A twist on a cult favourite (Stila Lip Glaze Pencil)

Member Name: glitter_princess

Product:	Stila Lip Glaze Pencil
Date:	17/11/08 (170 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to apply; good range of colours; easy to build up colour

Disadvantages: Expensive; doesn't last very long

Having been a fan of Stila's incredibly popular lip glaze pen for many years now I couldn't wait to get my grubby mitts on the Lip Glaze Pencil as soon as it came out. I'd seen the Lancome Juicy Tube pencils a while back and had bought one but not been too impressed so was rather cautious about what to expect from Stila's offering.

The original lip glazes came in a variety of colours, each with a fabulous (normally fruity) scent and Stila have matched the Lip Glaze pencils to the original shades, including Fruit Punch (my favourite, a girly pink), Berry, Brown Sugar, Grapefruit, Plum, Starfruit, Vanilla, Orange, Fig and Apricot. The pencils use exactly the same formula as the lip glazes but contain more pearl giving an increased shimmer effect.

The shade I own is Fig, a baby pink shade. The pencil itself is nice and chunky so easy to apply. The silver and pink colour combination works well and it comes with a plastic lid to prevent the pencil becoming damaged. My only complaint with the packaging is that it doesn't have the "fun" factor that the original lip glazes had - lip pencils are pretty old fashioned in my book! However, because you don't have to twist the pen to get the gloss out, there is no wastage here, which I found was often the case with the pen packaging.

However, on application I was really surprised at how well this worked. It goes on really smooth and feels really moisturising on your lips - far more so than the original lip glaze. I did find the original glazes a little bit sticky but this doesn't have any sense of stickiness - on pressing your lips together they just feel nice and smooth - and is still lovely and light texture wise. The shimmer also makes a big difference, really drawing attention to the lips, and the colour goes on sheer but you can build it up to get the level of colour that you want, depending on how dramatic you're feeling. I find this is great for a light summer look, or I sometimes wear it over pink lipstick to give a bit of added shimmer. One of the best things about the glazes was the gorgeous fruity smell and this is also replicated in the lip glaze pencil - yummy!

However, like the original glaze, this does need to be reapplied fairly often to keep it looking fresh - I find I need to reapply about every two hours and much more often if you are eating or drinking. To be honest, this is fairly average for a lip gloss (especially one that is so light), but for an upmarket more expensive product I would have expected a bit more in the staying power stakes.

Where the pencil falls down against the original glaze is that it needs to be sharpened fairly often which is mildly annoying but not enough to put me off buying it again! My big problem with the lip glazes was that the amount of glaze provided in the tube was very small and you would run through the tube very quickly. I do find that this lasts longer but still not one of my long lasting make-up purchases - I've had my pencil about 4 months now and it is almost gone (bear in mind I am a bit of a lip gloss addict and rarely are my lips seen "naked"!)
These will set you back £15 each - exactly the same price as the original lip glazes - and can be bought from Space NK , Sephora, or online from HQhair.com or my new favourite online make-up store www.beautybay.com . Being the bargain hunter that I am, I was lucky enough to pick this up from hqhair's outlet store in the "Scene 2" set, which includes the Fig Lip Glaze Pencil, the Grapefruit Lip Glaze, Pink Glaze Lip Liner and IT Gloss in smashing, all packaged in a cute brown suede pouch for the bargain price of £20! I've just checked and that set is still available but for the slightly less bargainous price of £25.99 - still a massive saving and I'm sure would make any girl a lovely Christmas present.

So, the verdict? If I was to choose between the Original Lip Glaze and the Pencil Lip Glaze, I think I would have to put my money on the Pencil - easier to apply, just as many colours to choose from, feels more moisturising on the lips and an all round better buy!

Summary: Stila's lip glaze in pencil form