Stila Be Jeweled Holiday 2014 Set Review & Swatches

Hello lovely ladies! Today, I'm back with a review on a Stila Holiday Gift Set. This year, they teamed up with Baublebar and included a piece of jewelry in every set. I saw this on Asos last week and I was very interested to try it out. 

"For celebrating 20 memorable holiday seasons with Stila, let us shower you in jewels. In appreciation of your love through the decades, Stila celebrates the holidays with curated cosmetic collections and a special collaboration with BaubleBar."

What's included  in this gift set?
• Eye Shadow Trio in Gilded
• Deluxe Lip Glazes in Apricot, Grapefruit and Majesty
• Rose Gold Pavé Drop Bangle by BaubleBar
• $10 Gift Card to BaubleBar.com  

Let's talk about the eyeshadow trio in 'Gilded' first. It was a lot smaller than I expected but the colors look absolutely beautiful. This could make the perfect golden-bronze smokey eye. You have a shimmering bronze, a matte chocolate brown with golden shimmer and a golden tan color.

When I swatched these, I was a bit disappointed. The shimmering bronze was very soft and  crumbly. It was not easy to swatch, the crumbs did not blend out that easy. The matte brown with shimmer was quite sheer (on the photo, I put on a couple of layers of this color to built it up and this was the result). The golden tan color was very soft and applied quite good, but it was still a bit sheer. I'll still have to try these out on my eyes to see how they blend. I hope they will perform a bit better on the eyelids!

On to the lip glazes! If you don't know what these are: the lip glazes are Stila's signature lip glosses. They smell and taste like gummy bears, are quite sheer and very sticky. These are not recommended to people who don't like sticky lipgloss. I personally don't mind that much, as long as my hair doesn't stick to them. 

In this set, there are three deluxe lip glazes included: 

• Apricot: Sheer peach with golden shimmer
• Grapefruit: Coral pink
• Majesty: Juicy Berry

My personal favorite is 'Majesty'. It looks like it can makes your lips look very juicy and full, with the perfect hint of berry color. Apricot applied almost completely clear, while Grapefruit was the most opaque and creamy looking of the three colors. I don't dislike them, they smell very nice and I think I'll get a lot of use out of them. They are very sticky though.

Now, the most exciting part of the set: the Baublebar bracelet! I've heard so much about Baublebar, vistited their site to drool while looking at all the pretty jewelry. I love rose gold jewelry and while looking at the pictures on Asos, the bracelet was the whole reason I ordered this gift set! 

The bracelet itself it gorgeous, well-made, shiny. Just enough 'bling', but not too much. You can imagine my disappointment when I noticed that this bracelet was tiny. Really, it's so small, almost smaller than an Essie nail polish! I had to stretch it out a little bit and now, it fits just right. But it feels a bit thight and I have to put a lot of effort in it to take it off. And it hurts when I take it off. Why did they makes this so small? The photo on the box of the gift set is actually bigger than the bracelet itself.
I understand that a lot of women have small wrists but this is almost a child size! I'll wear this one because I really like how this looks but I don't really understand the logic behind this decision. Luckily, you can stretch this out a little bit!

I have mixed feelings about this gift set. Even though I really like the lip glazes and the bracelet, despite the size of it, the eyeshadows are a bit sheer and crumbly. Of course I'll have to try them out on the eyes first to see how they really perform. Overall, it's a nice set to give or recieve. I would be happy to see this under the Christmas tree. Stila is a gorgeous brand and I like the collaboration with Baublebar. You also get a 10$ coupon to spend on Baublebar Jewelry! I'm not sure if they ship to international destinations but I hope they do!

The Stila Be Jeweled gift set is available on Asos for €34,12. 

What do you think? Would you give this set to a friend/family member?
xx,
Astrid