I Found the Only Two Multi-Sticks You’ll Ever Need

Multi-sticks are convenience makeup. They can be a lipstick, lip liner, eyeliner, eye shadow, blush, and even a highlighter — all in a tube that’s no bigger than a gloss. And you get a real bang for your buck: Multi-sticks are usually only a couple dollars more than a lipstick in the same line. But you might be thinking, How good can one be at all those things? The thing is, you’re not buying into a sort of two-in-one shampoo-slash-conditioner deal. There’s now a whole category of high-end multi-sticks that go beyond just shades synonymous with pink and work for a range of skin tones (rather than just “porcelain”).

Our columnist Rio Viera-Newton wrote about Charlotte Tilbury’s Beach Stick back in 2018, but the pace of multi-stick launches really picked up in the last year. Mango People’s came to Sephora. Then the eyeliner/eye shadow/highlighter from Rare Beauty. Ami Colé debuted one that Oprah loves. Milk Makeup, which already has another multi-stick in its lineup, launched its Jolly Rancher–like Jelly Tint. All the newness left me wondering which are really worth it?

I set out to test some of these launches and more — including from Merit and Axiology — for a grand total of nine multi-sticks over the last few months. I was looking for something pigmented, long-lasting, and easy to use. Not crazy criteria. Some were forgettable, others just okay. For example, Ilia’s threefer — a blush, highlighter, and lip tint, and arguably the most famous multi-stick right now — had a barely-there finish that was hardly noticeable. I was counting on the shade “cosmic dancer” for glimmer, and got almost nothing. Then came Baby Cheeks by Westman Atelier, which screams “rich lady” down to the $48 price tag. It gives you a powdery, Madame de Pompadour cheek and a pretty enough pout. But it’s such a splurge, and it didn’t feel splurge worthy.

After all the testing days (these had to hold up through sweat and tears), I can now confidently say you only really need Tower28’s OneLiner and Byredo’s Colour Stick. The OneLiner is a hardworking multitasker — for your eyes, cheeks, and lips. (Two shades, “Draw Me” and “Work of Art,” even make faux freckles.) When I applied it to the bow of my lips and along my bottom lip, I got a sharp-looking, defined line. The formula is creamy and doesn’t drag; it was like nothing I’d tried before. As for my eyes, I’m one for lots of eyeliner. I usually draw a heavy half-moon underneath my lash line. I can’t do that with all liners, which sometimes don’t go on seamlessly enough. And if I do get it on, they smear. But the Tower28 stick glides along my lash line perfectly. One day, after eight hours of doing interviews, attending a host of meetings, and finally crying over an overdue deadline, it did not budge. On my cheeks, I felt like I had so much more control over the application — more than I do with regular blush. It didn’t take much to blend out, either. Each stroke was blendable, and the final look was a pinched pink, and very natural. (Application tip: Use the side of the pencil instead of the tip. The color goes on more evenly.) And at $15, it’s the cheapest multi-stick I tried.

The Byredo Colour Stick is on the higher end, at $35. Even then, I wouldn’t call it a splurge — it’s that great. I’m a sucker for the signature sleek silver packaging and the magnetized lid that makes that satisfying click. It’s unlike most multi-sticks (which count vermillion as their most vivid shade) because the colors it comes in are borderline too much. There’s “Sick Pink,” a fuchsia, and “Destroyer,” the most intense jet black. I love “Coleoptera” — described as a “beetle brown with turquoise glitter.” It’s what I imagine the floor of Studio 54 looked like at the end of a night. When I’m wearing the shade and a light hits the iridescence just right, I feel like I’m wearing diamond dust. A little goes a long way. I have worn it as a highlighter (after blending out the brown), eye shadow (even on my oily lids), and lipstick (it resembles the color of my favorite lip gloss of all time: the discontinued Ch-Ch-Changes by Marc Jacobs Beauty). The finish of the formula, dry to dewy, depends on the shade — “Purple Stinger” looks wet once on. I feel like my most adventurous self when it’s coating my lips.

Settling this multi-stick matter feels like correcting the record. When I was researching this piece, lurking in multi-stick sub-Reddits and TikToks, I didn’t see Tower28 or Byredo mentioned often. They’re not getting the love they should. But trust me, if you buy them, they will not end up at the bottom of your makeup bag. Byredo and Tower28 promise to do it all, and together, they actually do.

Are there other products that you want our intrepid team of beauty writers to test, or trends that you want them to fact-check? Send us an email at strategistbeautybrief@nymag.com with your thoughts and questions.