Stila : Beauty and Fashion Tech

Stila Talking Smoky Eye Palette

The Stila Palette, Smoky Eye has always been popular. Now it talks too. I picked one up, and while I love the eye shadow, I could do without the talking part.

the first thing I noticed with the talking smoky eye palette was that it was rather thick. I suppose this is to accommodate the speaker mechanism. The lid has a button to push to receive instructions on using the palette to create a smoky eye. The sound is a bit scratchy, but instructions are useful and accurate. However, I’m not sure they really are all that necessary. Are people really going to play them over and over?

The shadow itself, shown with swatches above, is divine. Stila makes wonderful finely milled shadows and they chose the best selection of shades for their smoky eye palettes. I wear just the lighter shades for a day look and then can easily convert to a classic smoky eye evening look with a few additions. The slightly blue tint to the light gray shade really brightens the eyes. The result is a compact that is a staple in my makeup wardrobe.

In the end, I love this the Stila Smoky Eye palette. I don’t think it needs to talk though. You can find Stila online and cosmetic specialty stores such as ULTA Beauty.

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Popularity: 17% [?]

Dispatches From New York Fashion Week: Must Read Items

I’m not there, but plenty of others are! And they are all putting out some interesting stuff! Here is roundup of some interesting material and good ways to keep track of all that is New York fashion week.

VP of Makeup Artistry for MAC Cosmetics,Gordon E, twittered this from preparation for one of the shows. That is one heck of a lot of liner!

Want to follow MAC artists as they tweet from fashion weeks around the country? Look in the right sidebar for the live widget of their updates. It is quite fun to follow!

In the meantime, the web has been alive with fashion week reports. Here are a few must read sites:

* Follow the impressions of a plus size woman at New York fashion week in documentary form in On the Plus Side: A Fuller Figured Fashion Week Experience at the Style It Website. This is a must see item! Thanks to the Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog for brining it to my attention!

* Glam Blush has so much fashion week coverage that you can be kept in info for quite some time.

* A great site that is aggregating a multitude of blogs and websites covering fashion week is Inside the Tents. From blog posts, to photos, to video, to twitter updates, there is so much content available here that it will make your head swim!

* The Beauty of Life is running some nice posts about the makeup and nails from some of the runway shows. Check out reports from shows such as Rosa Cha (I love the nails!) and Abaete (this one has a great look from Stila Cosmetics).

* Visit Spoiled Pretty’s look at makeup from theBalm backstage at the Julie Haus show. I seriously need to try some of their stuff!

I’ll post up some more must reads early in the week!

Popularity: 10% [?]

Try Seven Mascaras With Sephora Lash Stash

Here is a great way to try out seven mascaras for the price of one.

Sephora Brand The Lash Stash is $50 worth of top selling mascara samples for $28. The kit includes:

0.14 oz Benefit A Little Bit BADgal Lash in Black, a 0.02 oz Blinc Kiss Me Mascara in Black, a 0.15 oz LORAC Publicity Stunt Lashes in Black, a 0.12 oz Smashbox Bionic Mascara in Black, a 0.24 oz Stila Multi-Effect Mascara in Black, a 1.0 oz Sephora Brand Lash Plumper in Black, and a 0.17 oz Too Faced Lash Injection in Black.

Could be a nice way to find the perfect mascara before paying full price!

Popularity: 18% [?]

Stila Cherry Crush Lip and Cheek Stain

I tend to be a big Stila fan. Their items are expensive, but the quality is usually incredible. Stila’s entry into the area of lip and cheek stain is no different. This is simply one good quality stain.

The picture below is taken in sunlight and shows the stain applied both thickly and thinly. Note that my skin is very pale, especially on my arm! So on most people the stain will not be quite that vivid:

The stain itself is a nice berry red that, like most stains, looks quite natural in appearance on the lips, especially if applied lightly. On my pale cheeks, I needed to use a very light touch, but liked the shade quite a bit.The stain did take a bit longer than some to dry when I tested it, but it then lasted well. The applicator is also wonderful. If you are familiar with Stila’s lipglazes, it is the same applicator–a built in brush that the product is twisted/clicked up into. I love that type of design, but do be careful not to overload the brush!

I count this one as another big winner from Stila!

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Stila Kitten Summer Palette and Swatches

I love Stila eyeshadow. I also particularly love the shades Kitten and Wheat (See previous review). So being in need of new ones of each shade, I jumped all over the gorgeous new Stila Kitten summer palette that includes both shades.

The new Stila palette isn’t in stores yet (watch for it to show up in May), but you can get it at the Stila Website. It has also been available on and off through the Sephora site.

I ordered one and was excited to see it when it came. The colors are gorgeous, and in true Stila fashion, they are finely milled with lots of pigment. The compact itself is a pretty summer bronze, with a mirror inside. There is no brush included.Below are skin swatches of the shades taken outdoor under cloudy conditions and with no flash. The gold and blue shades are particularly brilliant. All of the shades have a high amount of shimmer.

I also got a Stila Cherry Crush lip and cheek stain, and will have swatches of it up in another day or so.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Stila Cosmetics Brown and Taupe Eyeshadows

I have been so happy ever since Stila Cosmetics went into Ulta stores. I went to Ulta a few weeks ago and picked up a trio of eye shadows that have become absolute favorite shades.

Stila Eye Shadow Wheat Grace Barefoot Contessa

As shown above, Stila’s Eye Shadow in Wheat is a neutral light brown. It makes a great light day shade or a good base and highlighter. Grace is one of the best taupe shades I have ever seen. I love it alone on my lids or paired with wheat. Barefoot Contessa is a darker plum brown that is more on the brown side than the plum side. It makes a great crease shade and also works nicely as a liner.

Stila eye shadow is heavy on pigment, finely milled, and silky smooth, making it one of the top quality eye shadows out there.Magnetic containers are available for storing individual pans. Although single pans are a bit pricey, Stila also has duo pans that fit their single pan pots and has various trios, palettes and quads, which make shadow purchases it a bit easier.

A couple of Palette favorites are the Stila Brilliant Warm Palette: ( 2x Eyeshadow 1x Cheek Color ) (pictured above), and the Stila Brilliant Cool Palette: ( 2x Eyeshadow 1x Cheek Color ). Also watch for specials at the stores. For example, Ulta was running a special on a Stila kit when when I was there.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Stila Cosmetics Now Available at Ulta Stores

I love Stila cosmetics, especially the eyeshadow with its great pigment and shades. However, I used to rarely buy Stila because it was exclusive to Sephora and there was not a Sephora store very close to me.

That is about to change. Ulta, which seems to be adding stores almost a quickly as Walgreens these days, has started to carry Stila, including the best of Stila kit pictured above. So if you have always wanted to try Stila cosemtics and there is an Ulta near you, drop in and check it out!
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Popularity: 5% [?]