Honestly, I bought this for gifting. /sheepish But the more I looked at this palette the less I could bear to part with it. And I'm so glad I didn't! The Stila Artful Eye Collector's Edition palettes are three "volumes" of eyeshadow quintets that were part of Sephora's $10 Black Friday offerings. I'm looking to be more adventurous in my shadow choices and the jewel tones in this Vol. III immediately caught my eye. The shadows are so rich and gorgeous, the formula absolutely silky -- definitely a keeper!





Stila's holiday 2013 collection is art-themed, which I love. One of the reasons I'm drawn to makeup is because of how similar it is to art -- the varied colors and finishes of powders, liquids, creams; the many uses of brushes, sponges, palettes. There's a reason why they're called makeup artists.

• Light apricot - peachy champagne, a perfect lid wash
• Umber - dark brown with gold microglitter
• Aquamarine - brilliant sea green
• Soft violet - dark purple
• Ocean - dark blue with silver microglitter

These shimmery shadows are so fine and buttery, with no fallout on my end. I am usually averse to glitter but these are so fine that it just adds a bit of brightness to your eye. The colors lean warm, which is perfect for me. You can build them up to full opacity but I prefer to sheer them out a bit (especially that aquamarine!).




Here's a horizontal gradient with light apricot in the inner corners, followed by aquamarine, then finally soft violet on the crease. I defined the outer V with ocean. I thought the aquamarine would be a bit much but it's actually very wearable! Especially with a white or gray outfit. I eschewed the normal smokey eye/cat eye shape and instead confined the shadow to the lid for that peekaboo pop of color.


The Stila Artful Eye Collector's Edition Palettes were $10 USD (~ PhP 450) during Black Friday 2013. I'm sorry for the tardiness of this review as the palettes are currently out of stock. But it's highly likely they'll be available again soon Stila unloads its inventory in preparation for next season.