Stila Smudge Sticks

 I love Stila's current line of packaging that's all art-supply themed. I don't know why I'm so into it, because I'm not an artist (well, not a paint and colored pencils sort of artist, obviously dance is art), I just think it's really cute and clever. I resisted for as long as I could, but Ulta had a special on this Smudge Stick set last month and it was a really nice selection of colors, so I decided to treat myself. Turns out it's on sale again, so if you like what you read about it, now's a good time to buy!

 The included colors are Stingray (basic black), Lionfish (sparkly medium brown), Aubergine (shimmery medium orchid), Navy (basic navy blue), and Emerald (bright and shimmery Color of the Year emerald). They come in this cute tin, but if you want to keep them with the rest of your makeup it feels like the plastic insert would be easy to remove and then you could use the tin for something else.

I wore Stingray last night, but foolishly forgot to get a good close-up so you can see it. Anyway, it was easy to apply and gave a pretty good fine line which I was then able to smudge out a bit. It wore well. Above, you can see all of the colors swatched in the order I listed them. They all look pretty nice.

I'm disappointed to say that my Navy stick was broken off at the tip so it's completely flat. This is the sort of liner where the product is inside the plastic and you twist to bring more up and it makes a small fine tip. I don't know how I'm supposed to sharpen this flattened liner? At least it's the color I'm least likely to wear, and since I got it on sale for $15 for the set that makes it $3, but if I had paid full price or it had been a color I really wanted, I'd be really annoyed.

Over all, I feel like if you're already pretty happy with your current selection of liners, there's probably no reason to also get this one. But if you're in the market for some good go-tos, this would be a good investment (especially while it's on sale!). Stingray and Navy are good classic basics, Lionfish would look great with the rose golds that are hot right now or with my favorite olive greens, and Aubergine will come in handy for looks inspired by the 2014 Color of the Year Radiant Orchid. I think most people will find Emerald hard to use. Even as a green lover, I don't know how often I'll use it as I usually go towards dark instead of bright. I am tempted to wear it for day makeup just because I think it's a fun color, but I don't know if I will use it for performance makeup very often.