Stila Montmartre Eyeshadow Quad - a Product Review

In past reviews, I have expressed distaste for older Stila Shadows. Unfortunately, the Montmartre eyeshadow quad just supports my opinion.

COLOR

I was first drawn to this quad because I am a sucker for purples. I received it in a kit, so I saved the $38 that it originally retailed for. There are four colors, since it is a quad, and the one thing I can't argue with is that they go very well together. You start in the top left hand corner with a light warm pink; then you have a cool pink-lavender; you then have a medium pink-purple; and this quad ends with a dark pink-purple. The colors are absolutely gorgeous and form a complete day look. These are very flirty and fun and remind me of spring.

FORMULA

As I have mentioned before, formula is where Stila shadows fail for me. They are incredibly soft, but the color payoff is horrible. One swatch on bare skin gets you nothing; over primer, it still takes about three swatches for me to get true-to-pan color. They are easy to blend, which is nice, but the one that is hard to blend is the only one with adequate color payoff, and that is the darkest one, unsurprisingly. When buying this palette, you trade a pretty color combination for good quality.

FUNCTIONALITY

This palette is a perfect day or spring look, if you can get it to work for you. It is small and portable, so you can keep it in your purse (you'll need to for constant touch-ups). If these colors were well pigmented, this would be a great, very functional palette to have on the go or for a flirty makeup look.

PRICE

The price is quite possibly the worst thing about this palette! It retails for $38 dollars- doesn't sound bad when you add up the cost of single shadows- however, the whole palette is 4.4 grams of product. A MAC quad (which is comparable in price) is 6 grams of product. The shadows look tiny in the compact, and overall, seem inadequate.

PACKAGING

While I traditionally love Stila's packaging, I am not crazy about the packaging for the Montmartre quad. It is a small silver square (about 3 inches by 3 inches) and has a flower border on the front. It has the Stila logo in the middle, and that is all. It does have a very large mirror and a secure closure (which I love). It is the perfect compact, except that it lacks Stila's usual cute-attractive flair.

FINAL OPINIONS

I'm not sure where you can get this palette since it is from 2006, but I do know they sell them at ulta.com. If you are a wizard with pigmentation, buy this! It is fabulous colors and a great compact and worth the price if you are willing to work with them. However, if you are like me, with very little free time, this is not a very good buy. I am in love with these colors, but I can't get them to work for me, which kills me. If you are a Stila addict, this is a great must-have, but for someone who is new to Stila products, I would not advise that you purchase this. For now, I will stick to Stila's cheek products, since I can't seem to get their eyeshadows to cooperate with me.