Easter Eyes with Stila!

 

Happy Easter if you celebrate! And just happy Spring in general! Today I did a fun eye look for brunch with my family that I wanted to share. I recently picked up two Stila Smudge Sticks at the Ulta 21 Days of Beauty event but they retail for $20 a piece regularly. I have one already in Mint Julep and I just love the formula. They are smooth and creamy but still last all day on my lids.

The shades I picked up are Gilded (a gold/bronze shimmer) and Violet, which is a true pink-toned purple. 

Violet is matte and it is creamy enough that any patchiness is easily fixed with a second layer. To me though, it glides on with full color in one swipe and wore all day (8 hours) on primed lids.

Gilded is a metallic liner and is really beautiful on. I can see myself reaching for this all the time come summer and this also wore well for 8 hours.

I am wearing Violet as a double line on my lid and Gilded on my lower lash line. I have not tested these on my waterline because I choose not to wear eyeliner there except on rare occasions, but these are waterproof, so I assume that means they should last at least a few hours on the waterline. 

I am also wearing NYX liquid black liner, Benefit Roller Lash mascara, and Colourpop eyeshadow in Tea Party. 

I hope you guys have had a good weekend! What is your favorite Easter candy? Mine is robin's eggs (the malt kind).

Spring Forward with Stila Smudge Stick in Mint Julep

I was aghast when I realized this Sunday is 'Spring Forward'...where we all lose a precious hour of sleep!
I don't think I can handle this.
However, my new Stila Smudge Stick in Mint Julep is bound to make me look bright-eyed and bushy -tailed come Sunday morning brunch. Some of you may have seen me wearing it today on my Instagram, and I have to say, I am in love with this mint liner!

Stila has been a brand that I have neither shunned nor really gravitated to. However, I am really impressed with their Spring 2014 launches of new Smudge Stick colors and other more out of the box shades and offerings to their line. They have really impressed me, especially with this liner.

Mint Julep ($20) is a true mint liner that is creamy, glides on so smoothly, is paraben free, and is not animal tested. Vitamin E and C give it creaminess and act as slight anti-aging agents on your delicate eye-lid area.

What I really love about this product is that is lasts ALL day. When I posted a picture of my eye look on Instagram, I had already been wearing it for over a full work day. After, I have since gone out to dinner and worn it the rest of the night, around 14 hours, and it looked like I had just put it on. I have oily lids, and yes I did prime, but this was still incredible. I also really dig how fresh the color is, and that you can create some mod looks with it.

To create this look, I lined my eye with a very thin line of NYX liquid black liner, and then followed the shape with Stila Smudge Stick in Mint Julep, continuing to the little 'wing' of my black liner. I kept the rest of my eye simple with a wash of nude shadow and some mascara. This would also look create on the waterline, as a thicker line, or worn all by itself.

This is a great liner for the upcoming Spring and Summer months because it is unexpected and waterproof! Yes! Can't wait to tuck this into my beach bag!

Happy Springing Forward Pandas!

Lovely In London

I wish I could be Lovely in London right now. But Southern California weather isn't too bad! Thanks to Stila, I can pretend to be in London as often as I want with this fun, travel-sized palette.

'Lovely in London' is one of Stila's collectible city palettes. It just happens to be #1 in the group. It comes with 5 eye shadows and 1 lip/cheek color along with a mirror and a helpful look guide. It retail for $16.

You actually get a lot of product in this little palette. Click the picture if you want to see the shades close up. They all have very British names, which I love.

Keep reading to see swatches!

Notting Hill is the first shade in the palette. Whenever I hear that, I always think of the Hugh Grant flick. Sigh. Okay, back to beauty -- it is a matte light brown. Great for brows... not so great for shadow.

As you can see it is very light. Once again, mattes everywhere make me sad...

The next shade is 'Duchess' and it is a true, sparkly, warm-toned gold. Simply beautiful and fit for royalty. It is my favorite shade in the whole palette, and the best performing.

Super pretty and pigmented. A little goes a long way. This is perfect for summer's gilded lids trend.

Next we have 'Castle', the middle highlighting shade. You can use this as a base color all the way up to the browbone. I am guessing this is why there is so much of it! It is a matte cream that pulls pink.

It has decent color pay-off and is creamier than the other mattes in the palette.

Next comes 'Tower Bridge' which ever so slightly deeper than Notting Hill and is also matte. Nothing special here.

It is really streaky and dry. It took a lot of product to get this swatch.

High Street is the last eye shadow shade. It is a dark brown matte.

Yes it has good color payoff but it is blotchy and patchy and all sorts of gross.

Primrose is the lip and cheek color. It is a pretty light pink and I love this product, my favorite thing in the palette.

It is creamy, not sticky, and is the perfect urban girl color. Very London and I am in love with it. Thank goodness for this or the palette would be a lost cause.

Final Thoughts: Buy at your own risk and be Lovely in London with something else...

Price: 6/10
Staying Power: 8/10
Packaging: 8/10
Color/Wearability: 6/10
Quality/Branding: 7/10

Total: 35/50 = C- = Pretty Sad Panda

xoxo PrettyPanda



Lovely In London

I wish I could be Lovely in London right now. But Southern California weather isn't too bad! Thanks to Stila, I can pretend to be in London as often as I want with this fun, travel-sized palette.

'Lovely in London' is one of Stila's collectible city palettes. It just happens to be #1 in the group. It comes with 5 eye shadows and 1 lip/cheek color along with a mirror and a helpful look guide. It retail for $16.

You actually get a lot of product in this little palette. Click the picture if you want to see the shades close up. They all have very British names, which I love.

Keep reading to see swatches!