The first I will share is the Kiko Sugar Mat Nail Laquer in 640 Poppy Red. The bottle only has the number on it, but I looked it up on the site.
The colour AND texture is a dead ringer for OPI Liquid Sand in Jinx, read cult nail-blogger Scrangies review of the OPI polish here. In the store I hadn't seen the "Sugar Mat" on the front, so I picked it up expecting a bright orange/gold glitter as you see in the pictures above. Upon further inspection, once we had arrived home, I saw the "Sugar Mat" on the front and knew what kind of texture it would be. The whole Liquid Sand / Textured, matte glitter is very in right now, and I haven't really been feeling it.
The polish when applied looks like shiny glitter, but dries to a matte, very textured finish with very little shiny. The glitter does still sparkle in direct light, but not in the manner I'd have hoped. The colour is gorgeous, a very bright orangey/coral red with gold glitter throughout.
I tried making the polish shiny with two layers of topcoat ( I use INM Out The Door, it's a quick drying topcoat), but as it dries up the polish just swallows up any shine that might be added. I think that with enough layers of a highshine topcoat you could possibly get some result, but honestly I didn't feel like wasting product on it.
Still not sold on the formula and the product wasn't what I'd expected, but I'll manage to use it all the same, I think. If you like the look of the OPI Liquid Sands, but don't have the bank for the brand, try this out.
Kiko Nail Laquers are €2.50 and are available at Kiko stores or online at www.kikocosmetics.com.
The second product I managed to conquer was an eyeshadow palette from their limited Colours in the World collection in "Peach Lake".
The palette comes in a beautiful pink box, covered in what looks like painsplatter in all types of pink and peachy tones. It sucked me right in! Everything about the packaging speaks to me, the colours, the design, the fact that it reads the name of the palette on the side... I just love it!
The paintsplatter theme continues on to the mirrored palette inside. It looks very pretty, but the whole idea of the entire lid being mirrored bugs me. This will catch any bit of dirt or grime or oil that comes near it. Think fingers, stray makeup, you name it. It will never stay clean and that bothers me, I have to say. I am a sucker for packaging, and this is very pretty, but it won't remain that way.
The inside lid of the palette is also a fairly large mirror, which is a good thing. This makes it an easy travelling palette, for taking on trips or for fixing your make-up while on the road. The inside of the palette is also mirrored and again, while it looks pretty, I won't remain like that for very long. It comes with a double-ended sponge applicator.
The palette contains six shades, mostly mattes. The packaging says these shadows can be used dry, or wet for higher colour intensity. While this is pretty much always true for eyeshadows, you can't make the actual shadow wet, or you won't be able to use it dry anymore. So I'll just treat these as normal eyeshadows.
Time for the important bit; the swatches! I'm starting from left to right!
The first shade is a light golden-peach colour. It's a satin-type formula with a decent amount of shine and some sporadic glitter. The glitter really doesn't stick to the skin, and will most likely just fall off the brush or result in fall out under your eye. When using this shade, I'll make sure to tap my brush off before applying, and generally only use this as a tearduct highlight, it's too shimmery (for my taste) for the browbone.
The second shade is a bright, matte peachy colour. Right up my alley, this! As it can be hard to find well pigmented matte shadows, I didn't have too high hopes I must admit. And while this is a beautiful shade, I believe it could be more pigmented. You can layer it for opacity, and can achieve a good colour payoff with it.
The third shade is a BRIGHT, matte pink colour. Pigmentation on this is slightly better than the coral and blends a little smoother. While I don't see myself using this in an everyday eyeshadow look, it is definately a pretty shade and can also double up as blush!
Onto my very favourite shades in this palette...
The fourth shadow is a reddish, burnt brown. It's a beautiful soft shade, perfect for crease-work or even for a matte lid colour. It blends like a dream and compliments both green and blue eyes very well, due to the warm undertones.
The fifth shade is a very interesting metallic shade. It's almost a bronzey colour, with a purple duochrome. The picture doesn't do the duochrome in it justice, it's gorgeous!
The sixth and last shade is a deep, matte cool-toned brown. Well suited for crease-work, a soft liner or a dark smokey eye. It's a little harder to blend than any of the other matte shadows in the palette and is less unique than the other colours, but compliments the palette nonetheless. I'll do a tutorial with the palette soon!
While I am very happy with my palette, I feel like it -is- a bit pricey for what it is. For the money you spend on this you might as well get a Sleek Palette and Blush and get more colours AND a blush for the same money. Kiko is an overall cheap brand, but since the palette was limited edition, it was a bit more expensive than their normal products.
The palette was €16.90 and is available at Kiko stores or at www.kikocosmetics.com for as long as they carry the collection.
If you get a chance, definitely check out their products. I checked out some of their single eyeshadows as well, and the pigmentation was great on most of them. They have an immense nail polish collection, and many other make-up related things and accessories.
Do you have any experience with the brand? Any recommendations? Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you for reading and until next time!
XXX
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