with someone in mind who is looking for the ultimate lip balm. I think they did a bang-up job. It’s very VERY moisturizing, refreshingly minty (without being tingly-burny), not at all sticky, and long-lasting. The pink shade imparts a tiny hint of color for a perfectly natural look. Kiss Me is also available in clear and red. I’d love to try the red!

I’m also loving and adoring all of my Stila lip glazes! Admittedly I have a ton of these, but they’re kind of addicting. They have pretty colors, fun scents (foody scents! yum!) and I may get flack for this but I love the click pen packaging! Click pens get a lot of hate because apparently some people have problems using them, like that too much (or not enough) product comes out, they leak, whatever. I have never had those problems (knock on wood) with my dozens of click pens I’ve played with over the years. Maybe I am magical. Maybe I am a sort of Click Pen Whisperer or something and they just obey me. I don’t know.

EYES

I am currently having a torrid love affair. With an eyeshadow palette. The NARS Pleasures of Paris palette, actually. This little beauty is 6 shadows of pure love. They’re very easy to wear neutrals. I am literally wearing this palette every other day, it seems. It’s available on the NARS website. It’s limited edition, so hurry if you want it. The shades in the top row of the palette (L to R) are Nepal, Violetta, and Demon Lover. On the bottom row there are Fez, Abyssinia, and Cordura. I’m not a diehard NARS fan (I only have this palette and one other, the Best of NARS palette), but I recognize awesome eyeshadow when I see it and this is a great versatile palette.

FACE

Run, don’t walk (or just open another tab) over to Meow Cosmetics. I am obsessing over the LUSH Blushes! Specifically Warm & Fuzzy, the soft peachy shade. It’s simply gorgeous and natural on, and goes with pretty much anything. Meow offers baggie samples for just $1, so you should go give it a whirl. Try the other lush blushes too! There isn’t one I don’t like.

Well, that’s what I’m really loving right now. Have you tried any of these? Do you love ’em?

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Z Palette Holiday Specials

Holiday Specials from Z Palette! Including their adorable new zebra and pink palettes.

10% off purchases of $40 or more with code: ZPALHOL1

15% off purchases $60 or more with code: ZPALHOL2

Shipping is always free anywhere in the U.S. They do also ship internationally, but you have to contact customer service first about shipping, etc.

Valid 12/6/09 – 12/20/09

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Sephora BI Kat Von D Palette

I tried out the Kat Von D rock star palette today, which is the Sephora Beauty Insider 500-point gift. I just wanted to relay my quick thoughts.

The palette consists of 4 colors, a glittery white, a glittery sandy beige, a metallic purple, and a glittery black/dark grey. The purple has the best texture. The other 3 have massive amounts of glitter fallout (keep some scotch tape handy to clean that up!). The white doesn’t seem to really show up as much other than a little extra sparkle. I guess it’s good for adding a little highlight on the middle of the lid or something like that. I used it on my inner eyes and didn’t really notice much of anything. I was using a fluffy brush rather than a brush for packing on color, though. I’ll play with it a little more, and try it wet too.

Blendability-wise these are halfway decent. They’re better than most glittery shades are for blending, although the more you blend the more glitter flies everywhere, so be careful. The purple is the most pigmented shade, and the smoothest to blend (not surprising since it has no glitter). I applied these shadows at about 8 this morning, and it’s 5 now. There is considerable fading. The purple is now kind of a muddy greyish blah color. No creasing though, but I’m wearing primer so that’s to be expected/hoped for.

It’s okay. It’s not something I’d buy really, but it’s not bad. Is it a nice perk for having 500 points? Certainly. Is it better than one of the 100-point samples? Depends on how much you love samples. Does it make me jump up and down and then run to my local Sephora to stock up on all things KVD? No. Definitely not. Honestly, if this represents the quality of Kat Von D’s eyeshadows, I wonder what all the hype is about.

Here are swatches. Note, I am REALLY pale (MUFE 110), and I swatched these HEAVILY.

click to view larger

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Urban Decay Book of Shadows Volume 2

Okay, lets try this again with feeling. As some of you may have caught, I posted these photos and swatches of the Book of Shadows Vol. 2 a couple days ago. Urban Decay asked me to remove them. Why, I’m not entirely sure, but I did not want to get in trouble or get anyone else in trouble. Mostly I didn’t want my friend to lose her job since she is an employee.

However, now that the cat is out of the proverbial bag (after all the palette is available for sale on their website – $48), I am putting them back up. The photos were provided to me by the owner of the palette. Please do not use these, as I have permission and you don’t. :P

I do encourage you to click and enlarge them, though. :)

Top Row:

Perversion (black matte), Gunmetal (Dark blue-grey with very slight sparkle), Ecstasy (paled out pink-purple), AC/DC (Smoked out ashy purple), Nylon (light taupe with sparkle like Sidecar from last year), Sellout (pale cream shimmer), Mushroom (deep grey-taupe. DELIGHTED this was made a powder from the cream shadow!!!), Sphynx (another cream to powder transition. Baby pink with irridescent sparkle)

Bottom Row:

Half Baked (warm gold-bronze), Twice Baked (deep charcoal brown with brown sparkle), MCRA (needs no description), YDK (silvery pale taupe), Jinx (Deep aqua blue), Flipside (blue-hued turquiose), Homegrown (shimmering gold-green), Misdemeanor (photo’s DON’T Do it justice. Smoky brown-grey-green powder with a blue-green duochrome. LOVE!!!)

I am pleased to say that there are 7 new shades exclusive to this palette (and god they’re gorgeous) including 2 shades we already know but previously as cream shadows– Mushroom and Sphynx. I’m particularly enthusiastic about Misdemeanor and AC/DC though. ;)

Also good news– the brushes from the previous volume have been replaced with 2 mini sized 24/7 liners in Zero and Bourbon. I love those and I’m thrilled. And how cute is the little “baby” Primer Potion??

I can’t wait to get my paws on one of these. How about you?

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It’s Z Palette of Your Dreams

Okay…truth time. I hate a lot of homemade palettes. No, really. There are lots of very clever individuals who have made palettes out of all sorts of things…CD jewel cases, DVD cases, etc. I hate ’em. I want to keep my makeup in a makeup palette. With a few exceptions, I think the homemade ones look kinda…well. How to put this delicately…like something a kid made for a school craft. Not to say they aren’t functional and totally cool from a repurposing goods perspective, and a saving money perspective. For sure. But they’re just not for me. Personally I get a lot of pleasure from just gazing upon my stash and admiring it, and I want it to look a certain way.

That said…not all brands make palettes for their pretties. And very few brands make palettes with clear tops. MAC has a clear-topped 4-pan, but their 15-pans are black. I heard a rumor they were going to make clear-topped 15-pans, which would be stellar, but I heard that a while ago and they have yet to surface even on the radar of the upcoming MAC collections. So then what other options are theere for a see-through lid? There’s Face Atelier, which makes a great study 12-pan that has a clear top. I love them, actually. I have 3. However they are kinda pricey, and the shipping to the US from Canada is also kind of expensive for the girl on the budget. And there is the limitation of only being able to fit 26mm size (MAC size) pans in them.

Enter, the Z Palette.

I first saw the Z Palette at IMATS, and I thought “meh, kind of expensive…gimmicky…” but since then I’ve truly realized that this product is needed, serves a great function, and they are actually priced pretty reasonably. The Z Palette comes in 2 sizes, a large rectangle and a small square. The small square holds up to 9 26 mm pans and retails for $14. The large one holds up to 27 26 mm pans and retails for $20.

Before you balk at the price and complain that the MAC palettes are only $12.50 and hold 15, realize this: to hold 27 MAC shadows you would actually need to buy 2 15-pans, which would be $25. The large Z Palette is $5 cheaper. And the shipping is free. And if you have other shadow pans that you’d like to de-pot and have no idea what to put them in…bonjour! This palette is for you. Gone are the days of suffering through a product’s awful packaging because you have no idea what palette to put it in. There are also some brands that for some reason charge ridiculous amounts of money for an empty palette (*cough* MUFE, Chantecaille…). You don’t have to pay that nyah nyah nyah. Just get a Z Palette.

I think one of my favorite things about the Z Palettes besides the palettes themselves is the wealth of information available on their website. They have a chart of prices of pans vs. pots to compare the overall savings of buying makeup for palettes. They also have a really awesome list of de-potting methods and tips. I like a company that goes out of its way to make their product easier to use, don’t you?

You may also be wondering…are they sturdy? I am delighted to tell you yes. They are! They are made from recycled matte paper and close via a magnet. The clear window is plastic (sturdy plastic). While to some of you this may seem flimsy compared to the plastic MAC palettes, have you ever had one of those break on you? In my experience the first things that break on those babies are the hinges or the clasps. This palette has no hinges or clasp. A-ha. You see what I did there?

So if you’re looking for a classy way to organize your shadows but don’t want to waste time opening and closing palettes looking for a particular color, check out the Z Palette. If you’re going to be de-potting, they also sell packs of magnets for your pans. ;)

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