A little KIKO haul

My closest friend lives in Stratford, which means I often end up doing the odd tour of Westfield shopping centre on my way to or from the station there. The other day I wandered into the KIKO store and decided to treat myself to a few bits. (Here are said bits.)

Firstly, a single powder eyeshadow with a super-interesting pseudo-liquid texture and a surface design that makes it look like it's been swatched by a giant's thumb. Its official name is "Water Eyeshadow". This stuff is made out of very slippery particles - must be some kind of silicone. It's a cool taupe with a dark base. The finish is lovely - richly pigmented, pearly and multi-faceted. It cost £8.90. I can't help putting my thumb on it.

Secondly, an Eyebrow Marker (great descriptive product name). This was a bit of a gamble as basically all eyebrow colours, whether they're liquid, powder, pencil or anything else, tend to look reddish on my skin. This one is pretty good - it's a greyish, cool light brown. The payoff is very very light, meaning that there's little danger of terrible Sharpie-marker eyebrows. You can wear it very subtly. It cost £5.90.

Finally, a liquid eyeliner (Super Colour Eyeliner). It's a black base with bottle green shimmer. The formula is polymer-based (i.e. it flakes or peels off, rather than smudging). It's a bit on the thin side, and doesn't produce an opaque line on the lid. This was on sale for around £4, but its full price is £6.90.

Swatches. Are you feeling that taupe?

Assembled together on face:

I'm really happy with these, especially the brow marker. KIKO is one of those wildcard brands - I never know whereabouts on the mass-to-prestige spectrum it's supposed to sit, although the packaging and the quality I feel are quite similar to MAC. Not that I've bought any MAC in quite a long time. But then it sells nail polish for just £2.50, suggesting it's a bit more drugstore.

In the UK its distribution is too small for it really to have an established market niche. There are 2 KIKO stores that I know of in London, one in each branch of the Westfield shopping centre (Stratford and White City). I don't know where it sits in its native Italy in terms of price point.

What's your take on KIKO, if you've tried it?

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