Stila

Stila is a company that is taking makeup to a whole new level. Learn more about their history, their cosmetics, and their philosophies below:

It all started with a single pan eye shadow and a lip color, packaged plainly in recycled cardboard. It was beauty stripped down to the bare essentials, the logo in simple typeface without any of the usual trappings. In 1994, when makeup artist Jeanine Lobell first sold her idea for a new brand of cosmetics called Stila, the industry was a very different place: It was a little stuffy, a little staid and starving for something new.

“I was inspired to create Stila by everything else that was going on in my life — I was always wanting products and colors for my makeup kit that didn’t exist. I was motivated to develop my own packaging by the family recycling bin-what went in it, and more importantly, what didn’t. I was inspired by people on the street, books, vintage photography, fashion, you name it …I was actually stunned that people “got” what I was doing, and seemed to want more.”

The colors were fashion-focused but wearable, and the formulas were designed to be easy to use for both makeup artists and novices. The lip colors were named for influential women in Lobell's life, and the lid of each cheek color and eye shadow package was inscribed with thoughtful quotes and lyrics from strong-minded, soulful, and undeniably stylish ladies. That’s a combination of traits that came to define the “Stila girl:” smart, confident, inherently stylish and up on what's happening in the world.

Well, needless to say, the industry got the shot of innovation it was craving, and the Stila star was formed. And the brand grew along with the success of its founder, Lobell, who had started her career working with music videos and had become a trusted makeup artist among style-conscious movie starlets.