Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner Review, Photos, Swatches
Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner: Stingray, Peacock, Koi
When Quality Beats Quantity: Stila Smudge Sticks
Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner Lionfish
($20.00 for 0.01 oz.) is a twist-up waterproof eyeliner available in eight shades: Blue Ribbon (slate blue sheen), Lionfish (deep bronze sheen), Moray (golden olive sheen), Purple Tang (dark purple sheen), Silver Dollar (metallic silver), Stingray (jet black), Peacock (vibrant teal sheen), and Koi (metallic gold).
Ever since learning that twist-up eyeliners give you such a TINY amount of product (the average is about 0.01 oz., can you believe it?), it’s been painful to find myself gravitating towards any of them. Stila’s Smudge Sticks are incredibly creamy, rich in color, and apply like butter on the water line or lash line. Their vibrancy is what really makes them worth checking out, because it doesn’t take much product to get an opaque line. It’s also soft enough to apply gently to the lash line without tugging, but it’s not so soft that it just melts onto the lash line.
- Stingray is a deep, dark black with a little sheen.
- Peacock is a aqua-blue with a slight metallic sheen; it’s not really the teal I imagined of the shade–much bluer.
- Koi is a metallic medium gold–very high sheen.
My experience wearing these has been fairly positive; they really stay put on my lash line, even after twelve hours. They’re budgeproof, smudgeproof, and waterproof, but I find if I apply it to my water line, I do get some irritation (which may just be my sensitivity) and it does seem to slide off after two or three hours. I don’t really feel the irritation, but when I look in the mirror, my eyes are redder than usual. So I’ll probably stick to wearing it just on the lower lash line rather than the water line (even though it lasts so well in comparison to most eyeliners), because red-tinged eyes are way un-sexy.
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- Product: 28/30
- Value: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
RECOMMENDATION: If you’ve had trouble with eyeliner staying put and feel as if you’ve exhausted all of your options, Stila’s Smudge Sticks just might do the trick.
Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner: Stingray, Peacock, Koi
Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner: Stingray, Peacock, Koi
Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner: Stingray, Peacock, Koi
Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner: Stingray, Peacock, Koi
Those looks nice.
how would you compare smudge stick shade black to stila’s kajal in onyx ?
the same ? 🙂
I don’t have any Kajals, sorry!
Hi Christine – have you ever tried their Kajals? I’m wondering how they compare. Their Kajals smear on me after about 5 minutes, however I love their smudgepots
I haven’t, sorry!
The Onyx kajal is the most intense and best lasting product on my waterline.. blackest black, very creamy and lasts relatively long (several hours – I have few products last this long on my waterline).
I cannot line my eye with it though – way too smudgey. Best for the waterline, but for lining I use Mac smoulder or UD 24/7 zero.
I think these are supposed to be less creamy, so I will give the coloured ones a try first, personally.. hope this helps a tiny bit 😉
Peacock is beautiful, just like it’s namesake
I agre with you on the tiny amount of product in automatic liners, but I still gravitate to them. I guess because I feel like I’m wasting so much product when I sharpen traditional pencil liners.
love the peacock!
Loved the color of the peacock liner but it smudged on me after an hour. I had to return it 🙁
Peacock looks gorgeous!!! Is the texture similar to the liners in Stila’s convertible colour sticks? I loved them but they had very little product in them as too (less I suspect as there is a coordinating shadow near the middle of the stick)
I’ve never tried those, sorry 🙁
Hi, sorry to randomly jump in! I have several of both, and I’d say the smudge sticks stay on the lid longer, and doesn’t smudge as much as the convertible eye color. I personally like the convertible liner better, but I have very little issue with liner not staying put.
I bought Peacock from Sephora when I was in the US, but the twisting mechanism was faulty. So I went back to exchange for another one, but the twisting mechanism also faulty. I checked several others on the shelves and even had the Sales Associate tried it out, but most of them either could be twisted out but can’t twist back in, or simply can’t be twisted out at all.
So I gave up, and exchanged it for Tarina Tarantino Starchild palette, paid up the difference, and I am a very happy and satisfied owner of the Starchild palette now! 😀
But rather disappointed that I didn’t get to own Peacock and other shades….was so looking forward to them….. 🙁
I had to twist one of mine for 5 minutes, but eventually it twisted just fine! The other two twisted right away though.
So it’s not just me! Mine doesn’t twist back down which really annoys me because pieces keep breaking off when I take the cap off.
All of them look pretty but peacock really catches my eye.
Absolutely STUNNING!! I’m loving how strong the pigment is….my fave colour would have to be peacock, how pretty is it!! 🙂 <3
I have these in Peacock and Purple Tang. The colors are gorgeous, but as with all “budgeproof” eyeliners, these just slide right off of my eyelids. Two hours wear time for me, tops. About the same as UD 24/7 liners. 🙁
Have you tried Benefit She-Laq or Make Up For Ever Eye Seal? Since it sounds like you’ve gone through a lot of liners, you might find it better than trying new ones when you can use She-Laq to salvage what you already own!
i have she-laq and its GREAT!! usually eyeliner is gone within an hour, but that really makes it last!!
Yep!! At some point, it just becomes a cheaper option to buy She-Laq and use it on all those eyeliners that smudged before – ’cause She-Laq really keeps things put!
Unfortunately, I don’t use either of those two brands. Thanks for the suggestions, though, I’ll just keep looking for a solution!
Thanks for the review Christine. That peacock looks so pretty. I just want to find a liner that stays on the waterline though!!
This bothered my waterline as well but is the only liner that ive ever seen that stays put so long so I love it for everything else!
These are very pretty, but like you said, hard to like the twist eyeliners knowing what you’re getting.
These look nice. I like automatic eyeliners better than pencils just because I always break pencils when I sharpen them. Yeah, I have skills.
I have these in Moray and Koi, and love them both to death. I find these liners very easy to apply (my biggest issue with most liners is that they are way too hard, and hurt my eyelid when I try to apply – I’m too lazy to soften then beforehand), and they last a long time on me. I’m a fan of the twist up liners, despite them not having much product. The only issue I found with these is that, at least with mine, they don’t twist back in.
I love the Peacock shade, it’s really pretty.
I have used these many, many times and they really are smudge-proof!
I have a few of these and while I love the colors and their application, I’ve had to give them up because when I apply on my waterline or tightline my upper eyelid, it transfers to my contacts! Ugh. So frustrating and nothing will get it off once it’s on the lens so it’s in the trash with a lens and popping in a new one…or two.
OMG GORG!
I have one in lionfish (deep bronze color) and I like it. I’ve never tried it on my waterline so I can’t contribute my response in that department. I do use it on my lower lash line and it stays very well for the entire day (8-10 hours).
I have Blue Ribbon and love it! I wish they’d come out with a bronzey purple, and an emerald green.
About the amount of liner in automatic liners…I wonder how much product we actually sharpen away from our pencil liners? I sharpen my pencil before each use. I think the typical pencil is .04 oz, right? Maybe the difference in value isn’t as huge as it sounds?
I wonder, too. I don’t sharpen mine all that often (except when there’s not much left exposed), so I bet it depends on each person – as I know some sharpen every use!
I swatched all the shades at Sephora (for fun) one day and boy it was SO longlasting. Didn’t buy it though because I really don’t like “twist up” liners. Also, the tips always seem to be a little thick -how do you sharpen them to get a really thin point??
I wish they had this formula but in pencil form.
As far as I know, you can’t really sharpen these. And I don’t know if I would, since you’d end up shaving off some of the product!
How does Koi compare to Mac’s fabulous felines liquid eyeliner “pure show”, it the gold similar?
They’re very similar — Pure Show is probably a little brighter/more metallic.
Peacock and Koi look really pretty!
They all look so pigmented and gorgeous, I only have the black one. Best black eyeliner I have ever used, it lasts so long and never gets smudged under my eyes.
Hmm… nah, not quite!