SPEND OR SAVE?: Viseart Neutral Matte Palette vs Stila Eyes Are the Window to the Mind Palette

HIGH END ITEM: Viseart Neutral Matte Palette (01) (U.S. Price and Link HERE) 
RRP: $98AUD (Price at PM Studio)

AFFORDABLE ITEM: Stila Eyes Are the Window to the Mind Palette (U.S. Price and Link HERE)
RRP: $78AUD (Price at MECCA)

I know that this SPEND OR SAVE is again one which doesn't include an "affordable" product - that I am comparing two more expensive products. But there is quite a significant price difference between these two products so I thought that it would still be worth a SPEND OR SAVE post.

So I was doing a friend's makeup for her wedding and was explaining the colours I was about to use and what kind of products I was going to use. Then somehow I was holding the Stila Palette in one hand and the Viseart in the other and I was like... what?? They look so similar. Both an all matte palette, both have that gorgeous red-earthy-terracotta shade, both quite neutral and everyday shades, both WOW! So obviously, I needed to do a post comparing them!

I hope you enjoy it anyway, and leave a comment below with requests for future posts guys!

So let's kick off with the high end item: the Viseart Netural Matte Palette (01).

Viseart Neutral Matte Palette

Price: $98AUD (Price at PM Studio)

Excuse how dirty it is. I clearly love it and use it a lot!

Now this is a very popular palette that everyone raves about. Especially when all matte palettes were the craze, it was on everyone's wish list. So I knew I just had to get it and see if it was really "worth the hype". So when I first saw it (on social media and in person), I was super underwhelmed by the packaging. I knew that it was plain plastic packaging, but I think that a part of me hoped that the packaging felt a bit more expensive in person - maybe a bit heavier, maybe a bit more luxurious. But no. It is that light weight plastic. Now to be honest, that makes this palette all the more travel-friendly. Just... for the price tag I was thinking Chanel and Dior packaging.

But I was most definitely not underwhelmed by the colour selections. There are some absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking shades in this palette. I was blown away. The terracotta shade was obviously a winner, but all the shades were so beautiful and I knew that I could literally use every single without a doubt. That made me happy because I had never bought a palette that I felt this way about before. I always feel that at least one shade will go to waste.

The following are the swatches of the colours in this palette:

Then if the gorgeous colours weren't breathtaking enough, I used the product and...Wow. Worth the hype. Now this product isn't going to give you LORAC Pro or Anastasia Beverly Hill pigmentation and colour payoff, so don't have expectations that high. But the pigmentation is still awesome. It deposits enough colour that it's visible and gorgeous, but it doesn't deposit so much that if you make a mistake, someone standing 10 metres from you can see the mistake. It's awesome.

The formula is definitely more stiff than LORAC Pro and Anastasia Beverly Hills, but not in a bad way. The stiffness actually means that there is significantly less powder being kicked up than those shadows. It also just means that it isn't as "creamy" as those shadows but that again, is not a bad thing. It just means that the formulation is different.

The formula is also so easy to use. It is extremely easy to blend, it gives you perfect colour payoff, it doesn't kick up powder, it doesn't just all blend into one shade - you can still tell the difference between the colours when you put it on the eye, and it is so versatile. The blending with this shadow is seriously one of the best I have ever experienced. Although there is excellent pigment, with a little error, you can really easily blend blend blend and it just blurs into a seamless application. I honestly think that of all the eyeshadows I have used (which is a bloody lot), it's the easiest to blend. I don't even know how to articulate it to give it full justice.

In the end, the only thing I could fault about the product was the packaging. But the product inside was so awesome that I didn't even care. The colour range on point. Formula on point. Ease of use on point. Consistency on point. The shades were not hit and miss at all. They were all hits LOVE! Matte formulations are not only difficult to perfect, but to have all consistently beautiful formulas across a vast shade range (from white to black...literally), is even more difficult. Yet this palette has managed to achieve that. It really makes me want to save up and venture into getting the other ones!

So that now brings me to my thoughts on the affordable option: the Stila Eyes Are the Window to the Mind Palette.

Stila Eyes Are The Window to the Mind Palette
Price: $78AUD (Price at MECCA)

So this palette came at the tail end of the matte palette craze, but it still snuck itself in there and I really don't think it's something to be overlooked. Now the packaging on this baby is gorgeous. Gold, weighted and beautiful. The inside is also awesome because it comes with a huge mirror - which I love and use all the time. It is travel friendly because of the mirror, and because although it is a more weighted product, it is not too heavy.

Then with the product inside - yaaaaaaasss. I bought this palette a while ago and knew I needed it the second I saw it was launched. I loved that it was an all matte palette. And I most definitely loved the colours that came inside. Of course the first colour my eyes were immediately drawn to was that beautiful terracotta shade. But as I looked at the palette in the store, I realised that I really liked all the colours in the palette so I bought it.

The following are the swatches of the colours in this palette:

Now, I appreciate the palette not only for packaging and colour selection, but for the formula too. The pigmentation on this baby is excellent! The swatches don't do it justice. The colours are quite more pigmented with a brush than in the swatches (which were done with my fingers). With one swipe, they give you awesome colour payoff - so a little product definitely goes a long long way.

The formula is in between the stiffness of the Viseart Palette and the creaminess of an Anastasia Beverly Hills shadow. Which I would then describe as a perfect medium. It does mean that the powder being kicked up in this palette is a bit more than the Viseart, but it also means that it has a nice soft feeling and application. It is not rough and it's very easy to get an even and clean application on the eye - I love it!

On the eyes, these look gorgeous and are so fun to use. They are definitely something that can be taken with you on holidays or vacations as a fun matte palette that you could use. I would say that these are also quite easy to blend. However, it is not as easy as the Viseart palette. They require a bit more blending than that one, but that doesn't mean that it's difficult to blend. It is still easy but it's just a bit more work.

Comparison:
So the reason I even decided to do this was because they were both matte palettes, and when you just look into the two palettes (even side by side) there are glaringly similar shades in the palette. To truly put this to the test, I did side-by-side swatches of the corresponding shades. Now, something to note is that I found that not every single shade had a comparable one, so I did the ones that appeared similar. From what I could see, 8 shades from the palettes were similar. This means that 4 of each palette were unique.

The swatches of these shades that are being compared are as follows. Note the shades are paired up - for every pair, the left is the Stila Palette and the right is the Viseart Palette:

Again, look at every swatch as a pair. The one on the left is the Stila and the one on the right is Viseart,

Again, look at every swatch as a pair. The one on the left is the Stila and the one on the right is Viseart.

As you can see, some of the shades are almost identical whilst others actually look quite different.

These swatches also came as a surprise to me. As I said above, I felt that the Stila was more pigmented than the Viseart (and hence the Viseart felt like it was easier to blend). However the pigmentation of the Viseart actually looks cleaner and better than the Stila in these photos. I do think that this is because the Viseart was a bit more smooth in application, and therefore the swatch comes out much better in one swipe than the Stila. But overall, this comparison made me realise that the quality of the shadows are a little different. I think that they are both excellent quality, but the Viseart is obviously a bit smoother and better. Consequently, the vibrancy of the shadow was a bit better than the Stila.

Similarities

• Colour range: As you can see from the swatches the colours do overlap a fair bit. Although not always identical, they are similar.

• All Matte Shadows: As you know, both were known well for the fact that they are all matte shadows in the palette. 

• Pigmentation: Although the actually level of pigmentation is a bit different, I do want to acknowledge that both are well pigmented. Neither are patchy or powdery or ugly.

• Formulation: Now this is weird because the formulas are different. But compared to other shadows (that are not Viseart or Stila), these are both a bit more dry in formula and less creamy than others, both are pigmented, both are blend-a-able, both don't kick up much powder, and both are easy to use. However please note that this is in comparison to other shadows - fundamentally, these shadows are quite different in formula. 

• Versatility: The palettes are both extremely versatile and different looks can be made with them both - despite being all matte palettes. 

Differences

• Packaging: The Stila is luxurious and comes with a mirror, whilst the Viseart is a bit more "cheap" feeling and plastic. 

• Blend-a-bility: I do think that there is a notable difference between the blend-a-bility of the two shadow formulas. The Viseart is definitely much easier to blend than the Stila. This doesn't mean that the Stila is bad to blend, but the Viseart just has such a beautiful glide and ease to it that you cannot compare it with another shadow.

• Vibrancy: I think that this is tightly linked to the formula, but the Viseart colours produce a more vibrant colour than the Stila - it's cleaner and brighter looking. 

• Formulation: So this is a weird one because it is also included in the similarities. However, like I said above, there are differences in the formulation of the shadows. I think that the Viseart kicks up a bit less powder than the Stila, the Stila is a little bit more pigmented in and of itself, and the Viseart is a bit easier to blend (as above).

Verdict: Spend. If you have the funds and if you're a beginner because it is so easy to use and very portable. The colours are also so versatile and awesome. Save. If you are a collector and if the Viseart is too expensive. The Stila is still excellent quality and I do still love it.

I know that this is another ambiguous post but I think that they are quite similar palettes. However, the Viseart is slightly better in quality than the Stila in most areas. That makes me recommend that more, but if you don't want to fork out the $$$ for the Viseart, I definitely think the Stila is awesome and gorgeous.