Kiko Skin Trainer CC Blur

I’ve always been a little skeptical about primers in general. I’ve used a few over the years and I find I use them for a few weeks but they generally just fall off my radar. The other thing I am guilty of is buying things on whim and that’s how this one happened!. I showed you my little Kiko haul a few weeks ago and one of the impulse purchases I made was the Kiko Skin Trainer CC Blur. I bought it because I thought maybe this one was going to change my run of primer luck!

I kind of feel like I got cornered on this product, it happens the best of us! I was wandering around a giant empty Kiko store with a fairly full basket and one of the sales assistants obviously knew I was out to spend money. She demo’d it on my hand and it made a quick difference to my skin tone on my hand as it’s tinted and has that smoothed silicone feeling. She also told me three times I was the palest shade and in my head I was like ‘I get it lady I know how pale I am’ :-).

This product is designed to smooth skin, blur pores, reduce shine and make skin tone look more even. It also claims it will ‘conceal the signs of aging’.The product has a very similar tone/feel to the Benefit Porefessional Primer, with its main ingredient being silicone oils. This product doesn’t claim to help the longevity of makeup but does claim it will help skins hydration levels overtime, so it is more of a skincare product really.

When I apply this the difference is very subtle on my dry/sensitive skin. It does a good job of making skin look matte, I can see the difference around my nose but it’s such a subtle change and it’s hard to capture it on camera. It does make skin look slightly smoother but I don’t think the tint makes too much difference. I’ve been using this for four weeks now and I haven’t really noticed much difference in my skin hydration or ‘signs of aging’.

So does this rock my world? No not really! and this isn’t a cheap product at €19 so I don’t think it’s something I would buy again. This is my problem with primers. They just don’t really make a massive difference for me. Yes they make my skin feel a bit smoother and my makeup might apply very slightly better. But for me I just don’t know that they’re justified both in price tag and the extra step in a routine. I realise ladies with oilier skin might find them great but they just don’t make a big enough difference for me. What do you think? Are you a primer fan?

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Clinique Moisture Surge Gel Cream (€29) - I LOVE this moisturiser it does a brilliant job at moisturising my skin without feeling sticky and heavy. I just ran out of my last pot before I headed on hols. I saved €16 by buying this in Tenrerife as its about €45 at home.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Light (€25) - this is my foundation of choice at the moment. It gives great coverage and a lovely not too matte finish. This was a bit of a bargain as it’s normally €38 here so I saved €12. You can see a before and after of this foundation in this post.

Kiko Skin Trainer CC Blur Primer (€19) - the sales assistant in Kiko persuaded me to buy this one but I’m kind of regretting it as I’m normally disappointed with primers in general. It’s a silicone type tinted primer designed to even skin tone and leave a slightly matte base for makeup. It feels like a nice consistency but I’ll let you know how I get on with this.

Kiko Water Eyeshadow 342 (€8.90) - I already own one of these in a great burgundy shade here. They’re really highly pigmented and last ages once you have them on. I decided to go a bit bolder and get his orange gold shade which I think will be nice for the summer blended out with some bronze shades.

Kiko Dark Circle Tone Eraser (€8.90) - in hindsight I think this might turn into one of those products that I always forget to use. I have quite a dark under eye area and find it hard to conceal it properly. I liked the consistency of this yellow toned primer when I tried this. It feels quite moisturising while offering decent coverage, I’ll let you know how I get on with it!

Kiko Nail Polish 805 (€1.50) - Their regular nail polishes were all on offer so I couldn’t pass them by!

Kiko Luxurious Lashes Waterproof Mascara (€3.75) - all of the Kiko mascaras were heavily discounted in the store so they must be repackaging or reformulating them. I can only wear waterproof mascaras as I wear lenses and any other mascara will smudge badly. This mascara is huge, I’m not sure why they make the tube so big. I am liking this one so far though.

Kiko Intense Colour Long Lasting eyeliner (€5.20) - they have a huge selection of eyeliners but I opted for the super pigmented one. I’m hoping this one might compare to my favourite Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Smog, I’ll keep you posted.

I think I was quite reserved with my purchases as there was so much more I could have bought! Do you spot anything here that you like? I really wish there was a Kiko store here but it’s probably better for my bank balance that there’s not!

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Last week I shared my summer body skincare picks with you and I thought I’d show you what I’m turning to for my summer makeup. These is my day to day look that’s pretty simple and natural, nothing too fancy but perfect for the office.

Skin 79 Purple BB Cream – This is a consistent summer favourite for me. It’s easy to apply and gives great coverage as well as protecting skin with SPF40. You can’t beat a BB cream for glowy summer skin. You can see my full review of this here.

Makeup Forever HD Powder – I’ve developed a real love for this powder. It does a great job of setting makeup without looking cakey and does blur out skin particularly around my nose. I just ran out of it a few days ago and I miss it already!

Buff Sheer Glo in Movie Star – I like my makeup to look fresh and dewy for summer and this highlighter from Buff Makeup is just gorgeous. It’s a cool highlighter with no hint of shimmer or glitter which suits me. I apply it to my cheekbones and cupids bow for a fresh look. You can see my full review of this here.

NYC BB Beautifying Blushable Cream Stick – I had this knocking around my stash for a while but it’s just lovely. The pigment is really strong but easily blended out to leave a fresh hint of colour. It has great staying power as well. These are also great value at just €3.49.

NYX Butter Gloss in Peaches and Cream – I’m not a big lipstick wearer so I prefer a gloss type finish. I can’t believe I only just got around to trying the butter glosses a few weeks ago! I feel like the last person to the party on these. They’re lovely and moisturising with a great hint of colour for just €6.49.

Kiko Long Lasting Eyeshadow Sticks – I’m keeping with the cream product trend here! These Kiko sticks have a great consistency and are so easy to apply to eyelids. I’ve been wearing shade Rosy Brown (05) which is a nice burgundy tinted brown.

You can see my finished look using all these products below. What do you think?

Summer Makeup

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Kiko Cushion Foundation

Well I am a bit of a sucker for a trend but as a beauty blogger that’s a dangerous space to be in. You have to be careful not to get suckered into buying every new trend on the block or it’s a surefire way to brokesville. The new cushion foundations really caught my eye though. I remember British Beauty Blogger Jane predicting this would be the next big thing to come from Korea a while back and I’ve been tempted to order one from my fave Korean cosmetics online store. However I was recently in a Kiko store in France and spotted their new cushion foundation and decided to give it a whirl.

If you’re not familiar with a cushion foundation it basically means the foundation is stored in a well underneath a sponge so the product soaks into the sponge giving it a lightweight texture. They’re designed to be applied with a sponge but I actually preferred using my fingers. The Kiko packaging is almost identical to the much more pricey Lancôme Miracle Cushion. It has a double store to keep the product from drying out or leaking. You open the top lid and then there is another level that you click open to reveal the cushion. You only have to lightly press on the cushion to get a lot of product.  I think you need to be careful with the hygiene of cushion foundations. I think using the same sponge on sponge couldn’t be great so I personally would apply it with clean fingers.

Well the first and glaringly obvious mistake I made was the shade. This shade Warm Beige 60 is far too dark for me, what was I thinking?  The lighting in the shop was a little dark and blue toned so maybe that’s how it happened but now I just think I am blind. This is what happens when you’re a beauty blogger and you get excited about something new and you buy the wrong thing! For the purposes of the review I’m going to ignore the fact that the shade is entirely wrong.

Kiko Cushion Foundation Warm Beige 60

The foundation feels really cooling you initially apply it which makes it perfect for summer and it also contains and SPF25 which is great to keep skin protected. I expected this to be light coverage but it’s actually medium to high coverage. What surprised me about this was it felt a little drying on my skin, more so than my regular Colorstay foundation which is quite high coverage. I expected this to be more like BB creams which are quite moisturising.

This is described as a CC cream but I would say this is more camouflaging than colour correcting as the coverage is quite high. I wore this around the house for a few hours – as it’s too dark for me to go out in public with! This wore pretty well but I didn’t overly like the drying feeling of it.

I’m a bit on the fence about this one, maybe if you got the right shade – duh Sarah – and had oilier skin than me you might get on really well with it. If  your skin is of a dry disposition you might want to give it a miss.This is however very price competitive with other cushion foundations at just €15. You can order Kiko online here and they deliver to Ireland for €5.90 and delivery is free if you spend over €49. I’d love to hear if you’ve tried any of the cushion foundations.

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Kiko Water Eyeshadow 203 Burgundy

I’m having great fun trying out all of the products I got in my recent France haul here. I’ve never tried Kiko before so was excited to give their products a whirl. I expected to like the Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow as they come so highly recommended by beauty bloggers but I am actually wowed by the Water Eyeshadow!

These shadows are very pretty sculpted pans of colour designed to be used either wet or dry on lids. I swatched these in the shop and liked them but the lighting in the shop was a little poor so I couldn’t get a good look. When I tried this out at home I fell in love with it. The texture of the shadow is almost creamy and applies very much opaque with one swipe. You can use this with a wet applicator for an even more intense finish as you can see below. I love this burgundy shade for something a bit different on the eyes it’s a nice change to my regular neutrals. This has a slight shimmer to it but isn’t glittery – my pet peeve.

Having tried both the Water eyeshadow and Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadows I think I might nearly prefer this. The texture is gorgeous and it applies and lasts really well. I like the Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadows but I find I can feel the product on my eyelids which puts me off a bit. These eyeshadows are good value as well, costing €8.90 each. Kiko do 27 shades of these and I just wish I had picked up one or two more. You can order online from Ireland at Kiko.com and I think delivery costs €5.95. Let me know if you have any products you love from Kiko.

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Well colour me Kiko at the moment. I am all over the Kiko products since my little France haul. I couldn’t get over how cheap some of the Kiko goodies are, the skincare in particular is great value with most items hovering around the €10 mark. I love anything with peel in the name as it usually means it’s a safe way for me to exfoliate my skin without scrubbing it. So when I spied the Kiko Anti-Age Peeling Gel for just under €7 I knew it had my name written all over it.

This product is a gel formula with a very fine grain in it. Below is the full ingredient list but on the more active side it contains lactic acid (exfoliating), papain (exfoliating enzyme) and arogenissus bark (elasticity). It goes on as a light gel put when mixed with water is more serum like. I just rub it around skin and rinse off with a flannel. This stuff is really gentle but does have a mild scrub element which you might not like if you hate a scrub. My skin does feel nicely smooth and soft after using this with no irritation.

This is designed for use only once or twice a week so is similar to a peeling mask but you don’t leave it on. You get a generous 75ml of product for the tiny €6.90 it costs. This product kind of reminds me of the Ziaja range, simple, effective no frills skincare. Have you tried anything from the Kiko skincare range?

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Well I just returned from a weekend in Disneyland Paris (big child that I am) and it would have been downright rude for me not to buy some beauty bits while I was there. Val D’Europe is a big shopping centre beside Disney that has some lovely shops including a great French Pharmacie, Sephora and Kiko. I spent a good two hours perusing the stores so of course I had to share my haul.

I hit up the pharmacie first and stocked up on four cans of my beloved La Roche Posay Serozinc. You can’t get this in Ireland so this was on my shopping list before I left. This costs just €7.50 in France so four cans set me back €30. I was quite restrained in Sephora and bought just a Honey sheet face mask and small Eos like lip balm. Nothing else really caught my eye but I think it was because the store was roasting and made it a bit uncomfortable to shop.

So I hotfooted it to Kiko. I was really excited to have a browse there because I’d never bought anything Kiko before but I had heard great things. I got a bit of advice from my Irish Beauty Bloggers beforehand so I bought two of the long lasting eye shadow sticks. These are supposed to be a dupe for the pricey Terry Ombre Blackstar eyeshadow sticks. I got the burgundy/brown shade 5 and the more gold hued shade 21- Passion Fruit. I’ll keep you posted on how I get on with these.

Kiko have a new collection out for spring including the cosmetic of the moment, a cushion foundation, which looks almost identical to the Lancôme offering. I’ll be reviewing this one asap, although I’m nervous I may not have gotten the shade right.  Their new collection is called mosaic and the packaging is so pretty it hurts my eyes. The blusher packaging and design is just gorgeous – look at it! I’ll be giving that a good review as well. I also couldn’t resist one of the beautiful wet dry eyeshadows. The browny/cranberry shade is so pretty. I also got a lovely sky blue nail polish.

All in all I spent just €60 in Kiko and from the look of the quality of the products it is money very well spent. You can order Kiko online and they will deliver to Ireland. I’m really happy with all the bits I got, now I’m back on a no cosmetics ban! Spot anything you like the look of?

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