I finally had the opportunity to thoroughly check out the Stila counter at Marshall Fields here in Chicago. Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed.

The makeup artist, Nancy, was extremely nice, and seemed to not only enjoy her job, but also take it very seriously. Their eye and lip colors were interesting, but to tell you the truth, they were not worth the prices Stila charges. Most, if not all, of the colors had a shade comparable if not identical to some of MAC's colors (but MAC has a much cheaper price tags).

Let me first tell you what really disappointed me. I was unable to receive the "usual" makeover because Stila has no foundations, concealers, or powders for African American skin tones. When I asked Nancy why the foundation colors were so limited, she honestly replied, "I don't know." But, she did add at the end of our session that Stila was planning on adding 4 new foundation colors to the line. Also, Stila currently does not have any skin care available in its line, but plans on adding skin care sometime in the future.

Therefore, to begin my makeover, I had to use my own MAC Studio Fix in N10 (their darkest color available). Then, we tried 7 eyecolors (4 on each eye): Oasis, Viola, Pigalla, and Ebony (as a liner) on the left eye, and Kitten, Urchen, Haze, and Ebony on the right eye. The colors were nice, however, they were too frosty and shimmery for my complexion. Even though Nancy tried using a "light hand" since all of the colors she used were frosts, I left the store feeling too shiny. MAC has a much better selection in eyeshadow colors and textures. The liner, however, looked really nice, but still, it was just a basic black eyeshadow. I could not see myself paying $14.00 plus 8.75% tax for a black eyeshadow when I can achieve the same results with a MAC ($11) or even a Revlon black shadow ($3.95), for that matter, with a cheaper price tag.

We skipped blush because, once again, their colors were so limited, none of them matched my dark complexion. They either had too much white, or too much orange.

For lips, we tried Piaf, Andie, and Luce. I liked all of the colors, and the smooth, creamy, not-too-oily texture. But, once again, am I willing to pay $16.00 plus 8.75% tax for a lipstick? Well, let's see:

• Piaf = Black Lily (Clinique $10.50)
  These two were so similar I couldn't see the difference.
• Andi = Hyper (MAC $13.00)
  These two are identical (I had my MAC Hyper with me).
• Luce = Skew (MAC $13.00)
  Once again, almost identical.

Another question I have regarding Stila cosmetics is this: Stila promotes that fact that they use recycled cardboard and paper for their containers, but then why are their prices so darn high? It's definitely not due to packaging or quality.

The one thing Stila does have is reasonably priced brushes. They range from $14.00 to $28.00. You could get a complete set of 5 brushes and a travel pouch for $80.00. On quality, the brushes are pretty good for the average person, or someone who is not too skilled in the brush area. For someone who knows what they are doing, they are not precise enough. They come in a variety of shapes, but the layering of the hairs (or bristles) is too sloppy. Also, too often a lot of hairs were left on my face after each application, which lets me know that these brushes won't last a lifetime, which they should, nor are they well assembled.

All in all, Stila has some nice colors, but is an overpriced line that just isn't worth it.