At the beginning of the year I have tasked myself with finding the best liquid lipstick formula out there and today's gems come pretty close. I have tested them both for over a month now & I finally sat down to write a little about these two shades for you. Stila All day Liquid Lipsticks are £15.00-£16.00 each and available stationary in Boots & Marks & Spencer (also online) and online only on various sites like Beauty Bay, Feel Unique or Look Fantastic.
Packaging varies as I ordered two shades and both came with slightly different packaging. I believe ones with black tops (and black writing) are the older ones to the ones with polished matte gold tops (also writing in gold). I'm not entirely sure if, when introducing different packaging product formula has changed, but I am inclined to think so, as the shade in the newer version works so much better for me & it's a lot more long lasting. I'm talking about Baci here. Problem I have is that Baci is a light, mauve nude where as Aria is a deep dark fuchsia with purple tones. The difference in shades means it's really difficult to decipher, if Baci lasts longer or the shade is lighter therefore when it disappears slightly, you can't really see it so badly as with Aria...
Formula is light and only little creamy and goes well on the lips (no dragging, it's practically weightless). Both shades have great pigmentation and only a coat or two is needed to achieve truly opaque finish. It dries fully within 30 seconds to a minute. When dry it sits comfortably on the lips without drying them too much. With no food on a busy day Baci lasted on me 8 hours and Aria 6 to 6.5 hours. With food (salad with yogurt sauce) Aria disappeared in the middle of the lips, leaving just a contour behind. With a deep shade this is not a pretty look, so I had to re-apply. You can in fact re-apply without too much hassle and even rub your lips together to bring the colour from the contour to the middle of the lips. It looses on matte finish and pigmentation when you do so. I have eaten with Baci and saw colour rubbing off slightly but evenly, so huge difference there. However I must state again, this is a nude shade so even if it rubbed off more in the middle it was not so visible.
Formula is enriched with vitamin E and avocado oil, so it hydrates (slightly!) and softens lips whilst wearing it. I must admit it feels weightless and doesn't look completely dried out after few hours of wear. For those of you preferring a healthier formulas, Stila All Day Liquid Lipsticks are formulated without the use of Parabens, Sulphates, Synthetic Dyes, Petrochemicals, Phthalates, GMOs and Triclosan.
Baci is a beautiful light mauve nude. It's cool toned and looks a little greyish but I absolutely adore this shade. Wear it alone or with lipliner to get your lips to stand out even more. Wearing it with pink lipliner will definitely take away from the ashy finish, but I love wearing it with cool toned brown lipliner like my recent favourite (if you follow me on Snapchat you know it's been my everyday staple) MAC Stone. I prefer wearing a lipliner, not only for slight ombre effect that's so in right now (looking at you Kylie Jenner) but mainly because it is such an ashy shade and pairing it with my paler than pale face with pink undertones can slightly wash you out making your lips disappear. Enter lip liner and you can rock it :) Applicator is great and precise, it truly helps with application when lip liner is used, but alone works just as well due to great shape of the tip.
Aria - ah Aria. Ok so the little story behind me buying this shade is simple. If you watch Pretty Little Liars (and I'm obsessed) you know of Aria and Ezra and all the forbidden love story. As a huge Ezria fan I had to get the Aria shade, it was just that simple ;) Shade itself is a beautiful deep fuchsia, slightly on the dark side and definitely cool toned. It will give your smile that wow factor making your pearly whites truly stand out. I recommend using a lip brush to line your lips first as the applicator takes on a lot of product and you can easily mess up the outer corners. Or use a corresponding lip liner, there's plenty to choose from at MAC. I recommend taking the lipstick with you and matching it up (or at least swatching it on your forearm). This shade will look pretty and different on different skin tones but I feel that it will suit all, from palest to darkest. I love this shade on me :) It will rub off the centre of the lips if you eat so re-applying is a must throughout the day, unless you're a machine and don't eat all day (which I don't recommend obviously!). I think it's because it's a dark shade. Light snacking is fine and doesn't disrupts the colour, however anything that has some oily/creamy residue will make it disappear.
Overiew:
Stila All Day Liquid Lipstick comes pretty close to ideal, with the pigmentation and beautiful shade spectrum there's something there for everyone. Lots of my friends also use them and love the effect. It's not terribly drying and looks ultra matte on the lip so if you are a matte lip lover, I highly recommend giving the range a go :) Packaging matches all the liquid lipstick packaging being a lip gloss like with transparent plastic, so you know exactly what's in it. It's in a medium price range, roughly the same as MAC lipsticks so not everyone's cup of tea, but if you are on a lookout for a good quality liquid lip colour that's widely available in UK, Stila has got you covered :)
