Beauty Monday – Stila at Costco

I went to Costco a couple of weeks ago, and imagine my surprise at finding this – two Stila lip glaze sticks, a contouring kit and a brush, all for $14.99. Lip glaze sticks are generally $16.50 apiece, so this was quite a deal. I know cheek contouring went out of style in the 1990s, but I knew I could use the lightest powder as a powder/highlighter, and the other two colors would be handy for extra contouring around the eyes. The kit came in two options – Warm and Cool – I went with Cool since it included grapefruit and starfruit lip glaze sticks, both colors that work really well on me. Plus, all those Stila products are paraben-free! The packaging and quality of the contouring trio and the lip glaze sticks is identical to what you find at Sephora, though the brush seems to be specific to this kit for Costco – the brush is only ok (I tend to find Stila brushes excellent) and the handle does not have any Stila markings. That said, all in all, the set is worth the $14.99! I am planning to keep the kit in my desk at work for touchups.

As you may know, I am a long-time Stila fan. Stila has really changed its distribution channels and approach since it was spun off from Estee Lauder – at that point Stila was pulled out of major department store counters but paradoxically became more widely available at Sephora (which is now in JC Penney stores too) and Ulta. Now there’s also these kits at Costco, and the latest in Stila distribution channels, zappos.com carries a majority of the Stila line.

Picture by City Girl.