Stila goodies

I recently received a giftcard from one of my sponsors, SkincareRx, and literally spent days browsing the website trying to decide what to buy. It stocks many of the biggest brands and there were hundreds of things I wanted!

In the end I chose some Stila goodies, as it's not a brand I've tried before but have heard good things about. I plumped for the Stila Convertible Colour in popular shade 'Lillium', and a Stila Lip and Cheek Stain in 'Yumberry Crush'.

I have to say I am a fan of the cardboard packaging. I'm loving all things natural and rustic lately, and this packaging really appeals to me. I also loved the packaging of the actual products - pretty colours and a metallicy finish. Lovely.

The Convertible Colour has been on my radar for years, so I chose the most universal shade there, Lillium. This is smaller than I was expecting, but it's still a substantial size with a lot of product. This is a muted, natural, rosy peach type of colour (excellent describing skills there...) and would definitely suit all skintones. Because it is a neutral shade, it would compliment any look, so I can see myself using this a lot. It's a lovely, smooth, creamy er... cream, and it glides on and blends beautifully. It doesn't look or feel greasy on me, but then I have dry skin anyway. As far as longevity is concerned, I don't notice it lasting any longer than my other favourite cheek creams, MAC Cream Colour Bases, but it lasts well into the day for me. It doesn't wear off enough for the need to reapply, but then I am lazy when it comes to reapplying my make up through the day. I just can't be bothered. If you are familiar with the CCB's, you'll notice it has a kind of powdery finish when it sets. The Convertible Colour is nothing like that - it stays creamy after blended and gives a dewy sheen to my skin. I love it. I'm very impressed with this cream and would love to try more colours.

Mrs Beckham tweeted recently that she has found the perfect lip and cheek colour for summer, and revealed it was Stila's Lip and Cheek Stain in Cherry Crush. As soon as I got wind of this I knew I wanted one, but the Cherry colour was too red and scary for me. Enter: Yumberry Crush! How sweet is the name? That partly helped my decision (it's cute!) but when I discovered it was a frosty pink, I was 'in there like swimwear'. It didn't disappoint either. It is a tad more rosy than I was expecting but the shimmer is so pretty and it smells absolutely divine. I love that it can be layered too so I can build up the colour should I require. I am a huge fan of the colour it stains my cheeks - a pretty, vibrant pink, but the shimmer makes it pretty hard for me to wear on a daily basis. In the warmer weather and on nights out or the weekend I would definitely wear it on my cheeks, but for now it is reserved as a lip colour only. As a stain, it lasts all day on my cheeks, and I get a good 4-5 hours wear on my lips. Very impressive!

Some swatches:

Lilium Convertible Colour - Heavily swatched on the left, blended on the right.

Yumberry Crush Lip and Cheek Stain - Thickly applied on the left, blended with the brush applicator in the middle, blended with my finger on the right.

I ordered this on a Sunday night and it arrived the following Monday, so 8 days in total. It was perfectly packaged and inside my box were some skincare samples, which was nice. The shipping cost around $25, which works out at about £15. I don't think that's bad considering it is from the US, but it's something to consider, especially as I never know when I'm going to get hit with customs charges. I'd definitely use this site again, though I'd reserve it to treat myself to some US-exclusive brands.

So all in all a big thumbs up to SkincareRx.com and Stila from me! Want some Stila for yourself? Keep your eyes peeled for my giveaway on Monday :)

xoxo