kiko milano haul and review

I'm back again with another haul and review of Kiko Milano cosmetics that I have been using for the past few months. Before that I would like to clarify that Kiko Milano is not available in Malaysia but if you are ever in the country Kiko is sold, do give them a try 'cause they are SO GOOD.

I came across Kiko Milano when I was searching for #affordable makeup available in the UK and one of the blog I read mentioned the brand. I am not sure why but I didn't exactly google where I can get them in the UK (facepalm). I however did pick up that they have stores in Europe especially Italy where they originated from.

While I was at the last trip before I came back to Malaysia, in the midst of searching for souvenirs at the central train station in Rome, there it was. A Kiko Milano store. I was obviously drawn to it the minute I recognised the brand and in I go with my friend. Oh gosh, there were so many things I swatched and to my surprise, they even have huge discounts on some of the products! 

#goodbyemoney

#takemymoneynow

#ireallyreallyneedthis

They have single pan eyeshadows, lip liners, lipsticks, foundation, and even skincare. I didn't think I was going to find the store for the most part of the trip so I bought a couple of lipsticks, lipliners and eyeshadows. But I was proven wrong because I even stepped into the store in Venice and Seville. Of course, I had to buy something from there. At that point, I'm just like, 'take my money'. Oh and I even bought a few items from Kiko Milano in London while I was window shopping. It was THAT addictive cause it was cheap. 

If you're looking for it, their store looks pretty much like a M.A.C store but with a drugstore price tag. And now, on to the haul and review. I realised that I actually bought most items from their lip and eye product. No face stuff at all.

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Move on then, I'll introduce you to their eye products first. Their eyeshadows are good. Pigmented, buttery, smooth and easy to work with. I remembered I bought these eyeshadows first in Rome when I came across the store and they were on sale. From what I can recall, they are around €2,30 or somewhere around there. I really wanted to purchase most of their eyeshadows but I was travelling with a small backpack that were already full with two-weeks' worth of clothes and toiletries so I forgo my dream. Silent cry.

As I was still playing around with eyeshadows, I decided to purchase neutral colours that I can wear for a daily look. One thing you have to take note is that their products are mostly labelled with numbers. So if you are like me who likes to remember my makeup collection by their name instead of numbers, it'll be a little difficult for you then :/

The eyeshadows that I bought are single-pans eyeshadows, the Infinity High Pigmented Eyeshadow. You can opt to purchase the container for individual eyeshadows or you can buy it in quads or a palette of 6 and 12 if I'm not mistaken. As someone who doesn't really wear that much, I straight ahead purchased the single containers. Their [Clics] System makes it super easy for anyone to put each pan into the container. You just 'click' it.

Each casing comes with a magnetic closure so you'll have a seamless opening for the black container. One more feature I like about it is that they also included a small mirror, so when you're in a rush like I always do, you can just flip open and a mirror is ready for you. So thoughtful.

The first eyeshadow and my favourite is the 219. It is a rosy-copper tone eyeshadow with tiny specks of shimmer. You can use this as an all-over shade or even as a transition colour. I have used this in both ways and it is beautiful.

The second colour that attracted me is the purple-ish mauve shade with the code 243. Okay seriously, I prefer to have names instead of codes T_T

Anyways, I am not sure why but I had the biggest struggle to capture the true colour for this shade. Somehow, my camera didn't want to pick up the tone and it became more of a brown instead. And finally after literally checking the whole 20 pictures of this particular shade, I found the nearest to it. Amin to that please.

The last shade that I bought was a dark taupe-ish brown colour, number 241 that is really good if I wanted to go a subtle smokey look. Just this and plenty of mascara does the trick.

Aren't these shades lovely? So pretty I lav!

From Left: 243, 219 and 241

I also tried Kiko's Smart Eyepencil eyeliner and they are really creamy. So, so easy to glide on your skin and it lasts all day. It even stayed on my waterline for a few good hours!

For my first try, I didn't want something that is too bold so I chose two neutral tones, one with shimmer and another is a sheen-ish taupe colour. These two costs about €2,50 each if I'm not mistaken so that makes them really, really affordable. Yeay to our wallets!

Although the code numbers were just one digit away, the difference it makes is HUGE. I purchased the 800 and 801. The 800 Smart Eyepencil eyeliner is more of a peachy-shimmer kind of eyeliner. It glides smoothly on my waterline and after multiple accounts of wearing this all day, it's safe to say that it does not move or even sting my eyes. Yes!

Meanwhile, the Smart Eyepencil eyeliner in 801 is a deep taupe sheen eyeliner. It is not as shimmery as the 800 but it has its on very very tiny specks of sheen in it. I used this on my waterline and for my under-eye liner and it looks so good. In different occasions, I do wear this alone and a little bit of mascara.

Hey, sometimes you just don't want to put on a lot of eye makeup on or maybe you're rushing so, cut some slack for me okay? :D

From Left: Smart Eyepencil eyeliner in 800 and 801

The last product in the eye category is the mascara. Oh gosh, I cannot tell you enough how I instantly fell in love with the mascara and it was only €3,50! It was origianlly €5,90 but they were on sale and I just thought I should give it a go. This does not disappoint me.

Introducing Kiko Milano's Volume Attraction Mascara. It does what it says on the bottle type of mascara. Being an Asian, I have the typical straight, tiny lashes. Using this has made my eyes looked bigger and I just feel more put-together when I want to have a slightly polished look without being over the top.

The Volume Attraction Mascara has a natural bristled wand (I love natural bristles) that looks just like a normal mascara. But I guess the formula that helps my lashes to look more volumised. The formula is not to dry and not to watery either which makes application a breeze.

I'm just really scared when I run out of this mascara I don't know how I am going to get it in Malaysia. Anyone can help me? :(

Moving along, it's time for lip products. Now how do I say this? Their lip products are one of the good ones that I've tried among other drugstore lip products. I did not expect them to be good cause they were not too expensive either. But they just blew my mind off. I swear I'm not being paid by Kiko. It's just that I do love them, at least with the ones that I have :p 

Let's start with lipsticks first. You know how it feels like when you see tons of lipsticks and their colours are just beautiful? This happened to me when I stepped in to their lipsticks section. Like seriously, how can they look so amazing?!?

They have a huge range of lipsticks from matte to creamy to sheen to balms. They just have it all! The first one that I wanted to try was their Smart Lipstick. I really wanted to buy a couple of shades but I was keeping my budget really tight since I was still in the early stages of my backpacking trip.

The Smart Lipstick claims to be rich and nourishing and I purchased shade 904. They have huge selection of shades but I was aiming to get a blushed tone so that I can just use this as a daily lipstick.

My first impression of the first application was that it was more of a balm than a opaque lipstick. But the colour is definitely buildable. It glides on smooth without any tugging-on-the-skin feeling. Seriously, when I'm bored of my too natural make up, I sometimes put a lot of layers of this lipstick to just give a bright pink look.

And the smell. The smell is just yummy! It has that vanilla-like buttery smell that makes you just want to head out and grab a cupcake from Wondermilk. Kay, just bringing out Wondermilk 'cause I feel like having it now. Cravings I tell you. All these cravings.

The second of the lipstick lot (I'm keeping the best last) is the Velvet Mat - Satin Lipstick. Yes, although it's named as a matte lipstick, there is a tiny, weenie bit of sheen to the lipstick. It has this supercool packaging that was the element that just sucked me into buying it. Thank goodness it turned out to be really good!

Instead of the usual top cap lipsticks have, with this one you have to push it down to open it. Honestly, I was having a hard time trying to figure out how in the world can I open this casing! Serves me right since I really wanted it :p

Just push it down and it'll come out. There, there now. I bought the Velvet Mat - Satin Lipstick in shade 606, a deep red matte lipstick since I never go for a dark shade for lipstick (I swear it's darker. The picture made it turn slightly brighter). Albeit it is not the shade that I could pick up on a whim, it is one of the comfortable matte finish lipsticks that I could wear. 

The longevity of Kiko's lipsticks are also a plus point. The next one up was so long lasting that I could wear from day to night with a single touch up. That is how good it can be without breaking the bank. Now, don't you want that? 

Last but not least of the lipsticks that I bought is the Intensely Lavish lipstick in shade 04. This has been the best finishing and most comfortable lipstick of them all. It lasts sooooo long that after tons of eating and drinking greasy food it still stays on your lips and looks really good. 

I must state that it is one of their limited edition Rebel Romantic collection and I would just buy all the shades if I knew it was this good! There were (yes were, they're not available anymore) four shades of the Intensely Lavish lipstick and each comes with a matching lipliner that is totally incredible too. These two just work so well together that I swear you don't need any other lipliner.

I forgot to mention that the Rebel Romantic collection has one of the most beautiful packaging ever even their boxes are so elegant I made a point to not ruin it in my backpack while travelling and it was a struggle. Thank goodness I managed to bring it back with the slightest damage :D

The packaging even has a velvety finishing I kid you not

It just looks so regal

Speaking of the lipstick, this collection comes with a different finish in terms of packaging. The lipstick case was slightly heavier giving you the impression of a more exclusive product and feels pretty expensive but for just a fraction of the cost.

Seriously, how can you not love them any more???

*virtualhugstokiko*

The lipstick is creamy that it glides on seamlessly on your lips leaving behind the tugging way across the other side of the world. The colour is really, REALLY INTENSE, hence you know why they named it that.

One swipe and your lips are covered. No other layer is needed saving you time from needing to build up the colour. On me, it lasted a good 6 hours if I can recall. That is after a lot of laksam, rendang, nasi impit and God knows what other oily food I had on that day. And at the end of the day it looked like I have only put it on! Seriously, amazing staying power. It does transfer but you won't need to worry about it going away from your lips. You understand me?

From Left: Smart Lipstick in 904, Velvet Mat - Satin Lipstick in 606, and Intensely Lavish Lipstick in 04

Okay, last one for this post! The lipliners! I purchased two of their Smart Lip Pencil and a lipliner from the Intensely Lavish collection just because it was pretty. Haha. 

I do admit that the Smart Lip Pencil is not the creamiest of the lip liners that I've tried but they do have a strong staying power. As you would have expected, I bought them in a neutral colour and a slightly darker colour, shade 706 and 707.

Both of the Smart Lip Pencil gives off a matte finish so it's easy for you to wear it with any lipstick. It is pigmented but they do tug a little on my lips. 706 is a dark cherry red liner that you can pair with a lighter shade of lip colour to make it slightly more intense. While 707 is a shade lighter that I choose to use as a neutral lip colour liner.

Meanwhile, the Intersely Lavish Lip Pencil in 04 is on the opposite of the range. It is creamy, glides on smoothly and long-lasting just like its sister lipstick. The colour payoff is really good too. What you see is what you get kind of colour. Score on that!

All of them are the pencil type that you need to sharpen but who doesn't have a pencil sharpener? Seriously, sometimes I do just get the normal pencil sharpener for my pencils that needs to be sharpen every now and then. It's cheap and it works, so what else do you want, right? :D

From Left: Smart Lip Pencil in 707, 706 and Intensely Lavish Lip Pencil in 04

And there you have it, all of my Kiko Cosmetics collection. I know does not have a wide range but these should convince you enough to purchase them right? Cause I, myself want to! Oh gosh, I wish I'm back in the UK so I can just purchase them all!

Give them a visit here:

Website: www.kikocosmetics.com

Facebook: Kiko Milano

Twitter: Kiko Milano

Instagram: Kiko Milano

Youtube: Kiko Milano

Google+: Kiko Milano

Pinterest: Kiko Milano

SnapChat: KikoMilano

Until next time!