little white truths

There's a shot of the pans in direct sunlight (click on any image to enlarge it):

Swatches from left to right, direct sunlight:

Verdict

While I don't regret buying this palette, I wouldn't repurchase it. I love the colours and the packaging but the shadows themselves aren't finely milled or creamy enough for my personal tastes, and indeed some of them are straight-up dry and chalky, meaning they're difficult to blend and also go on patchily.

Some shades may be better than others (the burnt orange shade in particular), but overall I don't rate this particular formula of Stila's eyeshadows. I'm annoyed about this because my mattes from the Stila In The Light palette are better than these and don't have the same problems. So why would Stila replace that formula for this one? The mind boggles.

Although I can personally live with shadows that aren't formulated well because I generally don't go for a defined look with my eyes (I have hooded eyes and prefer a soft, simple and diffused matte look that attempts to minimise my puff-factor), what I can't live with is eyeshadows that make my eye area look older and drier than it is. And unfortunately these shades look dry and powdery on my eyes so I don't reach for them much anymore because who wants to look older than they are! 

Having said this, now that I'm not pregnant anymore (which is when my skin is at its driest and most dehydrated), I do find that I can safely use one of these colours on my eyes without things looking too powdery and aged. So I might eg go for a shimmer shadow on the lid and then grab one of these for a soft wash of colour in the crease, and things look fine. If however I start to build up too much colour or go in with a second shade from this palette for depth or definition, that's when things start to look crepe-y.

As mentioned in my comments of the individual shades above, some of these perform better than others when it comes to application. Some blend beautifully while others go on patchily and don't blend well. The whole thing's a bit hit-and-miss, which is one of the reasons why I wouldn't recommend this palette.

One thing to note is that these do last well on the eye - with or without a primer. Perhaps this is partly because these are not finely milled (so they don't 'lift off' as easily as other shadows do). So if you're younger than me and have oily skin, this might actually be a good choice for you because exacerbating eye texture mightn't be an issue for you but longevity might - something to consider. 

All in all, this wasn't a bad starter palette for me but I'm certainly glad that I didn't pay $71 for it. While I still do reach for it occasionally, it's not a favourite for the reasons touched on above. Better mattes exist - Kevyn Aucoin, Becca and Too Faced's formulas, for starters - and I reckon you can find something that's more consistent and has less issues overall.

A pretty palette but not a favourite. Gosh, it looks good though... ; )