Kiko Milano Haul Feb 16

Kiko Milano Haul

I had never heard of Kiko Milano until I entered the Blogging world a few months ago, but since then I have been addicted to reading and watching reviews about this Italian based makeup company. It's a business renowned for good quality items, pretty and luxury packaging for such a small price, and, bonus, it's a cruelty-free brand!

Last month I placed an order with Kiko online. With free express delivery, I couldn't deny myself trying some things and three days later, fresh from a whole different part of Europe, it sailed into my open arms.

Unfortunately it's taken me a month to show my products and findings (the majority was in the sale, who doesn't love a good sale though?!?) but it means that I've had more opportunity to use the products, right?

Eye products really dominated this haul, but there's some nail polishes and a lip product thrown in for good measure... Commence the pretty pictures.

Up first is the eye products, starting first with a single green shadow in the shade Infinity 261. You get a good amount of product, 2g, and since it's such an extreme colour I think it will last for ages!

It's a very pigmented shadow with elements of gold shimmer which is just beautiful when the light catches it and looks really nice when applied to my lower lash line. It even makes my plain brown eyes look better which is miraculous! I love this product, especially since it's on the other end of the spectrum of the nude shades I typically go for.

These single shadows come in a wide range of shades so it's definitely worth a look!

Next is a Cream Crush Lasting Colour Eyeshadow in Pearly Lilac, 12. There's 4g worth of product in a little glass jar; top points for quality packaging. The name of the product is such an understatement, the shadow is so unbelievably creamy! It stunned me how much so!

On the other hand, the product isn't as pigmented as it looks. The lilac doesn't really stand out once applied and the glitter within the pot really dominates - really it's a glitter cream eyeshadow with underlying tones of lilac. Yet, it's just looks so lovely, especially in the centre of the eyelid; it really opens up and brightens the eye.

The last eyeshadow was the most disappointing one I ordered. It's the Colour Sphere Eyeshadow Duo in 111 Gold/Mat Black. The black section of the container feels almost velvety - Kiko once again displaying amazing packaging - it's what's inside that's a let-down. Neither colour is particularly pigmented, and if you run your finger over the surface it's really rough and scratchy. It's not a massive issue, it's just not pleasant.

The black is quite blendable but very dramatic and disappointingly the gold doesn't give much impact at all - a lot needs to be applied to even start to build up the glitter impact.

The next eyeshadow is a combination of an eyeshadow and eyeliner. It's from the Campus Idol range and is the Double Dare Eyeshadow & Eyeliner in the shade 03 Plum. This is such an amazing product, I was actually in awe of the magnificent lilac eyeshadow shade. It applies thick and creamy and once left to set, will not budge - a little really goes a long way with this. In contrast to the previous lilac shadow, this one is completely matte.

The deep plum liner compliments the shadow beautifully, Kiko has literally made a match in heaven with this combo, however the liner is prone to smudging so must be applied and worn with care. There is a good amount of product, 0.8g, but only a small amount is needed and the product screws out when more is required.

The last eye product is a felt-tip Eyebrow Marker in 01. The tip of the pen is very pointed and would be great for drawing on individual hairs if that's what you like to do with your eyebrows. However, this shade just didn't look right on me - although the nib looks dark, it draws on much lighter - and is prone to bleeding and smudging so the end result isn't great.

Moving to the nail products, I got two of the Velvet Satin Nail Lacquers in pink shade 691 Pink Flambé and blue shade 693. The bottle is matte and soft, much like the product inside - I seriously can't get over the presentation Kiko provides.

I was really disappointed with the product though. Quite a few layers are required for the colour to become opaque, however it shows up streaky and is really fast drying so overall, it was really hard to apply. Additionally, the matte of the polish gives false impression that it has dried completely - it must have took me over an hour to have completely dry and good looking nails.

And then the polish didn't last long at allQ After a few hours at work the next day the polish became so chipped I removed it as soon as I went home.

The final nail product is the True Love Nail Lacquer 01 which isn't sold anymore. It's a really, really thick polish with an overpowering smell and so much glitter that the polish actually dries lumpy. Unlike the other two polishes it's colour builds up straight away but much like the velvet satin shades, is quite streaky. It was so difficult to apply that I ended up wiping it all off in a huff and I haven't attempted to apply it since! It would take a lot of patience and drying time to really get this lacquer working.

The final product is my favourite product out of all of them and unfortunately was well used before I took any photographs. The Smart Lip Pencil in 700 Light Sienna is on of the best lip products I ever purchased. It's a light brown shade, is a creamy formula, applies like a dream and is a perfect match for Mac's Velvet Teddy. The pencil needs sharpening, however I don't have a sharpener - guess what my next purchase is going to be? I honestly can't sing enough praise for this lip pencil!

Overall, there's been some good products and some not so great ones in this haul - but am I still impressed with KIKO MILANO? Of course! Unfortunately not every product that a company sells works out, but I love what has worked!

The only problem with KIKO is when the products get delivered there are no prices and the shades of the makeup aren't on the products, which made blogging about it that much harder since I had to go through my order confirmation sheet just to get the names of everything! Additionally the prices weren't supplied so I had to go back onto KIKO and pray they had everything in still! They're listed below:

•  Eyeshadow & Eyeliner duo - £5.50
• Infinity Shadow - £2.80
• Colour sphere duo - £3.40
• Velvet satin nail polishes x2 - £2.80 each
• Cream Crush eyeshadow - £3.40
• Eyebrow Marker - £5.90
• Lip Pencil - £1.20
• True Love Nail Polish - ??

Is there anything you've tried from KIKO MILANO?