Europe KIKO Haul!

It will probably not come as a great surprise to you that when I traveled around mainland Europe I bought a lot of stuff I didn't need, but really, really wanted. And if there's one thing I could win a gold medal for, it's buying stuff. Super good at it me. The trouble was, practically every country we went to had a KIKO MILANO store, and we went into as many as we could. KIKO is an Italian brand, and one that I don't think gets enough love. All the products are really well priced, every time I've been in there there's been a sale on (I don't think I've bought any of these eyeshadows full price), and every product I've used has been of seriously high quality. I rate this brand a lot, and tend to go there for eye products mostly (more on that later on in the post.)

First off, I picked up (in the sale) the Glow2 Blush and Highlighter in the shade 01, which I cannot find anywhere on their site, and either this is only available in certain countries or they've discontinued it, I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, this is a blush and highlight in one handy stick, the pretty rosy pink blush on one side and a shimmery iridescent highlighter on the other. I haven't quite got to grips with this little one yet, but feel like it will be very useful on the go as it's essentially two products in one. The formula is lovely and creamy and blends well, and the colours are lovely and pigmented, and I just know I'm going to love it when I've learnt to use it! The second product is the Glassy Lipgloss in the shade 06 (again doesn't seem to be on the UK KIKO website, how strange). I absolutely love the sleek silver packaging of this lipgloss. The colour is a vibrant barbie pink that looks lovely and sheer on the lips, it's not too pigmented which I like about it. The formula glides on very nicely and is not that sticky. All round a cracking little lipgloss.

The third product is available online! It's the Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in the shade 07 Golden Beige, and you can purchase it here for £6.90. I really, really love everything about this little beauty. The shade is so intensely pigmented that it looks almost metallic on the eye, and this golden colour is immediately brightening without being overbearing. It also promises to last for eight hours and I promise, once this is in place and dried it is not going anywhere, yet it's really easy to remove. I'm sure witchcraft is involved. I am a total sucker for a gold eye, but I don't always have the time for my usual several blended colours. But with this stick, I can rub it over my eyelids, blend with a finger and bam! Good to go. Being a 'one wash wonder', this will be absolutely great for lazy uni days, and this eyeshadow is also available in 31 other shades! That's a blummin' lot to choose from.

Now onto powder eyeshadows, and man oh man am I excited to share this little lot with you. I am a massive fan of the normal KIKO eyeshadow in cute little compacts, and was very proud of myself when I only bought four whilst I was away. In this range there is a massive 81(?!) shades available, and they are a mere £2.90 each. That is not that much for an absolutely fantastic little product, and they are often on sale for £1.40. I mean, it's practically daylight robbery. You can shop the range here.

The reason I love this shadows so much is not only because they are super cheap and look adorable in the sleek black packaging with the embossed KIKO, but for the price they are also an incredible product. Each shade is highly pigmented and gives great coverage with minimal fallout, and the formula is also really creamy and super easy to blend. Honestly, I can't really tell the difference between using one of these KIKO eyeshadows, and using the eyeshadows in my Urban Decay palette they are so damn good.

The first one I picked up is one of my good friends holy grail eyeshadow (she owns 5), and this is the shade 139, which is a really wearable light shimmery shade that is good on a 'no makeup day', or as a base colour on the inner corner if you're doing a smoky eye. My personal favourite of the lot is (of course), the golden colour which is the shade 102. In the pan this looks like a really dark golden colour, but on the eye it provides the most gorgeous wash of gold that really looks like you've covered your eyelid in gold leaf. I like to use this if I'm doing a more complex golden smoky eye look.

The other two shades I picked up are slightly out of my normal comfort zone, which is golds and browns and general neutral colours. First off, the light pink colour in the shade 143. This is the most gorgeous almost white colour that contains the most beautiful finely milled glitter. I may have picked it up because it is so damn glittery, but it's easier to wear than it looks, although I do reserve this one for the evening. I like to wear it dabbed over the outer corner of whatever eyeshadow I happen to be wearing as it's fairly translucent and just adds a shit ton of glitter to your eyeshadow and that makes me extremely happy. The purple colour is the shade 149 and honestly, I'm not sure why I picked this up, but I'm so glad I did. I'm not generally one for a bold colour, and this is a very deep purple, but it's so much more wearable than I thought (although I reserve it for when I'm feeling more confident). I really do love the colour of this one, and it's made me want to branch out a little! (Although 99% of the time, I still opt for golden eyes).

If you haven't tried out KIKO yet then what are you doing? I'm joking, but honestly, give them a go. I haven't found a product yet I hated, and their eyeshadows are seriously the bee knee's, and it's so affordable, which is especially great if you're a uni student like myself! If you've tried KIKO out, let me know which products you love in the comments below! And if you haven't, let me know what you'd like to try!