Makeup Monday: New Stila Liners for Spring 2011

Stila introduced a few awesome new products this spring, and I had the opportunity to review three of them. Well, it's technically only two products, but three shades. Two new colors of the Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Liner and one brand new Glitter Liner. Take a look:


Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in Indigo and Dark Brown plus Stila Glitter Eye Liner in Kitten.


The Stay All Day waterproof liner comes in felt tip pen form. Note how the tip of the pen comes to a very fine point. The glitter liner comes with a thin brush style applicator.



Left to right: Stay All Day Waterproof liners in Indigo and Dark Brown (applied with pen tip and then applied using the side of the pen) and Kitten Glitter Liner applied thin and thick.

The Stay All Day liners really impressed me. I have never been a fan of felt-tip liners for a few reasons. I feel like I don't have enough control over my line with a felt tip liner. I also experience skipping and tugging and lines that aren't smooth, and the pens I've tried tend dry out really quickly. The Stila ones are some of the nicest I've ever used.

First of all, the tip is long and tapers into a very fine point. This is good because the length of the felt tip means it will hold more liquid. More liquid means it stays wet while lining and you don't get the lumpy looking line that happens when the tip dries out. And then there's the obvious: The fine tip means you can get a fine line. But that doesn't mean you're limited to a fine line, you can use the side of the tip to make a thicker line just as easily.

Second, the formula is very workable. It stays wet long enough to finish your line, it's opaque enough to get perfect color and coverage without layering, but it also dries fast enough to not ruin your line when you curl your lashes. The formula also has a sticky-rubbery quality to it that keeps it from bleeding and running like some felt tip liners do.

And third, also an obvious fact: It's waterproof. Once it dries, it's there for good. It doesn't smudge, doesn't run, doesn't come off at all until you make it come off with makeup remover. Felt tip eyeliners I've used in the past have such a thin, marker-like formula that they start running at the first sign of moisture. Not these. These last all day (and all night if you sleep with your makeup on, oops). I've been removing mine with jojoba oil or Almay makeup remover pads as they don't come off with regular soap and water.

There are a few negatives to balance out the positives. The tip of the pen can get covered in eyeshadow from application and it can alter the color a little. This is a minor annoyance, but it was the one thing I noticed the most. It can be solved by wiping it on a clean paper towel or on the back of your hand after using it. Also, since it's a pen, it will dry out eventually. After a few weeks of testing, I noticed that it didn't flow as easily as it did when it was new. When felt tip pens start to dry out, they become more difficult to use.

Now, for the glitter liner. It was a surprise! Stila doesn't strike me as a flashy-glittery type of brand, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The formula of the liner is about average for liquid glitter liners, except the glitter is much smaller so it's not as chunky. It has a tiny metallic type of shimmer that provides most of the bulk and color in the liner and it's accented with tiny flecks of bronze, gold, copper, pink and iridescent metallic microglitter. It's thick, wet and gel-like like your standard glitter liner, but the small size of the particles and lack of large chunky glitter makes it much more smooth and even when applying. The formula contains chamomile extract that's supposed to be soothing to the skin, so that's a nice touch.

I had expected a chunky type of glitter liner, but that's not what this turned out to be. It's a smooth metallic sparkle type of glitter, it flashes several different colors and it is rather shiny, but it's not flashy or wild or over the top. If there could be such a thing as office-appropriate glitter, this would be it. Conservative glitter. How about that? It can be worn sheer or layered for more sparkle. And it's not strictly eyeliner, either. You can dab a little on over your shadow like a glitter gel, or wear it as a solid glitter shadow, or even put a little on your lashes like glitter mascara.

What I like most about this shade of glitter liner (Kitten, after their best selling eyeshadow) is the eye-brightening effect. The reflective quality of the metallic shine really brings some light to my eyes. It makes my dark brown eyes sparkle.

I think this would be great for a subtle bronzed look in the summertime. Maybe a little hint of a shimmery light nude or cream colored shadow on the lid and a big slash of Kitten glitter liner with tons of mascara, maybe some bronzer and a touch of warm coral blush... Maybe a natural lip with it?

Here's how it looks on my eyes:


You've seen this already, but it's relevant so I'm posting it again! This is the Dark Brown waterproof liner along the lashline and Kitten glitter liner just above that. They go very well together.


This is the waterproof liner in Dark Brown all by itself. Nice smooth line, easy to control the thickness and wing it out at the end.



Here's Indigo and a funny story to go along with it. Not my best application, but I can explain... Was I was applying this to my eye, I noticed that I had a little splatter of it next to my nose. I brushed it off and kept on lining. The I started to notice that my hand felt weird and itchy... I stopped lining and looked at my hand and HOLY CRAP. There was blue liquid running down my arm, pooled under my fingernails, soaked into my cuticles... I don't know how I didn't notice that it had exploded until it was literally dripping off my hand. I don't know what I did to it that made it overflow! I emailed the company and asked what I did wrong, and they said it was just a defective pen and they haven't heard of it happening to anyone else. Why does this kinda thing always happen to me?

And here's the Kitten glitter liner all alone. It takes on a more bronzed look when worn alongside bronze shadow. Against a darker, cooler toned shadow, it looks brighter and more golden.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed all three items. Nice, easy application, beautiful bold color, bulletproof longwearing formula. I'd love to be able to buy these liners in more shades. I know they have a black, but I'm thinking... forest green? Deep violet? Oooh yeah, a violet one would be amazing.

The Stay All Day liquid liner is $20 for 0.016 oz and the Kitten glitter liner is $16 for 0.10 fl oz.

(These were sent to me for review.)