Best Eyeshadow Sticks: Charlotte Tilbury, NARS, Dior and More

An eyeshadow stick should glide on like a lipstick and then set enough that it does not crease or migrate into your under eye by lunch. The best formulas split the difference between cream and powder, easy to blend with a finger but stable once they dry down. A weak stick either stays greasy for hours or sets so fast you cannot blend it, and both problems show up within the first two wears.

If you have green eyes, I wrote about the best eyeshadow for green eyes over 50, with a stick or two in warm plum and bronze.

Bloomingdale's has the widest actual stick selection here, which matters since a few of these are creams rather than true sticks. The Charlotte Tilbury Exagger-Eyes Waterproof Eyeshadow Stick at 32 dollars is the one I reach for on busy mornings, it sets fast and does not budge through a workout. The Hourglass Voyeur Eyeshadow Stick at 34 dollars has a softer, more blendable finish if you want something you can smoke out with a fingertip rather than leave sharp edged. I went deeper on a related idea in Charlotte Tilbury Blush: The Powders, Wands and Sticks to Know.

Saks is a mixed bag of actual sticks and adjacent tools, so read the names carefully before you buy. The NARS Total Seduction Eyeshadow Stick at 34 dollars is the true stick pick and matches the Bloomingdale's version of the same shade line, while the Dior Diorshow Mono Couleur High-Impact Long-Wearing Eyeshadow at 37 dollars is actually a pressed shadow, not a stick, despite sitting in the same lineup. The Chantecaille Marti Eye Shade Eyeshadow at 58 dollars leans more toward a traditional cream pot.

Here is the part worth flagging honestly, a few products in this Saks grid are not sticks at all, the Trish McEvoy primer and the Dolce&Gabbana brush are tools that support a stick, so skip them if a stick is what you want. The common mistake with cream sticks is applying them over a heavy moisturizer, which is exactly what makes them slide by afternoon. If you have oily lids, look for the waterproof label, like the Charlotte Tilbury or DIOR Flash Stick, since non waterproof creams will move by hour four. If you take one thing away, buy the stick and the setting powder separately rather than trusting one product to do both jobs. If you want to keep going, Charlotte Tilbury Dupe: Nude-Pink Lips, Glow and Soft-Focus Powder is the one I would read next.