Kiko Skin Glow

When Kiko say Glow, I say yes please.

 This is a nifty little number somewhere between a moisturiser and a glowy primer. It claims to be a light effect day cream which has SPF 10.

 It comes out of the tube looking like it has a tint to it but when you rub it in it just becomes transparent. The only down side to this is the tiny tiny glitter particles which run through it. BUT. I have tried it under foundation with direct sunlight, and you can't see it, I promise. 

I use this when I am applying make up in the middle of the day and it's been hours since my morning skin routine. It adds a light layer of moisture and makes a really nice base for foundation.

It somehow evens your skin out a tiny bit before foundation, so you could in theory wear it without any foundation on top,  but the glitter particles makes that a risky move, unless you want to look like Edward Cullen. And if you do, this is definitely for you.

In terms of moisturising, I wouldn't use this as my only moisturiser, as it is pretty light- definitely not enough for my de-hydrated skin- but if you only need a bit of moisture this might be enough for you.

I would recommend this as a really nice, purse-friendly moisturising, brightening primer which looks super high-end in it's beautiful pink packaging. Very impressed.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

A Couple of Cheeky Kiko Purchases

As always on a Saturday, I found myself *accidentally* buying a couple of make- up bits on my lunchbreak at work. 

I wandered into Kiko, and these two beautiful vibrant shades fell into my hands.

Since I bought the 24- pan Kiko palette, I've become obsessed with picking up new shades and building up my collection. I have been so impressed with the quality of these shadows so far, there has only been one which is less than impressive- I go through my whole collection in my 'Kiko Palette' post which I did a few weeks ago.

These two shades are so vibrant and beautiful. I'm using my kiko palette to fill in the gaps in my eyeshadow collection, which is saturated with bronzes, browns and nudes. These are like Spring in an eyeshadow.

226 is the beautiful peachy pink, which I think would work amazingly well as a blush as well as an eyeshadow, especially because kiko eyeshadows come in such generous sizes.

252 is the muted lilac/purple. I am loving this colour so much at the moment, and I have nothing quite like it to create a bright, spring-y eye. Looking forward to giving that a go for sure.

As always, they are beautifully pigmented but silky smooth at the same time. When I create an eye look using these colours, I'll be sure to create a post on how they blended and wore- but knowing that the quality of my other eyeshadows is so good, I expect they will live up to others.

The lipstick is one of Kiko's smart lipsticks, and was on offer at 2.50, so I grabbed it. It's a pale peach: the kind of colour I LOVE this time of year. It's very sheer, a wash of colour with just the right amount of pigment to make it really pretty and wearable. Also- it smells like a MAC lipstick. I tried it on last night briefly and I couldn't get over how good it smells. It also leaves your lips feeling really nourished and plump. Definitely not a long-wearer, but one for the Summer months with a little more glossy- ness and the moisturising factor. (and the amazing price tag)

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Face of the Day ~ 15 minute make- up

Everyone has those mornings when you have to get up and out really quickly, but you don't want to scare the world with your naked stressed face (I don't have the best skin, especially at the moment), so you need a make- up routine which is quick and failsafe, and this is mine. Enjoy :)

So that's my face up above- (I'm really not the best at selfies), and here is everything which is AWN MA FACE. It looks complicated, but it's really not. You might wonder why I have three concealers, but all will be explained...

Face

(Top to bottom: Rimmel Foundation, Collection concealer, Maybelline Concealer, Collection cover stick- see below for more details)

So, I think it's really important for bad- skin days or mornings when you don't have much time, to take more time over skin care than make up. I started my morning with an ex-foliating pad from Nip and Fab, then the Effaclar Duo from Roche Posay to try and calm my skin down, and then some moisturiser. I used Olay's Anti Wrinkle 2 in 1 Instant Hydration and Radiant Glow which is lovely and fresh.

Once your skin is looking a bit more perky and nourished, I would normally go ahead and apply primer. I really recommend the Rimmel Lasting Perfection Primer if you need your make up to last the day. I didn't have time this morning (/ I forgot), so I just went right ahead with my foundation, which I applied with my fingers because I didn't have time to buff it in with a brush. I used Rimmel's Lasting Finish Nude in Porcelain, and just applied a thin layer all over. Ma face. This is a really nice foundation in general- very light and fresh looking- and I think it's best to go for a lighter coverage foundation if you don't have much time in the morning. I then went in with my Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair over my blemishes and around my nose. I did use a brush for this, and buffed it in to make sure it was nice and even across my skin. I used the Maybelline Fit Me concealer in 15 on my eyelids and under my eyes to prime for eye make up and to conceal my under eye circles. (This is where I needed a third concealer because my under eye circles were serious- I went over with the Collection Cover Stick in 01 and pressed that in).

Boring bit over. 

Now, colour in your cheeks is something you need if you are in a rush, or you need to look more awake. I used my Make Up Revolution Blushing Heart in Peachy Pink Kisses which is so shimmery and illuminating that you don't need to faff around with a highlighter.

Eyes 

I kept the eyes super easy and super neutral.

First, I filled in my eyebrows with my Kiko eyeshadows, in 237 and 239 mixed together to get a good shade. It would definitely be better to use an eyebrow pencil because it is quicker, but I'm currently between eyebrow pencils because I can't find a good blonde one. I then brushed my brows through with the Natural Collection Clear Mascara which is such a cheap version of a brow gel, and it's really good. Brows done and onto eyes.

The star of the show has to be the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Creamy Beige.I applied this allover the lid with my finger tip, just smudging it in to make sure it's even. It literally takes 10 seconds to get a layer of colour. This isn't what I would call beige, it's definitely slightly darker, but it's a great base colour. 

At this point, you have two options. Go darker, and find a dark shade to quickly smudge through the crease. OR (as i did), find a lighter shade to press over the centre of the lid to brighten the eye up. I used a Kiko eyeshadow in 236 which is a shimmery peachy/brown/nude. 

Liquid eyeliner is something you shouldn't attempt if you are in a rush, unless you can do it quickly, in which case, I bow down to your superiority. I just smudged a thin line of dark eyeshadow- I used Undone from the Naked 2 Basics palette, but you can use any dark brown or black colour- along the lash line to make the whole look more defined. 

Mascara is also hard to do quickly. I will normally do at least two coats of mascara because my lashes just don't hold up with just one coat, as you can see here. I used the 17 Va Va Voom Mascara in Black, which is the BEST mascara. You need to try it.

Lips

Having lipstick on immediately makes you look more put-together and a little fresher. Wack on some lipbalm if you really have no time, but if you have 5 seconds, go for a sheer wash of colour which is easy to apply and isn't too bold. I went for  a sheer peach lipstick from the Body Shop- Colour Crush in 315. Really easy and fresh looking, perfect for spring.

Powder is optional at  this point. I'm not a huge powder fan, I find it always makes me look cakey - and believe me I've tried applying it in every single way- but i actually did put a little bit of the Rimmel Stay Matte in Transparent on my under-eye concealer to make it stay- put.

So, I hope you enjoyed this fifteen minute make up for a really natural easy look.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

My Kiko Palette

*the shadow three from the right should be 220 not 240

So this is my Kiko eyeshadow collection. Kiko is the nearest thing  I can afford which is similar to creating my own MAC palette. Kiko eyeshadows are £5.40 each (compared to MAC's £13 or something ridiculous), and recently have been on an offer making them £2.80 each. Amazing. In the summer I picked three up, you can probably tell from the palette view which ones from how destroyed they are. So I originally had a three- palette and I enjoyed the eyeshadows so much that when I saw them on offer again I grabbed four more, and then another one. These eight are actually sitting in a 24- place palette. I know, I got really excited. The reason is, the 9 palette was only £1.50 cheaper than the 24 palette. So, ya know. I'll eventually fill it up I'm sure.

So here are my eight eyeshadows. Two I use for eyebrows as well, and the rest are a sort of wintery collection of pinky purples. I've lent towards purply colours because, firstly, I have a lot of browny eyeshadows, and secondly, its winter. Oh, and thirdly I got told purple looks good on green eyes, which I have, so I'm trying to use them more.

In the swatches photo, these two are the colours on the far left. I have no idea how they have come out looking so brown, but I found the palette so hard to photograph too. They look their truest in the top photo of the whole palette. These are 293 and 233 in that order. They are both deep cranberry, 293 is slightly darker. It's really hard to talk about how lovely they are when the picture is so bad, but have a look if you are in a Kiko store.

This is 236 and 239. They are two of the originals, and these photos are so much better. 236 is a beautiful champagne shimmer which is so lovely as a base colour, and also works well as a shimmery highlighter. 239 I use as a brow colour, but it is very so slightly too dark since my hair got lighter. But, I have to say I can tell you that these last ALL DAY in the brows, and on the lids too, no smudging or budging. Also a really good ashy taupe crease shade.

This is 218 and 237. 218 is my least favourite of all of my shades. It's basically a base colour, cream with sparkle, but the colour pay off is really poor on this one, meaning its super sheer. This could be dusted over matte eyeshadows to make them shimmery, but its not very pigmented compared to the others. 237 is my new brow shade, and is basically a lighter version of 239, and matches my brows perfectly. I mix in a little of 239 for a stronger brow if I fancy it, otherwise this is the perfect everyday replacement for the shade 'Frisk' in the Naked 2 basics palette which I do NOT want to use everyday and use up.

This purple shadow is 246, and its a cooler- toned purple with a lot of shimmer. It's so pretty, and works really nicely with the more cranberry shades, as well as the lighter shades. The last one is 220 (labelled 240 in the top photo) and it's my first more Spring/ summer shade for this palette. It's a bit darker than it looks here, its a really pretty peachy colour with gold shimmer and its soo lovely, perfect for warmer weather, and I know this will look great with a tan. 

Kiko eyeshadows are definitely worth checking out, so cheap, and the chance to design your own palette which is amazing. The pans are actually really big too, so I was considering having a look for a couple of blusher/ contour/ highlighter colours too.

I've got another 16 slots to fill up and I can't wait!

Thanks for reading, hope this was useful!

Lou x