Review: Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner

As I was walking through IMATS, I passed by the Stila booth.  I didn't really plan on buying anything, because I knew Stila was sold in stores near me, and I was mostly shopping/testing companies that I couldn't find in stores.  But, I tried these out, and I really liked them!  Since it's been over a month since I've had the product, I might as well write a little review, especially now that I see it featured in online stores.

I'll start by copy&pasting some of the company info from the Stila website:

Introducing Stila's new Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eye Liners, color-rich, vibrant, easy-to-use waterproof eye liners infused with twinkling multi-pearl micro-glitter that stays on all day and night. Key Benefits:

• Perfect blend of pearls and intense pigment

• Waterproof and long-wearing

• Easy-to-use, long-handled pen-like component with soft sponge applicator

   Well, I have to agree.  The colors were very rich, vibrant, and twinkling.  At first swatch on the back of my hand, the colors seemed a bit watered down and thin, but it actually dries fairly pigmented, and the micro-glitter really stands out, but not in an overwhelming way.  I only bought one in the color Royal, which is a hott purple shade. 

   When I decided to wipe of the swatch from my hand with a makeup wipe, it did not come off easy!  It is definitely waterproof and smudge proof.  After working at it, I kind of had to peel it off, almost like dried up eyelash glue.  That can be both a good thing and a bad thing.  Once you put it on your eyes, you know you're safe for long lasting wear without any problems until the end of the night. But when you're done and it's time to take the make up off, well, you'll be wishing it came off easy, lol.  I had to press my make up removing wipe on it, and slowly and carefully, kind of rolled it off.

   Other than that, it is pretty easy to use.  Most liquid liners I have used were always awkward for me.  The handle would be an awkward length and shape.  The applicator, whether it be a felt tip or brush, would either be too long, short, thick, thin, flimsy, or stiff, and just overall difficult to control.  Not the case for this eyeliner.  I have to say, of all the things I can possibly be picky about with a liquid eyeliner applicator, I have nothing bad to say about this one.  I never even really thought about it until I read the product description "easy-to-use" and I thought, "Wow, it actually is!"

Since I bought this at IMATS, I got a pretty good discount on it.  It retails at $22 on both Stila Cosmetics website and Sephora.com (I also wrote a review there, giving it 4 stars) which is a little much for my budget.  The product, however, does live up to the company's claims.  It is very pigmented, sparkly, easy to use, and long-wearing.  The fact that it is waterproof is both a good thing and a bad thing: you don't have to worry about smudging while you wear it, but when you want to take it off, you will need to work a little hard to remove it. I'll probably buy more when I want/need another glitter eyeliner.

Stila Cosmetics Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Royal

This item can be purchased at stilacosmetics.com and sephora.com.  Both websites are featured on Ebates!  Sign up and get cash back! http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=%2BwQ3nPIv8zo%2BSkUS0ZC0wA%3D%3D

My New Z Palette & Some Magnetic Depotted Make Up

[I've been wanting to do a lot of reviews and tips about some things I have, but my laptop broke so I didn't get to do much of what I wanted.  Thankfully, my bf left his laptop here at my house, so I'm going to take advantage of that.  OK, well, I've been using his old laptop he's had since freshman year, but it's not the best thing to do work on.  Anyway, here's something for now.]

I never went out of my way to palette-ize my make up, until I found myself annoyed with how I stored my variety of make up pots.  I actually didn't to much to store them- I've had my father's old tool compartment storage cabinet thingy (with the small drawers to hold screws, nails, nuts, bolts, etc), cleaned it out, and "organized" my make up in them.  It was much better than the big dump bag I had, where I neatly placed everything on top of each other, but only to be annoying and messed up again when I had to dig for certain things that I wanted.  Although with this cabinet of small drawers allowed me to separate my shadows, blushes, and concealers from each other, I was still stacking some on top of each other because it was easier to lay them flat than upright in order to fit them inside the drawers.  It was also frustrating with different shaped items when trying to puzzle piece them together, and the pots took up too much space. Trying to figure out what I wanted to wear was annoying, because I couldn't see the colors, either.  So, I FINALLY bought a palette so I could depot my make up, clearing up some space.  I did find, however, that some make up pans were magnetized, while others were not.  I wanted to share my experiences, so I did a little video.

(this video was done on my old camera, and edited on an old laptop.  my apologies for the poor quality, but I was still able to show you the main idea of what I wanted to share. After watching the video, I wanted to re-record, but I had already finished adding magnets to my pans.)

Kinda weird, right?  Well, mostly the MAC quad and L'Oreal duo that only had one shadow that stuck well to the palette.  The strength of the Stila and L'Oreal single was intense, too.  I honestly had a difficult time removing them from the palette.

To depot my make up, I used the no heat method that I learned from YouTube tutorials.  Some were pretty easy, like the MAC and L'Oreal single shadows. Others were a bit difficult, especially the NYX shadow.  The NYX single shadow was actually my first depot ever, and I wasn't as prepared as I should have been.  While trying to pry off the upper tray, I must have used a little too much force, or didn't have a good grip on it, that when it popped off, it went flying and the shadow shatter when it landed on the table.  I was able to re-press it with an alcohol pad, but it just doesn't look cute anymore :( .  The Stila palette was annoying with all the cardboard to go through.  When I slipped alcohol under the pans, it would just get absorbed by the cardboard.  Idk why I didn't follow the tutorials that tell you to just peel off the layers of cardboard.  But even after I finally got them out, the glue was so hard and tough, it forever to clean off the back of the pans with an alcohol soaked cotton ball wrapped in a stronger alcohol wipe.  I also had to wear rubber gloves (my parents are nurses so we always had some lying around the house, now I feel they're a household staple) because it started to get painful gripping the metal pans on the edges.  A lot of work, but I'm just thankful for the outcome of condensing my make up into palettes.

And finally, my thoughts on the Z Palette.  I first heard about these through YouTube Guru Reviews, especially in comparison to other palettes available.  I decided on the Z Palette (www.zpalette.com) because I liked the large size, opened space (no well dividers!), and the clear plastic window which allows me to see exactly what is inside the palette.  It suits me personally because it conveniently holds a lot of make up in a little space on my bedroom dresser.  It's made of recycled materials, I'm assuming paper products, and it is pretty sturdy and flexible at the same time, unlike most plastic palettes.  If you drop this palette, it probably won't break since there are no hinges and paper doesn't necessarily "crack."  However, the make up inside might not exactly survive the drop.  I wouldn't leave this in the bathroom, as I can see moisture being its worst enemy.  But like I said, I will be storing this palette safely on my bedroom dresser, so it's fine for me.

The Z Palette website has a lot of helpful information about the palette itself, how to depot make up, and where you can buy them, whether through their website, or other sellers.  I purchased mine from Beauty.com so I can shop through my Ebates account.