Review: Kiko Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow (06 Golden Brown and 21 Passion Fruit)

Hey Beauties!

As promised here is the review of my two shades of Kiko Long Lasting Stick eyeshadows. I have to say I'm loving those. As you know I'm obsessed with Maybelline Color Tattoos and Kiko sticks are even better.


The full name of this product is Kiko Long Lasting Stick 8 Hour No-Transfer Eyeshadow. It comes in the range of 32 shades. I'm sure there's a shade for everyone. 

It comes in a matte plastic stick packaging. In the bottom you can see the shade of the stick. The packaging is very convenient and it closes really well. You just swirl it for the product to come out. 

Each costs 6.90€ and you get 1.64 grams of product.


I decided to pick up two shades, 21 Passion Fruit and 06 Golden Brown. You can see how other shades like 38 Golden Taupe look like on Mateja and swatches from Sandra. I also love the shade 05 Rosy Brown that Sara reviewed. 


Kiko Long Lasting Stick in 21 Passion Fruit

Shade 21 is pink peach shade with gold shimmer. It's a rather interesting shade. I figure this will look different on different skin tones. On my skin it looks more like a peach shade, although you can definitely spot the very pink undertone in it. The yellow gold shimmer also gives it a yellow sheen. I guess I wasn't expecting this shade to be so bright (it almost looks neon on my eyes), but the shade is what I expected it to be.






Kiko Long Lasting Stick in 06 Golden Brown

Shade 06 is a chocolate brown taupe shade. It has silver shimmer in it, which is bigger or rather more noticeable than in 21.  






The texture of this is creamy, but they set pretty quickly. I find Maybelline Color Tattoos a bit thinner in consistency and also pigmentation. Kiko sticks are more pigmented, so you get a really good payoff with one swipe and they are a bit thicker. If you start to blend them, the color gets weaker, so you have to gradually build it up, but it's not that big of a deal.

As far as creasing goes, I find in my experience that they creased a little in my socket just when I applied them. That's also because I have slightly hooded eyes and I think when I put on a lot the product, it gets into a line a little and then it dries that way. I'm sure if you blend it and gradually build it up it won't give you any problems. It doesn't crease when it sets. I think that if your eyelids are a little more oily this might crease a little after some hours.


Shade 06 is very similar to Maybelline Color Tattoo in 35 On and On Bronze. I actually had a hard time noticing the differences. I guess Tattoo is more metallic. It has smaller shimmer but gives more of a metallic shine. Kiko 06 has bigger silver shimmer, but doesn't reflect the light in a metallic manner. Tattoo is also a bit more grey toned than Kiko 06. Kiko 06 has a bit warmer yellow undertone to it. It's very slight difference, so you many not even notice it. I guess Kiko is just a way more convenient travel product. I love the stick form, so easy and quick to use.


With Kiko sticks you get about a minute of play time, because it sets pretty quickly. However, I find that Maybelline Tattoos set even quicker, around half a minute of play time. 

Kiko sticks are also very long lasting. More than Color Tattoos. You can see how hard it was for me to remove the swatches with a makeup cleaner. The Maybelline Tattoos broke down quicker then Kiko stick. I had to rub like a crazy person. So this 8 hour no-transfer performance claim is definitely true. I believe it would be even longer lasting on some people. 


I also wanted to show you how the shades look like combined. I think 21 is a bit too peachy and bright to be worn on its own, but it's great as a complimentary shade to other eyeshadows. I also like to wear it on my lower lash line to brighten my eyes a little.



To sum it up, Kiko sticks are creamy eyeshadows in a stick form, very long lasting, don't crease and have great pigmentation. I highly recommend these to you. I love my Maybelline Color Tattoos and have 6 shades of them (yes I know!), but these Kiko sticks are just so much more convenient because of the stick form and are crazy pigmented. I'm sure I'll be adding to the collection, if I'll have a chance. I would definitely like to get 04 Golden Chocolate, 07 Golden Beige, 36 Golden Mauve and 37 Burgundy. Not much, ha? :)

Review: NYX Powder Blush (Taupe)

Hey Beauties!

One of the most raved about cheap prized contour products for fair skin is NYX's Powder Blush in shade Taupe. Of course, I was curious enough to finally order it from Ebay and try what all the fuss is about. I can't say it worked for me.


The blush comes in a plastic black packaging with transparent lid. You can easily see the shade and it's an average standard packaging. I got it for around 5€, but the prices vary from one seller to another. Inside the packaging is 4 grams of product. 

Here is also the ingredients list.



The shade to me seems a bit too brown to pass as a taupe shade. It kind of has that grey sheen to it in the packaging, but on my skin I only see red undertone, which is not what I wanted. Most contour products should have grey undertone to imitate natural grayness of a shadow. The red undertone in it, makes me look flushed and almost a bit irritated around the edges of my face, where I like to use it. I guess the name was promising, but the shade itself is not what I expected. 

The texture of the blush is pretty dry to the touch, but very well pigmented. It's also completely matte.


You can even see on the swatch below, how much browner and warmer the shade looks on my skin.


I decided to compare this shade to some of other eyeshadow shades that were pretty similar. 


The swatches from left to right: Essence I Heart Nude eyeshadow in 05 My Favorite Tauping, NYX Powder Blush in Taupe and L'Oreal Color Riche L'Omre Pure in 106 Breaking Nude.

Essence eyeshadow is the most what I wanted this NYX blush to be. It's a lot more grey and sheerer, so perfect for a very light contour on a light skin tone. NYX blush is way too brown and warm toned to pass as a contour on me. L'Oreal eyeshadow is too pigmented to be used as a contour and in my opinion a bit too dark and muddy looking for fair skin tone. To my surprise, I really like Essence eyeshadow as a contour shade for me. If you're looking for something similar, maybe try this one ;).


I also photographed the product on my skin. I didn't use any blush, just highlighter and NYX Taupe on the cheeks. But you can see that it looks like I have blush on.




I'm disappointed, because I seriously thought that this would be an amazing shade for contouring. A lot of people said that this is a really good cheap product and that this shade suits fair skin tones. I disagree. In my humble opinion, you'd probably be better with that Essence eyeshadow, if you want your contour to look cool toned and still fair enough.

After reading the comments I feel like I need to stress this. I think this shade didn't work for me, because of the very obvious yellow undertone of my skin. You can see how it looks like on Mateja. She also has fair skin, but cooler skin tone. It's a common misconception that fair skin is always cool toned or neutral. Well, I think I am proof enough that you can have fair skin with warm undertone.

Sara also pointed out that the formula might have been changed and it's gotten more brown that it used to be. You can see her swatch here.

So keep all those things in mind. I actually think if your a cooler or neutral undertone, this might work for you. If you have an obvious yellow undertone or olive, stay away.

White matte negative space manicure

Hey Beauties!

You've seen a glimpse of this manicure in my Asian inspired makeup post. Negative space manicure.. I think that is how it's called. You basically leave some space out with no nail polish and create certain patterns. I think this has become a rather trend since this year, so I wanted to try it. It's not my finest manicure, but I like the idea of it.


I had the chance to use my Essence Holo Stripes Nail Art Stickers, which is basically a thin tape that you can tape on the nails and create designs with it. Of course you can leave it on the nails, but I just used it as a boarder. If you have thicker tape, you don't need to do as I did, because I needed two lines in order to get bigger negative space. I just cropped the tape and stick it on in the V shape. 

Also, I did use a base coat, because I stained my nails with one of the nail polish and wanted my nails to look really neutral for the negative space, but you can skip this, if you'll be using light shades of nail polish. I used Alessandro Pro White Effect Polish.

Then I chose the nail polish with the biggest possible brush (wrong!)  and tried to fill in only the top V space and the rest of the lover space. I used Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in 171 Bleach Babe. Trust me, get a different smaller brush and probably the nail polish that doesn't dry quickly.

After that I just removed the tape. I would advise you to remove the tape a few seconds after applying the nail polish. Because if the polish gets too dry, like in my case, you won't have a crisp line. Also try to fold tapes so that you get perfect V shape, you'll see I wasn't so good at that.


For an extra fun effect I used matte top coat over it. I've been using this Kiko 3 in 1 Mat Fortifying Fast Dry Vase and Top Coat all the time. Any manicure looks so much better with matte finish. That's just my personal preference, you can totally skip this. But do put top coat over it, to seal in the design you just made. 


I admit my execution is not as nice as I thought it would be, but I still wanted to post this. If you recreate it, I would love to see your photos. I love the idea of the negative space manicure. How about you?






Review: Avon Ideal Flawless Cream Concealer (Fair)

Hey Beauties!

If you don't know that, Avon has certain side offers, which you as a member can get in. They often offer you products half price, which will be available in the next catalog. Of course, I love buying those products, because the price is much lower and if something interests me, I go for it and don't feel as guilty. This was the case, with their new Ideal Flawless Cream Concealer.


It comes in this little practical black shiny plastic pot, which is really nice for carrying around. The closing works good, so you won't need to worry about it opening up in your bag. It costs 5.90€ and you get 1.4 ml of product. 


The shade, I chose is called Fair and let me tell you, it's actually fair. What?! I know?!


The texture of this concealer is really creamy. It literally feels like it's melting under your fingers. It also has a very good pigmentation. Once it touches the skin it tends to go matte almost into a powder finish. The real beauty of this one, and why I think you should get it, is the fact that it's creamy and non drying, which means you can use it under your eyes. It's also pigmented enough so that it will cover any blemishes, pimples and under eye darkness, if you layer it. The combination of creaminess, which makes application under the eyes a dream and doesn't go into fine lines and the pigmentation of it, is what sold me. 



If you're not convinced yet, let me tell you that this is the fairest concealer in my collection. Did I spark your interest yet, fair ladies? I know, I have a difficult time finding concealer that would be light or god forbid light-er than my foundation and this one is. You can see on the photo below that it's almost lighter than my skin tone. I find the shade to be pretty neutral, no yellow or pink undertone, just a really nice neutral shade. If I would need to choose, I would say it's more warm than cool toned, but still pretty neutral. 


I also wanted to showcase what it looks like and how it works on my skin. I used it over the red patch and hide a blemish with it.


I mostly love to use it under my eyes. It's so light that it highlights my under eyes and makes me look a lot fresher and woken up.


I will also say that I find the long lastingness pretty decent. It stays put for a really long time. Of course it starts to fade away a little, but that is after several hours and the fact that my skin gets oily, doesn't necessary help. You can also build up the intensity or make it look really sheer, with how much you apply. 


Here you can see how it looks like compared to my other concealers. Catrice Velvet Finish in 030 Velvet Beige is pretty light, but it oxidizes to an orange color. Revlon Colorstay in 02 Light is the warmest yellow shade of them all. It's also darker than most of them. MAC Pro Longwear in NC15 is actually similar shade to Avon's, but when it oxidizes it's a bit darker then Avon's. Now Avon Ideal Flawless in Fair is the lightest shade of all of these and it's still the lightest when it oxidizes on the skin. It's warm toned, but still looks pretty neutral.



Creamy concealer, that doesn't dry out the skin, it has a good coverage, is pretty long lasting and fairer than most of drug store concealers. For me is going to be a must have from now on. If you're looking for a new concealer and like what this one promises, try it and let me know how you like it.