Last month I headed to London to review a facial at Selfridges (which you can read about here). After my early morning appointment, I had the rest of the day to enjoy myself and I made it my mission to check out some of the beauty brands I can't usually get my hands on. I popped into both KIKO and the H&M Beauty section for the first time ever, and grabbed a few products from each. I hadn't tried anything from either of the brands before, so I was eager to see what they had in store.
KIKO MILANO
I've always wanted to place an order from KIKO. I couldn't tell you how many times I've added things to my online basket only to change my mind, so I decided it would be better to see the products in person. I was excited to go to the Regent Street store, but it was SO busy so I ended up having to make rushed decisions. Even still, I managed to swatch most of the things I wanted to, apart from the lipsticks which I didn't get much of a chance to look at and play with. I didn't expect the store to be so small in all honesty!
From the quick look that I got, I didn't see too many matte lip products, which is what I've been gravitating towards lately. I didn't fancy any of the lipsticks on offer, but the one thing I did spy was the Creamy Colour Comfort Lip Liner (£5.90). What initially attracted me was the packaging, which really reminded me of the Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheats. I grabbed the shade 304 Wine as it seemed like a really unique shade: a muted red with a velvet matte finish. I'm so impressed with these lip liners as they are so creamy and pigmented and I'll definitely be picking up a few more shades.
One of the most interesting products I saw was the Glowing Pearl Cushion Highlighter (£8.90) in 01 Virtuous Gold, part of The Artist collection. This is a twist up liquid highlighter that comes out of a soft "cushion" tip, similar to the mechanism of the Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer. The shade is a light gold (which was a bitch to get to show up in the swatch photo), and it has a thin, liquid texture. It is perfect for a subtle daytime highlight, but I also like to use it as a base for my HG highlight, theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer. I find the applicator a bit small for the tops of the cheekbones, but it is perfect for the brow bone, down the nose and cupids bow. The product is also available in a stunning rose gold shade, Dynamic Coral, which would be perfect for deeper skin tones.
The product I knew I wanted to get my hands on was the Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow (£6.90), as I had seen them praised on numerous blogs. There were so many lovely shades but in the end I went for two; 06 Golden Brown and 38 Golden Taupe. Golden Brown is a lovely, rich, bronzey shade and Golden Taupe, which I've been wearing non-stop of the last week, is a taupe with purpley undertones and flecks of gold shimmer. It is so unique and perfect for an every day look. These glide onto the lids so easily, are smooth and highly pigmented, and are well worth the money.
The final KIKO item I purchased was the Natural Concealer (£5.90) in 01 Clear. This is a pale pink brightening concealer that works really well under the eyes, as well as on the high points of the face. It has a lightweight consistency that blends in really easily, and offers medium coverage. I can get away with using it alone under the eyes, but you could layer it with a normal concealer to use it more as a corrector. I'm really pleased I picked this up as I've used similar shades in corrector palettes but haven't got along too well with the textures. This has definitely replaced my Freedom corrector palette in my makeup bag!
H&M
I headed straight for the High Impact Eye Colours (£4.99) as they're what I had heard the most about, and there were so many gorgeous shades to choose from! I ended up picking up two, one in the shade Shiitake and the other, Russet Rose. I went for the more metallic shades as I thought they looked the most unique, although the mattes were lovely too.
It looks quite taupey in the pan, but on the lid, Shiitake is a muted gold shade, similar to MAC Patina. It is the perfect everyday shadow and gives a polished look. I like to put this all over the lid with a matte medium brown running through the crease. Russet Rose is a bright copper, and really unique. It is really pigmented, and looks great on the lid with a cat-eye and lots of mascara. I'm really impressed with the quality of these shadows. They are highly pigmented with zero fallout, and they have a certain sheen that I can only liken to MAC shadows, fab for under a fiver!
H&M also have a great selection of nail polishes (which don't seem to be online) in such unique shades (which is hard to find when you've got every colour under the sun in your stash). I was really drawn to the pastel shades, and picked up Dewy Rose, a sheer lilac with a holographic effect, and Confetti, a sheer pink glitter. Now I'm not going to lie, I mostly bought these purely to use in photos as they are so pretty and unicorn-y (now that deffo isn't a word...). I also loved the look of U-Taupe-ia, which is a stunning muted khaki. This looks gorgeous on the nails as it is still really neutral but totally different to the shades I'd usually wear. The formula is fab too as it is almost opaque in a single coat and so easy to work with.
Overall I was so impressed with all my purchases from both KIKO and H&M, there wasn't a dud in the entire haul! My favourite products? It has to be the KIKO Golden Taupe Shadow Stick and the H&M U-Taupe-ia nail polish. I will certainly be adding more products from both brands to my stash, and I've started compiling my list already! I really like the look of the H&M Powder Blushes and the KIKO Blending Waves Watercolour Blushes, which is also from The Artist collection. Blushes aside, H&M also had this stunning brick red lipstick (I think it was the shade Fareham Brick), which I haven't been able to stop thinking about...
What are your KIKO and H&M Beauty recommendations?
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