Stila Road Less Travelled Collection

This post contains gifted items.

Stop the press guys, this is brand new and has literally just dropped at Stila UK. I know this is the second post in a row about Stila, but I just love the brand so much that I need to share. A brand new collection has brought a smile to my face and the thought of being able to glam up post lock down is definitely making me feel happy right now. If you didn’t tune into the Stila UK Instagram Stories on Tuesday night, you would have missed the first ever Live Launch where the lovely Sascha, head makeup artist for Stila showcased the new products from the Road Less Travelled collection. It’s a beautiful collection and I’m extremely excited to be sharing this with you.

The Road Less Travelled collection for Summer 2020 is quite reasonable in size with a new palette, a few shade extensions, an exciting addition and some brand new products that I know I will be getting a few more of post lock down. I do love how the Summer collections are always bigger with the volume of new products and especially with the shades that get released. Let’s jump straight in with the palette; the Stila Road Less Travelled palette.

Retailing at £32 for an eight pan palette, the Road Less Travelled reminds me of the old ‘In The’ Palettes that Stila had huge success with many years ago. It’s actually quite nice to see a palette like this in the range and whilst it doesn’t scream summer palette at me, I can see the beauty of it with its hippy, earthy vibes. The vibrancy of the shades in the palette is nothing compared to what they look like when swatched and when applied to the eye. You do need a good base for these shadow. They are incredibly soft and buttery, and the pigmentation within them is fantastic so they do leave a slight stain. As with all my swatches, these are done on an un-primed arm and you can see just how intense these shades are. They pick up on a brush with ease, and they do work well together to an extent. Whilst the blending of shades is not an issue, what I do find is that the colours in the palette aren’t particularly cohesive so finding several colour combinations will pose somewhat of a problem. I think that I would need to use Road Less Travelled as an add on with the shades being toppers and poppers for an already laid down base. That being said, if you can do an eye make up with just one or two shades, then you will have no problems at all! I also think Beacon will look incredible over the Freedom Shimmer and Glow for added oomph.

The shades are:

• Compass: metallic rose gold
• North Star: plum with shimmer
• Guiding Light: burnt orange with shimmer
• Beacon: light green with shimmer
• Lighthouse: matte chocolate brown
• Pathfinder: green with shimmer
• Horizon: gold with multi-colour shimmer
• Rising Sun: matte dusty pink

I’m so pleased to see the addition of the Complete Harmony Cheek and Lip Sticks into the collection. Similar to the Convertible Cheek colours, these sheer shades are weightless and build up to a beautiful tint of colour. I have the shade Sheer Peony which is just such a gorgeous shade for my skintone. Four cheek and lip shades are available including best selling shades Lillium (my personal fave), Gerbera and Petunia (which I need to get for summer). The iconic Kitten also features as a highlight stick as well as a sun kissed bronze. These sticks will come in so handy as a handbag essential and I do love anything that is multipurpose. It’s a shame that we aren’t in the office and allowed out but as soon as I am back in work, this will be going into my desk to disco makeup bag.

Stila have also introduced us back to HUGE Extreme Lash Mascara but with a new waterproof formula. I have been using HUGE Mascara since it’s launch as I love the length, volume and thickness that it creates without clumping and whilst I did try the Magnum XXX Mascara, I didn’t love it as much as HUGE. One thing I do find with HUGE is that it’s very wet so I do advise for you to leave the lid off for 5-10 minutes to get a bit of air to it as it does become a little unmanageable if not. Perfect for summer and even hay fever season, a classic waterproof mascara will always be needed and I’m so pleased to be able to have HUGE in waterproof form. I also love the packaging with the little water droplets across the tube. So cute.

A Stila launch wouldn’t be complete without a shade extension to the best selling products and the Beauty Boss Glosses have now got an additional six shades to swoon over. After being a lover of the Lip Glaze for the past 20 years, I didn’t know how I would get on with the Beauty Boss, but I currently have a strong collection and use Pink Slip, Synergy and Blue Sky all the time. The new shades include Casual Friday, shown in the swatch, as well as the iconic Kitten and a pure clear gloss called Transparency. Each gloss is packed full of hyaluronic filling spheres which makes lips look plump and full, they feel weightless on and are non sticky and non drying. For a gloss, they sure do last a long time!

Last but by no means least, the product that has given me the most excitement are the brand new Stila Double Dip Suede Shades and Glitter & Glows. You all know just how much I love the Glitter & Glows and you all know just how much I love a bit of colour so I’m sure you can imagine my reaction when I saw that I had been sent Pink Martini, the most delicious Barbie pink shade ever. The new Double Dips are:

• Black Out (black violet / black crystal sparkle)
• Grey Fox (warm grey taupe / icy multicolor sparkle)
• White Out (matte white/ translucent base with multi-color sparkle)
• Smitten Kitten (warm caramel brown / champagne w/ silver & copper sparkle)
• Hot Tamale (warm brick / rich bronze & copper glitter )
• Coral Reef (neon coral / pink and peach sparkle)
• Mint Julep (neon lime / sparkling turquoise & lime duo chrome)
• Beach Wave (pearlescent light teal / translucent teal base with multi-color sparkle)
• Spicy Mustard (yellow / true 24k yellow gold sparkle)
• Camera Ready (bright purple / bright purple & periwinkle sparkle)
• Pink Martini (millennial pink / light icy pink & rose sparkle)
• Blue Jean (pearlescent sky blue / blue translucent base with purple/green sparkle)

I haven’t done a previous review of the Suede Shades but I do have a few that I wear frequently. They are a fully opaque liquid eyeshadow that adheres to the eye and doesn’t budge of smudge. They make amazing liners and have a wonderfully blendable formulation that has a velvet matte finish. Combined with a Glitter & Glow over the top, intensifies the vibrancy and gives a pop of disco whether it be for day or night. With their maignetic tops, these will be perfect for travelling and you can mix and match with other shades. Beach Wave and Coral Reef are firmly on my list however you know I won’t stop until I have them all!

Have you spotted any favourites from the new Stila Road Less Travelled collection?

At this time, I do not want to encourage unnecessary spending in light of the current situation so I urge my readers to shop responsibly and only if it is an essential purchase. Thank you.