I bought a Rimmel Scandaleyes Eye Shadow stick in brown at the supermarket on a whim last week, and now I am totally hooked.

These sticks are a vast improvement on my old school eyeliner. I reckon they were made for amateurs like me. I can’t go wrong.

For me the sticks work better than eye shadow in a pot because they are so easy to apply, and they feel cleaner (eye shadow pots always seem like pots of mould to me). Sure there aren’t many colours but I think these sticks are made for every day work wear – where you aren’t going for anything too radical. You just need to look like you made an effort.

Clinique also have chubby eye shadow sticks. They are $35 but you don’t need to sharpen them.

Some people argue that the Laura Mercier Caviar eye sticks are better than the Clinique ones because the colours are stronger and last longer. They are a similar price to Clinique but not so chubby.

Bobbi Brown also has stick eye shadows which are very similar to the Laura Mercier is size but cost about $40.

Comments I have read focus on the amount of pigment, if they pull the eye, how easy they are to blend, the range of colours, the amount of creasing and how long the colour lasts.

So there’s no way I can compare these products (yet) because I haven’t tried them all. I am however totally hooked on the concept and will definitely be buying more next time I go make up shopping i.e. in six months time.