Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Hot Off the Shelves: Kiko Daring Game Collection and Queen of Hearts Eyeshadow Palette (review and tutorial)

Stumbling into another Kiko store, I picked up some of the remaining items that I wanted to buy before going back to the states (which I'll be compiling a huge post for soon!), I was about to check out before I realized that I missed an entirely new display in the store. 

It seemed to be completely new, as the testers looked barely touched, and I can't even find it online on the website yet, but everything was gorgeous.   I had to exercise restraint not to buy everything in the collection.  Although I didn't take pictures of the display (oops), it seemed to be designed after a deck of cards.  Everything was card (aka rectangular) shaped in a white pearly packaging with an image of a suit on the front. The image is metallic and reflects light beautifully.  I believe that all the palettes have a different color, as well!  Kiko always impresses me with its packaging - I love standard black packaging, and I'm sure that that's the reason I'm so drawn to Kiko in the first place, but their limited edition packaging is always so unique and well thought out that they deserve extra points for that, too.

Although I've been saving all my recently acquired items for a master post later on, I wanted to try this out and let you all know to be on the lookout for this in your Kiko stores.  It wasn't too hard for me to walk away from the blush palettes since I could think of a dupe I already had for most of the shades but oh lord the eyeshadow palettes.  There were three that looked equally gorgeous, but I made myself choose just one.  It wasn't hard.  It was the neutral one. 







To be fair, it reminds me of the MAC  x Pedro Lourenco nude quad that I lusted after, but decided not to buy.  This quad had the same rosy neutral shades, but for much less money.  I could see myself using this one to death, especially as fall rolls around.

Even the outer packaging of this is gorgeous!  I think I'll definitely be saving the box of this one.


Most of the items in the collection (bronzer, blush, and eyeshadow palettes) were 14,90.

Read after the jump for my thoughts, swatches, and a full face look!


 The packaging itself has a nice weight to it even though it is just plastic packaging.  As I mentioned before, I've always been impressed with Kiko's packaging as it looks sophisticated but also fun, especially their limited edition items. 

When you open it up, there's a nice large mirror inside -- always a positive for me.  Since the palette itself is pretty large, the eyeshadow pans themselves are also pretty large.  They are each 2,0 grams so you're getting a large amount of product for the price, and as you'll see later, they're also great quality.

Although there is a rosy tint to the top two shades, I would still consider this palette neutral-warm.  I think this would be flattering on most skin tones as the red tones are not particularly pronounced.  It makes this palette versatile and easy to wear for most people! 



On the top left, there's a shimmer gold shade with a slightly rosy undertone.  Next to it on the right is a shimmery midtone brown that I would even describe as a rosy brown.



On the bottom left is a shimmery white/beige shade.  It's a little too shimmery as a brow bone highlight, but I love using it for my inner corners.  On the bottom right a satin dark brown.



The pigmentation of these shadows is great - they are opaque and soft to the touch.  They're not quite as buttery smooth as some Kiko eyeshadows because they seem to be a little more densely packed, but I had no problems with pigmentation nonetheless.  

One thing that I love about Kiko eyeshadows is that they just last really well, and I attribute it to the harder more densely packed quality of these shadows.  With some shadows, I'll swatch them on my hand, and they'll disappear as soon as I rub my finger over them.  Not so with these - I had to press harder to try to rub these shadows off, and even then, the two darker brown shades stayed on till I washed them off.  Not that I would rub my eyes that hard with makeup on them, but it is promising to see that they won't just fade away so quickly when I wear them.

Overall, I find this quad perfect for my needs, and the neutral-warm shades flattering on my warm NC35 skin tone.  It's extremely versatile and easy to use, and the shades are easy to build up for a look to take you from day to night.  The shades (especially the rosy brown shade) basic but unique to me, making it a great palette to add to my collection.

If any of you remember Clinique's Black Honey collection from a couple years ago, they came out with a quad that may be similar to this.  I own it but I will have to wait until I am back in the US to make comparison, but the tones in this palette remind me of the shades in that palette, so if you missed out on that palette, I recommend checking this one out!

Natural lighting

Under direct natural light (in front of a window)

For a simple look I made with this palette, I made a quick little pictorial


1. Bare lid
2. Upper left gold shade all over lid
3. Rosy brown shade in crease
4. Dark brown shade in outer V
5. Blend blend blend
6. eyeliner
Final look with mascara and shimmery beige shade in inner corner

And finally some mugs:



Ignore that stray hair.

On the rest of my face:
Blush: Benefit Hoola and Coralista
Lips: Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Pink in the Afternoon
Revlon Colorstay Mineral Lip Glaze in Timeless Nude

If you had any doubts about this palette, I hope I convinced you! I am totally in love with this palette and see it being an essential in the future.  Now if only I could have picked up the other items in the collection....

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