July 7, 2010

Stila summertime and the living is easy!



Stila and I have a longstanding love affair that I blame on MUA (MakeupAlley.com).  When I first started going to the site, Stila was the big thing - talked about endlessly, swapped ruthlessly and getting your hands on a paint can was like winning the lottery!  When Stila finally arrived at Holt Renfrew, we were able to start our affair in person and in earnest - we've never looked back since.

Lethargy and general laziness makes me long to pare down my beauty routine in the summer -  Stila understands this and came out with three great new products this year to meet my unreasonable demands!
One Step Makeup - 30ml - $57 - available in 8 shades and by one step they mean that it contains your primer, foundation, concealer and powder all in one bottle.  It contains 100% natural mineral pigments, has a buildable coverage, is paraben and fragrance free, minimized pores and diminishes the look of fine lines and wrinkles as well as hydrates, balances and controls oil.  These seemed to be a tall order for one little bottle of foundation so of course I had to try it out for myself.

Right away I was pleased to see that there was a colour that was light enough for me as this doesn't always happen with foundations.  I was also happy to see that it was a pump container.  The formula is very light but not liquidy so it's easy to apply with a brush.  It takes me one pump to cover my whole face including a second layer in my redder areas.   Here's my opinion of the 4 components of the one step makeup:

1 - primer - For the first week I used it without a separate primer but I found that my face's amazing foundation eating properties were too much for this one and it was obviously being sucked in through my skin and being added to the giant ball of foundation in my head so I did start using my primer again and the foundation stayed all day.
2 - foundation - The finish is smooth and it does layer without being cakey.
3 - concealer - I didn't need to use a concealer under my eyes or around my nose, where I normally would to cover darkness and redness, I just added a little extra foundation in those areas.  I haven't broken out lately so I can't say how well it would cover pimples but the redness coverage is good so I wouldn't be surprised to know that a bit of this with a concealer brush would do the job for covering those bumps as well. 
4 - powder - It claims to keep shine away all day but for me it doesn't.  Powders that claim to do the same thing are also no match for my oily T-zone so I can't really say I'm surprised.  On normal-dry skin I suspect this would be enough, but for the oily, expect to have to powder your nose as per usual.

Despite it not really being a one step for me, I still like this foundation and would buy it again - the colour match, formula and coverage are all exactly what I look for in a foundation.

One Step PrimeColor - 10ml - $29 -  another multi-tasking product that wants to be your primer, eye shadow, lip colour and cheek colour.  It comes in 6 shades:  Bronze Babe - golden bronze, Capri Coral - peachy pink, Kitten - shimmering nude pink, Per Suede - tawny rose, Pop of Pink - light pink and Rosie Posie - bright pink.  PrimeColor hydrates and balances the skin to reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles. It's also paraben and fragrance free and infused with Stila's exclusive Youth Revival bio-Available Mineral Complex which consists of 15 ionically charged minerals that read and react to your skin's needs.

I was really excited for this one due to my new found love for liquid/cream blushes. The colour I tried was Capri Coral which is a beautiful peachy colour which I did use on my cheeks and lips but found really unflattering as an eye colour.  One of the bronzes or pinks might be better for me to wear in all three places.  As a cheek and lip colour though it was lovely.  The staying power was excellent on my cheeks and about the same as a long wear lipstick would be for the lips.  I did find that a layer of gloss on top of the colour on the lips made it much more comfortable as it felt too dry to me on its own.

Smudge stick Waterproof Eye Liner - $26 - I have really been looking forward to trying this one after seeing other people's reviews and colour descriptions!  Available in 8 shades:  Blue Ribbon - navy shimmer, Koi - metallic gold, Lionfish - brown shimmer, Moray - olive shimmer, Peacock - turquoise shimmer, Purple Tang - black with purple sparkle, Silver Dollar - metallic silver and Stingray - intense black.

So when I went to Sephora at lunch and tested them by swiping them on the back of my hand I actually forgot to wipe them off and went back to the office with them still there until my boss asked me what I had done to my hand.  I tried to wash them off with regular soap, no luck - I also tried windex and carpet spot remover and they were still there and since that was about the extend of cleaning products in the office, there they stayed for the rest of the day.  It was an excellent way to test their staying power and they made it through the rest of the day until I could get home to get them off with some waterproof makeup remover.  I used the Purple Tang on my actual eyes the next day and the colour is so pretty!  Don't be scared off my the description of sparkle, it's actually very subtle and adds just a little extra something to what would otherwise be a pretty ordinary colour.

Available at Sephora and Murale, get over there and try them out yourselves!

- Lisamarie -

2 comments:

  1. PSST! Try Avon's waterproof Glimmerstick Eyeliners... they're a LOT cheaper than the ones you show here, and they are good enough that I can use it on the waterline and it stays all day!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I haven't tried that one - how much is it?

    Best, Lisamarie

    ReplyDelete

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