Review: Stila - Not So Nude Palette

A couple weeks ago, while perusing the Ulta website on a quest to use up some birthday gift cards, I came across this lovely palette from Stila. It is called the Not So Nude Palette and it contains six natural toned eye shadows, one all over shimmer and one lip/cheek color. Unless I am going out for a night on the town, I almost always use neutral barely there shadows, so this palette was right up my alley! Plus, I had never actually tried Stila’s famous Kitten eye shadow or all over shimmer (I know, shame on me! It’s a cult fave!), so once I saw that that was included, I couldn’t hit “add to cart” fast enough!

First off, can we talk about how adorable the front cover is? Love it! Inside on the left is a mirror (a nice one too, not one of those cheapy ones that make you look like you’re in a fun house at a carnival) and then your products are to the right. Another thing I really like about this palette is the size – it is very compact, so it is perfect to throw in your purse or in your carry-on if you are traveling.

The shadows that are included are:

Sugar – A shimmery light pink. Mostly gives a soft shimmer when applied to the skin. It doesn’t really appear pink unless applied with a heavy hand. Nice for highlighting the brow bone or inner corners of the eyes.

Fawn – My favorite color in the palette! It’s a shimmery brown – more color payoff than Sugar, but still pretty transparent. Great all over the lid for a simple eye look, or blended with some of the other shadows for added drama.

Barefoot – This is the darkest color in the palette and can really take a day-time look created with the other shades, into night-time. It’s a pretty dark brown with magenta specks of glitter in it (finely milled though, not chunky glitter). Requires blending until your arm falls off, and then blending s’more! But it’s pretty!

Buff – Nothing too exciting here  just a matte beige. Works well for blending or to prep your lid.

Mink – Super gorge shade - matte chocolate brown! Perfect for the crease and to use for a day-time friendly smoky eye.

Dolce – “I love goooold! Isn’t that vierd?” (name that movie!). If you couldn’t tell already, this is a shimmery gold shade. It can be used all over the lid alone or mixed with Fawn for a daytime smoky eye. Apply wet for much more intensity!

Thinking there can’t possibly be more goodies crammed in this petite palette? Think again!

The Kitten All Over Shimmer can be used in so many ways. It’s great as a highlighter, eye shadow or even as a cheek color – no matter which way you use it, it gives your skin a healthy glow and it does it in a way that looks natural and not at all glittery. It’s awesome sauce!

The Lily Convertible Color can be used as both a lip gloss or a cheek stain. While I don’t love this on my cheeks, the color it gives my lips is so.darn.pretty. It does ok in the moisture department, but I would still add a balm beforehand. For those of you who like non-powder blushes and cheek stains, still give this a try. I’ve heard a lot of ladies rave about Stila’s Convertible Color’s, I just prefer powder on my oily skin.  

There are some negatives although I don’t think they overshadow (see what I did there?) the positives. For $20 it’s still a really good value. The shadows really aren’t super-duper pigmented, so if you are looking drama, definitely look elsewhere. Also, fall out tends to be an issue which can get messy, but that is usually an issue with most shadows with shimmer (G&G tip: need to cleanup some eye shadow from under your eyes, but don’t want to mess up the rest of your makeup? Use moisturizer or primer on a q-tip to gently remove it. It will interfere with your foundation a lot less than makeup remover!). All in all, I really am rather fond of this little set and find myself reaching for it almost daily for one product or another.

Have you lovelies tried any new palettes recently that you recommend?  Have a palette you’d like me to review? Leave a comment below!

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