Jill Stuart Shangrila Crystal Palette

Before going on a vacation, many of us make a physical or mental note of where we’re going to visit or what we’re going to buy. I always think of what’s available at whatever destination I’m off to and which is unavailable here. After all, there’d be no point in purchasing Estee Lauder or MAC products at the destination unless the product is (a) unavailable in Malaysia and/or (b) cheaper than it is here.

So it was like this before I went to Hong Kong – I thought of all the beauty brands that were available there and not here and the 1st brand that came to mind was Jill Stuart, so world famous for their ultra-feminine packaging and shimmer in just about all their make-up.

During my 6 days in Hong Kong, I only came across 2 Jill Stuart counters – the 1st at Faces & the 2nd at Langham Place. I guess there must be other Jill Stuart counters since this is probably a popular brand there but I purchased the Shangrila Crystal 08 palette at the 1st Jill Stuart counter. There are 2 eye shadow palettes for spring/summer, the other has more natural shades.

To be entirely frank, I wasn’t quite taken by the case as it’s plastic and looks and feels cheap-ish. Oh come on Jill Stuart, I do think you can do better than plastic! It just doesn’t fit the image of the brand, not in my mind anyway.

However, I was in love with the colours once I swatched them as they were so pastel and pretty especially the icy pink and blue. Out of all 4 shades, I have been using the blue most frequently as it goes so well with my other blue/turquoise/teal eye shadows. Texture is super-smooth and blending is so easy but shadows can be chalky and migrate over to other shades, e.g. the blue powder can stray to the pink section.

The dual-tipped eye shadow/liner applicator in the palette looks like something I can get from a drugstore but perhaps those in drugstores are even better quality than what’s in this palette. Couldn’t they have put in a brush? After all, the price isn’t cheap. At HKD410, it’s almost on par with Dior/Chanel palettes here. The shades really make up for the plasticness of the case and this is what makes the palette worth the price.