Eyeshadow stick

An eyeshadow stick is cream shadow moulded into a stick: a twist-up bullet in a slim case, or a thick pencil that is sharpened or wound up. It is drawn straight onto the lid or along the lash line and blended with a fingertip or a smudger brush before it sets. The formula is close to a cream shadow in a pot, firm enough to hold a shape and soft enough not to drag on the thin skin of the eyelid.

It is the quickest eyeshadow to apply and the easiest to carry: no brush, no pan, no loose powder falling onto the cheek. It differs from its neighbours in what it is for. A kohl pencil is a liner, darker and finer, made to be smudged along the lashes; a cream shadow in a pot gives more control over how much goes on; and a multi-use stick, sold for eyes, lips and cheeks at once, is a kind of its own. An eyeshadow stick is made for the lid.

Two choices matter. The first is the shape. A twist-up stick never needs sharpening and usually has a broad, rounded tip for covering the lid quickly; a chunky pencil, sharpened or wound up, draws a finer line along the lashes and doubles as a soft liner, though a wooden one loses some product to every sharpening.

The second is the formula. Most sticks are now sold as long-wear: they stay blendable for a short time and then set to a film that resists creasing and, often, water. That is the point on an oily or hooded lid, where soft cream moves by midday, and a hazard for a beginner, who has to blend quickly and cannot adjust once it has set. Softer sticks stay movable, look more like a balm and are easier to blend, and crease sooner. On a dry lid they are the more comfortable choice.

Draw a line along the upper lash line, then a second just above it, and smudge both upward towards the crease with a fingertip or a smudger brush, so that the colour fades as it rises. For an all-over wash, draw two or three short strokes on the centre of the lid and pat them outward. If the formula sets fast, finish one eye before starting the other.

The firm tip suits details too: a line under the lower lashes, softened at once; a touch of a pale shimmer at the inner corner; a stick in a matching shade as a base under powder shadow, which makes the powder richer and holds it in place. Sticks come mostly in satin and shimmer finishes. A soft neutral, taupe, bronze or champagne, will be used most; deep browns, plums and navies work as smudged liners as well as shadows.

A stick touches the lid directly, which makes it tidier than a pot but harder to keep clean than a pan. Wipe the tip with a tissue after use, keep the cap on so a long-wear formula does not dry out, and sharpen a pencil now and then for a fresh surface. The FDA advises washing your hands before applying eye cosmetics, not sharing them, and not using any cosmetic near the eyes unless it is intended for that use.^[1] That last point matters here: cream sticks for cheeks and lips look much like eyeshadow sticks, and a few sticks sold beside eyeshadows are marked as not for the immediate eye area. Read the label.

The eyeshadow stick is a lipstick borrowed for the eye. Cosmetics and Skin, an independent history site built from trade literature, notes that stick eye shadows share the lipstick’s advantages, being easy to carry and to apply without messy fingers, and were made softer than lipsticks to reduce drag, which their smaller size and the lighter pressure of application allowed.^[2] The borrowing was literal. Revlon’s Dreamy Eye Make-up of 1950 included a stick eye shadow in a gold-toned, lipstick-type case, in shades such as Blue Frost and Silver Frost,^[3] and Helena Rubinstein’s Eye Shadow Stick of 1954 came in a slim, golden metal swivel container.^[4] Estée Lauder’s Shadow Stick of 1959 promised to “color-lift your eyes” with “a richly lubricating creme in vivid shades”,^[5] and Elizabeth Arden’s Eye Shado Stick of 1960 was “a magic wand that draws a soft accent of pure creamy color close to the lashes”, in a slender golden case.^[6]

Within a few years the stick was ordinary. A patent granted in 1963 described a pocket sharpener for eyebrow and eyeshadow pencils, built so that their soft cores would not break;^[7] another, granted in 1967, named the eye shadow stick beside the lipstick as a soft moulded product sold in many shades, which a blister pack should let the buyer see.^[8] The crayon, wider and softer and often wrapped in peel-off paper or foil like a child’s,^[2] followed in the drugstore: Noxell’s Cover Girl sold PeeperSticks eyeshadow crayons from 1973.^[9] What is newer is the long-wear formula that sets after blending. The case, and the idea of shadow that goes on like lipstick, date from the 1950s.