Stila Eyes are the Window to the Spirit Palette Review

Good day to you my eye shadow palette fanatics and hoarders alike! Empathising with many's desires to own every single eye shadow palette under then sun I am fully aware that this is not at all very possible or realistic therefore I share your desires to know all the in's and out's of every inch of the palettes you are lusting over so you can make the best choice possible out of the plethora of palettes on your wishlist. Apologies for the long sentence; please breath now. A palette I went through this very process with was the Stila Eyes are the Window to the Spirit palette as there was not one but four palettes to choice from! I hope my thorough review of the palette, from quality to longevity, can help you all in your decision as to whether to add this delight to your collection.

The Stila Eyes are the Window to the Spirit palette is one of a collection of jewel inspired palettes, that are designed to accentuate your natural beauty from within (according to Stila). Each comes with an individual quote on the cover sheet, with the Spirit palette quote being the words of Mr Leonardo da Vinci himself: "Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art". The Spirit palette is a collection of rose-y, coppery shades, with a hint of intergalactic cool sparkles. All perfectly jewellery complimentary shades I think.

On first glance, the palette looks absolutely stunning. It is literally one rose gold jewel! I don't own a palette that is close to the sheer level of class, beauty and timelessness in looks as the Spirit palette. The gorgeous mirror-like case however is one for collecting the finger prints though, so fellow Monica's out there hold your breath! Until this very second I am writing this post I have never had an issue with this palette however minor blip, one of the whole shadows has just fallen out of it's pan :'0. To be fair however I have had the palette for roughly four years so as long as you are gentle with this little spirit ;) you should be fine. Working with the shadows themselves, they all appear to be fragrance free and have a delicate, slightly creamy but heavy dusty texture, with the shimmers being slightly creamier than the mattes. Do not be deceived by the dustiness however as it is a good dusty. Dusty enough to grip to the lid. Over all I would say the quality of the palette and shadows is lovely however not the pinnacle of the eye shadow palette word. Very good but the shadows are just pipped at the post by some of my other holy grail's.

I apply the shadows with all my usual eye shadow brushes and have no issues with their application on all the usual eye shadow tools. Because the shadows have such a delicately dusty texture they all blend pretty nicely. They take a little longer to blend to achieve an even diffused look than my couple of ultimate eye shadows but nothing on the bad side. The hard work definitely pays off however as they diffuse in such a pretty and gentle way and, on the plus side, all the blending is certainly good practice for myself and anyone else in fact who is a beginner in the eye makeup department. 

Because the shadows, as I mentioned previously, are of quite the delicate texture they have a delicate pigment. Not a weak pigment, just slightly gentler than your usual palette. For some shades, I therefore find that you need a good dabble of product on your brush for a decent application. The shade Puppy is an extremely delicate shade and my only negative with this shade is that it shows very lightly on my pale complexion and I therefore don't think it would show up on others at all either. Slate is also the weaker of the shimmers as it can be a little patchy and sadly not very opaque. I find the shimmers are much more heavily pigmented than the mattes but the pigmentation is certainly not poor! I'd actually say it's perfect, well for the likes of me and those who are just starting out at applying eye makeup and those who are not the best of friends with applying eye shadow. Because the shades are of a delicate yet gradually build-able pigment it considerably helps prevent you from going over board on first application, ruining your eye shadow and ending up like a panda. I would therefore say it's the perfect palette for those who are either starting out at makeup or who aren't so confident with eye shadow application because the shadows are so delicate yet build and layer beautifully and it's great for blending practise minus the disaster of horrible opaque smudges of colour. 

Swatches from left to right:

• Pewter
• Slate
• Chinois
• Kitten
• Puppy
• Pigalle
• Oasis
• Jezebel
• Barefoot
• Wheat
• Golightly
• Espresso

My favourite shades in the palette are the shimmers because they all give a beautiful opacity of colour and apply insanely opaquely with a good fluffy shader brush. Add a cream eye shadow as a base underneath the shimmer eye shadows and oh my, they become even more exceptionally pretty and bold. Pewter is a beautiful opaque silver, black shade, which reminds me of glitzy galaxy inspired perfume adverts. It's shimmer is very obvious, unlike some shimmer eye shadows, without any compromise on it's pigmentation. Espresso is the matte black option. When blended, it's slightly more grey toned than a deep black however it blends nicely. It is however a little difficult to blend on top of other colours without a little mess but simply because it has good pigmentation. Again, pigmented but delicate. Complimenting the beautiful black shadows in the palette is a gorgeous cool shimmery grey shade, called Slate. On swatch it is delicately dreamy but sadly, as I mentioned previously, it is not very pigmented on the lid and struggles to show through applied on top of other shadows. Barefoot is another interesting shade in this palette. It's almost like an unusual, dirty copper shade but so uniquely pretty. I think it's colour is complimented best with other golden and copper shades.

The wearable longevity of the shadows is pretty good if you use an eye primer. They do however tend to thin and sheet out a little through out the day, but nothing disastrous. With a cream shadow base however the shadows are well locked in place.

For myself, as I hinted at previously, this palette has lasted a very long period of time of about roughly four years. Although I don't use it everyday (simply because I have too many palettes and not enough eyes!) I think you get a fair good amount of product in the palette to last you a very good length of time for the price you pay. Although not exactly a drugstore price, the Stila Spirit palette it certainly one of the more affordable high end palettes at the £30 mark. The shadows may be soft and delicate and not for the longtime eye makeup extravaganza junkie however they give the most beautifully blended shadow looks and the palette is perfect for makeup beginners. It is certainly one of the most beautifully unique selection of shadows I have come across in an eye shadow palette before and not to mention its high class, glamours case. For value for money, the palette was around £26 when I purchased it and I think this is the price range it should sit within. I think if you adore the shades then this palette is definitely worth the money or if you are a makeup flatlay junkie then you will definitely adore and use this palette in multiple beautiful images again and again.

I hope you enjoyed the review lovelies and I hope it could help you even just a little as to your palette purchasing decision making!

Ellie x