busy girl thoughts

*Compare Stila with Chanel, Dior, Benefit, M.A.C., Nars, Clinique, Estee Lauder and Laura Mercier.* My favorite is Stila (especially heather , this color compliments all skin color, and is constantly sold out), for the following reasons:

1. Reasonable price (it’s about median price in department store brands) I got a six-pan compact, which is $24, and each refill is $14. If you don’t want the compact, the individual shadow (comes with environmental friendly paper container) is $16, which is in line with Dior, Anna Sui and only $2 cheaper than Benefit and M.A.C.

2. Texture is consistent and color is easy to apply. Most of the eyeshadow powder is not of consistent particles, and that leaves heavy spots or streaks on the eyelids. Chanel and Nars are about as good in this area. Estee Lauder and Dior are decent. Laura Mercier is the worst among pricier brands. Clinique and Benefit are comparable with Laura Mercier in quality but slightly cheaper. Drugstore brands? Don’t even think about it.I’ve learned from Style Network that some makeups you can cheat with drugstore brands, such as lipstick and mascara. However, THE makeup that you can’t cheat on is Eyeshadow. The reason is that due to frequent shipping and poor handling, drugstore eyeshadows need to be packed more dense than department store brands. That’s why drugstore shadow powder is not as loose as department store ones, and therefore color doesn’t look natural and is clumpy.

3. The pigment is abundant so it doesn’t take much to apply, and as a result the eyeshadow lasts much longer. I bought another 8-color compact from Laura Mecier a year after I bought Stila, and it has less left than Stila even though I use Stila more frequently. That doesn’t surprise me because when I apply Laura Mercier, I always feel the urge to use my finger and just dig into the shadow. For some reason the color just doesn’t show! And to clarify, for those who know me, they can witness that I don’t apply heavy makeup. I like neutral look for work.

4.It doesn’t smudge and last all day. It’s especially important for me because my eyelids are very oily (that’s another post). Stila powder lasts all day long while other brands tend to wear off after half a day.

5. All Stila eyeshadows can be applied with both wet and dry brush. Wet brush makes the color richer and staying even longer.

6. Last but not least, the state-of-art brush. I ditched my other professional eyeshadow brushes I invested over the years in favor of the free brush! (Yes! It’s even better than MAC or Sephora brushes.) The brush has two ends, one is rounded brush and the other is the flat slanted brush for eyeliner. I recommend getting at least one dark eyeshadow in the pan for eyeliner purposes, and wet the eyelinter brush when applying.

(This is color, mambo, is especially good for Asians.  It’s a cross between light brown and lavendar, natural enough for work.  For a night out for happy hour? Just apply heavier or add one more layer after work.)