Kiko Cosmetics Now Online in the US!

ALERT ALERT: Kiko Cosmetics is available in the United States. And now just in a couple stores on the East Coast, but they are now available ONLINE!  Bonus, a lot of their products are on sale, especially their limited edition collections!

If you have been following my blog for a while now, you know that Kiko has been one of my favorite European cosmetics brands for a few years now, mainly because of their low-mid range prices and excellent quality.  Something about the simple black packaging also really appeals to me, much in the same way that MAC’s or Nars’s packaging appeals to me. Every time I go back to Europe, I basically go crazy trying to stock up on all of my favorite products.  It makes me immensely happy to know that I don’t have to overstuff my suitcase anymore, and that I can buy their products online now.

Since a lot of US readers may not have tried a lot of the Kiko products, I thought I would take the chance to highlight some of my favorite products from the brand.

Keep Reading to find out more details about my top picks from the brand!

Some Current Favorites

I think it’s time for a favorites post.  I’ve acquired a few things that I have really been loving, and bonus – they’re also products that have been working well for me for the summer heat. Interesting, though, I actually didn’t have a real lip product favorite, although that may because I actually have been switching things up a little and not wearing the same 3 products every day.  I think later in the summer I’ll have to devote an entire post to my favorite lip combos of the summer because there are actually quite a few of them!

First, let’s talk about the Becca Ombre Nudes Palette.  Like the rest of the beauty community, I completely fell for matte shadows this year.  I just can’t get enough of them, and this palette is probably everything I could ever want in a basic all matte palette.  It has everything from a lid, transition, to crease shade, AND the shades are cool enough for me to use as contour or brow powders.  This texture of this palette is also out of this world smooth and pigmented.  They’re not too powdery or hard, but are smooth and easy to blend out.  I already have my eye on the new version of this palette coming out in the fall, which has slightly warmer shades. Anyone else?

Another palette I’ve been loving is my custom made Inglot trio, especially the matte contour shade and  the shimmery shade in the middle.  I walked into the Inglot store a couple months ago and asked for 3 things: a transition/blending shade, a shimmery lid shade, and a cool brown that could double as a brow powder (are you seeing a trend in the type of things I’ve been buying lately?), and the lady in the store was so great at picking out the perfect shades for me.

After finishing my beloved Physician Formula Eye Booster Liquid Eyeliner, I set out to find another replacement just to see if anything else can compare, and I stumbled upon the Essence Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner.  It has a felt tip instead of a brush tip, but it still offers plenty of control and I am still able to get a fine line with my eyeliner.  It holds up great in the summer heat, and I’ve noticed that it is indeed, waterproof.  I think I may prefer the ultra-fine line I get with the Physician’s Formula liner, but this is still a great alternative!

Next, I finally got around to trying the Kat Von D Autograph Liner, which I believe has been discontinued.  I bought this last year, actually, but I think you could easily find a similar shade in the Urban Decay 24/7 liners.  It’s a tan/taupe shade with some micro shimmer that I use on my lower lashline to define my eyes instead of using a black or dark brown liner.  It adds just a hint of definition without making my eye makeup look too heavy.

For blush, I’ve been having a major love affair with coral and golden-tan shades…so typical of me for the summer.  The blushes I’ve been reaching for in particular are the NYX Mosaic Blush in Coral and the Kiko Soft Touch Blush in #100.  The NYX blush is the perfect balance of coral-tan, and it is SO pigmented, while the Kiko blush has become a staple in my stash for being a glowy tan-peach shade that complements a bright lip perfectly.

Although this is old news by now, I’ve been re-loving my Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Palette, and I’ve been particularly loving Radiant Light as a subtle highlighter over my blush.  With the humidity, my face is looking shiny enough as it is, so I’ve been staying away from my more shimmery highlighters, but Radiant Light has been a great subtle alternative to all my more obvious highlighters.

As for base products, the Becca Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Perfector has been an absolute life-saver for keeping my makeup matte. I kid you not, this is the first primer that has actually been effective at keeping my makeup intact and somewhat matte throughout the day.  This product has quite a learning curve to it (take a TINY amount, rub between your fingers, and PAT, not rub, onto your face), but once I mastered it, my makeup started lasting much longer.

And finally, my all-star product of the past few months has been the It Cosmetics Bye-Bye Undereye Corrector.  I bought it as a less pricy alternative to my Bobbi Brown Corrector, and I love the thinner formula of this product, making it slightly easier to blend on my face.  It has worked perfectly, until now, when I’m at probably the tannest point of the year.  The medium shade works best when I’m a true NC35, but the thinner consistency is much easier to work with than the BB Corrector sometimes!

Well, there you go. A very delayed favorites post and warm-up into blogging again.  Enjoy!

The Hauling Begins: Barcelona and shopping in Spain

In case you haven't noticed, I've been in Spain recently.  In case you also haven't noticed, I like to shop.  So when I combine the two together, surely some magic has to happen.

I actually wasn't planning on buying too much, but of course things never go as planned.  While wandering through all these streets, I came upon so many nice stores and found some unexpected items that I absolutely love.

The first, and probably most treasured purchase of this trip was this black bag from a small boutique in Barcelona.  It was pretty much love at first sight with the large slouchy, but also slightly structured shape, and brown handles.  And although it is not real leather, it is still a soft buttery material.  I have been looking for a new tote bag for awhile, but did not expect to find it while I was in Barcelona at all, so I'm pretty happy with this purchase...but that's not even the best part.

It's actually three bags.  Yep.  There's a smaller bag inside that can be used as a shoulder bag (and also has become an essential for me), and there's also an even smaller wristlet/coin purse.  All for 40 Euros.  There was no way I wasn't buying this.

I'm really impressed with the quality, and I can fit my laptop (14'') plus everything I else I need for the day and I usually still have tons of space left.  I have been using it like crazy since it's really the only bag I have right now.  

This is just the beginning.  Read after the jump for more shopping!

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!

Some Favorite Summer Bright Lipsticks

Note: Pre-written post from before I started traveling!  I actually didn’t bring most of these with me for my trip, but they are my favorite bright lipsticks, nonetheless.

After a whole slew of travel-related posts, I've come back to dabble in beauty for this post. It's a bit hard to talk about beauty when I'm traveling with just a little makeup bag, but it is one of my favorite subjects to talk about, so I'm taking a little break from travel for now to talk about my favorite summer shades.

Once upon a time, I was very terrified of bright lipstick.  I look back now and scoff at my hesitancy to wear even muted red shades (remember when MAC’s Viva Glam Cyndi was considered an ‘everyday red’ by many?  Not I).  And my brights were quite limited to reds. I shuddered at the thought of wearing purple, or even a bright fuchsia.  However, over the past year, I have slowly become acquainted with the idea of bright lipsticks, slowly building up my tolerance to the point where nothing is too bright for me anymore.  Orange lipstick?  A gateway bright for me.  I’ve moved on neon purple, no longer reserved for special occasions, but for every day activities. 

I think over the past year, my bright lip stick collection has tripled or quadrupled…which is quite easy to do when I only really have one or two lipsticks before.  However, despite my excitement for bright lipstick at any time, summer is the time when they all really come out to play, desperately calling my name while I happily oblige.  

I’ve pulled out some of my favorite bright lipsticks, ranging from the sheer to the fully opaque. For me, the easiest way to get used to the look of bright lipstick on me was to wear sheerish glosses until I finally got too curious for my own good. 

 Read after the jump to see some swatches >>