Sweep & Go: Eye Sticks

by ahylandmakeup

Ever since the famous Clinique Chubby Stick came into play, it seems nearly every makeup house, whether it be high end or high street is producing makeup in stick form. And not just lip products at that – step forward eyeshadow sticks. Long wearing, cream formulas in a stick. Sweep on the lid, smudge with your finger and straight out the door. Genius. Being a bit of a ‘neutral’ eyeshadow addict, naturally I’ve collated pencils of a browny taupe nature, which is actually the colour group that most brands are tending to stick to. Happy me. Here’s the favourite 4…

L-R: Bobbi Brown, Clinique, ByTerry, Rimmel

Bobbi Brown Longwear Cream Shadow Stick, ‘Golden Bronze’ £20 – my first member of the stick family and possibly my most loved. Incredibly pigmented with a high metallic shine, this looks beautiful when packed and smudged onto the lid or outer corners for a smokey feel. I’d have said it was slightly more of a taupe than a bronze, but I’ll forgive Bobbi on the misnaming of the colour owing to its super staying power.

Clinique Chubby Stick for Eyes, ‘Fuller Fudge’ £17 – a warmer brown with rich, rusty tones = a winner for blue & green eyed gals. It’s sheerer in pigmentation than that of other shadow sticks I’ve tried perhaps making it better for a soft day look. The Chubby Stick loses points however on the large rounded tip. Application is difficult – I found I had to sweep this quite hard onto the lids for the colour to come through and it got quite messy, making it hard to get an even blend due to its quick drying time. The gorgeous shade drives me to persevere…

ByTerry Ombre Blackstar Colour Fix Shadow, ‘Brown Perfection’ £27.50 – the most expensive of the bunch, it’s also the most luxurious. A densely opaque chocolate brown with stunning golden shimmer running through it. It’s soft and creamy making it easy to blend and layer, whilst having some serious staying power. This is more of an evening option for me due to its deeper tones, but used lightly along the lash line for day time is perfect. Well worth loosening the purse strings for.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Stick, ‘Bad Girl Bronze’ £4.99 – the budget buy of the four, this is also the warmest of the lot. A rich almost red toned bronze with warm golden shimmer, this is a perfect shade for the autumn months. Similar in texture to the ByTerry, it’s soft and very blendable. However, the staying power isn’t as impressive as others I’ve tried and did require some attention by mid afternoon. But for a fiver, I’m willing to deal with that.

So eyeshadow sticks are really rather great. The perfect solution to over complicated smokey eyes and a time saver, long wearing and effortless. Sweep, smudge and go. Has makeup suddenly become convenient?