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Review: Stila's Eyes Are the Window (to the Spirit)

For a while, I had been sceptical of eyeshadow palettes, fearing that there isn't much value to be had when there are the few dud shades that you'd never use. Finally, I got my hands on a neutral palette -- pushing aside all the Urban Decay Naked palette releases because they weren't right for me.


I've succumbed to the Stila Eyes are the Window palette in Spirit because it fulfilled all the things I looked for:
  1. A balance of cool and warm neutral shades
  2. Subtle shimmer and some matte shades
I'm too much of a fan of colour to stick to a purely neutral palette, so Spirit was the best out of all the palettes offered in this range. I've had this palette for about a month now so I could discuss about them.

The Eyes Are the Window range come in attractive metallic packaging, in which Spirit comes in a copper-tone lid (or rose gold, as it is marketed). It's not only aesthetically pleasing but also quite practical. It comes in a compact size, has a large mirror and magnetic closure -- good for jet setters or anyone on-the-go. In my case, I can do my makeup by the window to ensure I don't look like a clown when I step into daylight.

Inside the palette, there is a plastic slip that had a quote printed on it. A nice touch in my opinion. Spirit's palette came with a quote from Leonardo da Vinci:
Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.


The palette consists of mostly shimmer shades, with two completely matte shades. I found the textures of the lighter colours very smooth but as they got darker, it wasn't quite as buttery. It's not a problem because it makes blending a colour for the crease a little easier when the shadow's harder.

The colours of the palettes are as follows:


Chinois and Puppy are the two completely matte shades -- very powdery and chalky but they're okay to work with. Pigalle and Espresso have microglitter and look shimmery in the pan but when applied with a brush, it goes on like matte -- a little powdery but better to work with than the complete matte shades. The very shimmery shades are Kitten and Oasis, more glittery and metallic than the rest.

My favourite colours are Kitten and Chinois for all over the lid (your choice of a shimmery or matte base), Oasis for inner corners, Golightly and Jezebel for the lid, and finally, Espresso and Pigalle for the crease.

I think it's unnecessary for a girl to have more than one of these neutral palettes though, so if you already have one, you should give this a pass. If you've been extremely picky and didn't like any of the Urban Decay's Naked range, this may be a good alternative.

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