On January 26, 2008, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a breakfast at the Holt Renfrew store on Bloor Street in Toronto where guests were not only introduced to Stila‘s spring line, but also got to speak with Stila’s celebrity make-up artist, Ryan Cox. Ryan has extensive experience in the field and has worked with celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson and Reese Witherspoon.

Ryan (l) and Cynthia (r) at the Stila counter

The event was held at the Holt’s Café and consisted of a buffet breakfast, which included eggs, toast, fruit (see image above), sausages, bacon and coffee, a video presentation from Stila and of course, tips from Ryan himself.

Some of Stila’s products, including the new eyeshadow duos

After that, every participant was given a make-up lesson by one of the artists and Ryan walked around the room, answering any questions participants had. We were also introduced to Stila’s newest products for the spring. I’d say that my favourite has to be the eyeshadow duos. These charming half pans come in 28 different colours (or 14 sets) and fit into their own individual compacts (according to the Stila site, they WILL NOT fit the 4, 6 or 8 refillable pan compacts).

Of course, an event like this isn’t an event without a gift bag. All participants received a Stila tote with a brush, a 6 pan refillable compact (which includes a double-sided brush), Stila hair freshener in Crème Bouquet and a binder with make-up tips/looks. After the breakfast, participants went downstairs to shop as the event entitled us to purchase $125 worth of Stila products.

Gift bag from event

This event was very different from other Stila events I’ve gone to at Holt Renfrew. I had an absolute BLAST!

Stila products are available in Canada at Holt Renfrew (until the end of February), in the US at Ulta and Bloomingdale’s and of course, everywhere at Sephora and Sephora.com