Rockin in Rio with Stila


I'm a total sucker for small cute makeup palettes with girly graphics, maybe you already noticed that. Of course, I always end up buying a little palette from Stila when they launch their annual summer limited edition travel palettes


This year, the collection was called Collectible City Palettes, each one named after a famous city and containing 5 eyeshadows and a Convertible Color (cheek and lip cream). I found Rockin in Rio on sale at Urban Outfitter, and couldn't resist! 



It features 4 rather neutral shadows plus a vibrant blue: Copacabana, the larger pan in the center, is an ivory matte; Samba, a light shimmering beige, is the one on top; on the right, Bossa Nova is a shimmery taupe; Carnavale, on the left, is a shimmery graphite gray; finally,  Ipanema, at the bottom, is a nay blue with bright blue shimmer. 


All these shadows are soft, but a little powdery, which causes some fallout. They blend well, and most of them are nicely pigmented. Carnavale is not as shimmery on the eye as in the pan, but it's still a nice shade to line the eye. Ipanema, which should have been the star of this palette, is unfortunately a let down... it's much sheerer than the other shades, and it almost looks like an ashy gray with a subtle blue sheen once applied - nothing like the vibrant blue you see in the pan! 
I find that the best way to use it is under the lower lash line, where you can still get a nice pop of color by layering it or using it wet. You could probably work with it on the upper lid with a navy blue base (like a cream shadow) to bring out the bright blue shimmer, but I don't own any (I don't do blue very often). 

Swatches are 1 swipe for each shade, except for Ipanema (the blue shadow) which required
3-4 swipes


The Convertible Color in Freesia is a very pigmented medium blue-based pink, with tiny silver shimmer. I'm not a big fan of it on my lips, as I find it terribly drying. It performs better as a cheek color, but it's not quite as easy to blend as my favorite cream blushes. 

Overall, this little palette is really cute, but not perfect. If you can find it on sale, I think it's still worth getting it (right now, it's on sale for $10 on sephora.com) for the nice, very wearable shimmery neutral shades.


2 comments

  1. Freesia looks kinda sparkly...does it show up sparkly on the cheeks?

    Happy New Year!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It doesn't look really sparkly on. No risk of a disco ball look!

      Delete

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