Stila "Spectrum" Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner Swatch + Review

Today is a very special day. It's my first liquid eyeliner review and the first time I've ever reviewed a Stila product on the blog. For the longest time I stayed far, far away from liquid liner. I was never very good at applying liquid liner. It also came out uneven and splotchy. It was a mess. But recently I was playing around with the Stila Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner in "Sepctrum" and the sparks were flying and you know how this tale goes. One thing led to another and pretty soon I was smitten.

The Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner comes in about eight shades but the one I own--"spectrum"--is a black with rainbow glitter. I hadn't heard anything about this product when I bought it but I was hoping that it would last longer than the few drugstore liquid liners I'd tried in the past. It retails for $22 at Sephora and Ulta. At first, I was disappointed with the product. I had a lot of unfair expectations (like I had hoped that my liquid liner application skills would increase exponentially if I paid a lot of money for a liner) and in my frustration this product got lost in my bathroom drawer.

After using it again this past month, I realized that while the Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Liner is, by no means a perfect product, I was being unnecessarily harsh. I have extremely oily lids and it takes a serious primer to make my eye makeup last all day. This stuff is good for five hours but any longer than that the product will begin to smudge and rub off. However, if you have dry eyelids, I don't think that that would be a problem. The applicator (while it didn't transform me into a liquid liner ninja over night) is a pleasure to work with. The handle is long but  is close enough to the applicator to give you maximum control. The end is a stiff (but slightly flexible) sponge that is easy to maneuver and create different eye liner looks. It is easily the best part of the product. I find brushes too difficult to control and pens don't give enough control. 

One of the things that is kind of annoying is that while the glitter is noticeable on the applicator and even when swatched on the back of the hand, it somehow doesn't translate very well when applied to the lids. Today, I used this product to do my makeup and my friend came to my dorm room as I was getting ready. She saw that my eye liner was supposed to have glitter in it but she commented that she couldn't see the glitter when applied. I hadn't really noticed before--but she was right. From five inches away, you can barely tell that there is a hint of glitter in the product. This is kind of annoying considering that this sparkle liner is more expensive than a basic black Stila liner.

POSTIVES
-Firm but felxible applicator
-Lasts well


NEGATIVES
-Price ($22)
-Once it dries, it can be rubbed off very easily
-Glitter is unnoticeable from a distance

In conclusion, I will probably not be repurchasing this product once I'm done with it. I really liked it but Maybelline's Stiletto Liquid Eye Liner is a very similar formulation with a very similar sponge applicator for a fraction of the price. Maybe in the future when I have a steady job and income, I might think of splurging on this product again but not any time soon.

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