What a Stila

Stila has been a brand I've been admiring from afar for a long time. It's hard to find over here in Ireland so mostly I lusted over the pretty, innovative and quirky beauty range via magazines, internet reviews and recommendations and I was particularly intrigued by their highly-lauded Convertible Colour range.

Stila Convertible Colour in Petunia €21.50, Stay All Day Liquid Eye Liner €17.50

Finally, I decided I had to try it see what all the fuss was about and, after quite a far reaching department store search, I had almost given up when I was strolling in Harvey Nicholl's in Dundrum one day and lo and behold I finally found a Stila counter, and almost skipped over to it -  much to the amusement of the sales assistant!  And that was the start of a very exciting beauty relationship and a new priority on my wish list! 

Like many of the best, most original makeup brands Stila was founded by makeup artist Jeanine Lobell in 1994. The aim of the company is to provide their customers with the tools to create makeup artist worthy effects themselves. The products are designed to be easy to use and just that little bit different from standard makeup while being reasonably priced at the same time.

Another accolade of the brand is how popular the cosmetics are among leading makeup artists and also the constant stream of beauty awards they receive adds a bit of confidence to customers that Stila is a high quality brand to purchase.

I had a couple of prioritiues picked out on my fist visit to Stila I and left the counter with a list of many more to get next but my first choice was the Convertible Colour for lips and cheeks (one of the stand out and most popular products of the brand) and the much talked about Stay All Day Liquid Eye Liner and both have taken pride of place in my bag ever since.

The Convertible Colour in Petunia is one of my favourite makeup items of all time; it's so easy to use and really brigthens up your face in a few strokes. It's created to be used on cheeks and lips which provides the perfect way to have your lips and cheeks complement each other. I use it both with other makeup - including the Stay All Day Liner - or on its own which can look just as good; a fresh look in a tiny pot! I've also noticed in the past week or so since the sun came out that Petunia suits a slightly sun-kissed look perfectly.

Stila are known for their very pretty packaging and Convertible Colour is the highlight of the brand's design with a slimline case that fits easily in your bag and has a little mirror to boot.

I am a huge fan of liquid liner and, as I've said before, I have had a lot of disappointing purchases trying to find a really good product that just sits for more than a few hours without smudging so when I read the many glowing reviews of the Stay All Day Liquid Eye Liner - and of course its promising title - I had to see if it lived up to its name. And I wasn't disappointed.

I gave it a pretty tough first outing by trying it initially at a wedding and thankfully I was extremely impressed; it did indeed stay all day. The waterproof liner is quite fluid so you really do need to be precise when you're applying it and, with its stay all day capapbilities, if you make a mistake you really need to act quickly or the mistake will stick too so, as with all liquid liners, quite a bit of practice is advised. But I loved the depth of the colour which is highly pigmented and very striking. It works best for a more dramatic look and you must wait for it to dry fully before you move your eyes too much but all in all I absolutely love this pen. It's defintely one of the best liquid liners I've ever come across and really does stay with you all day so beware, a purchase of this must also come with a purchse of a very effective yet gentle eye makeup remover too!

With the succcess of these two products I simply cannot wait to try many more from the innovative brand!

Stila is available from Harvey Nichols Dundrum,online at http://www.brownthomas.com/ and also www.Stila.co.uk  deliver to Ireland.