Kiko Cosmetics - The Artist Collection

(Source: Kikocosmetics.com via google)

The Italian brand Kiko bring us The Artist Collection, inspired by the world of art and looks at your face as the canvas and these products are your artist's tools. We can now all be our own artist and create a work of art on our face. I love the idea behind this collection, and the collection itself doesn't disappoint, all at very affordable price points.

The full collection consists of;

• Glacial Light Soft Sifter Foundation £12.90
• Velvet Loose Mineral Beauty Powder £10.90 – 4 shades
• Blending Wave Multi color Blush £10.90 – 4 shades
• Fine Art Eye Pencil £5.90 – 6 shades
• Signature Eye marker £6.90
• Artist Powder Face Brush £13.90
• Artist Foundation Face Brush £13.90
• Artist Eye Duo Brush £11.90
• Artist Pochette £9.90
• Blooming Glow £13.90
• Glowing Pearl Cushion Highlighter £8.90
• Artist Stroke Mineral Loose Eye shadow £6.90 - 6 shades
• Colour Click Lipstick £6.90
• Fine Art Lip Pencil £4.90 - 6 shades
• Artist Pochette - Make-up bag £9.90

TheFoundationDirectory; Kiko Artist Collection

Firstly I love the packaging of this collection, the clean white with splashes of colour, how the lip pencil is literally shaped like an artist's pencil and the push click delivery system of the lipstick. I will be discussing the latter 5 items on the blog today, starting with the Glowing Pearl Cushion Highlighter, that literally has a cushion ball applicator like how an artist may use a sponge to smudge colours into a canvas. You twist the applicator up from the bottom, and the smudge or dab onto areas of your face you would like to highlight. It's a gorgeous pale golden shade, that can either give a subtle lit from within glow or built up for full on look for you highlighter fiends out there. Then the Colour Click Lipstick that's very reminiscent of Chanel's lipstick delivery system, where you push the bottom of the lipstick and it pops out. There are 5 shades in total, I have the shade 03 Clamourous Strawberry, it's a bright pink shade. This lipstick is super creamy and glides on the lips, it has a satin finish. Then I have the Fine Art Lip Pencil in the matching shade, which is highly pigmented, creamy and also glides along the lips. They have a sort of rounded triangle shape, in the guise of an actual artist's pencil, great for stopping it from rolling away while you're doing your make-up. Now for the Artist Stroke Mineral Loose Eye shadow, I have the shade 05 Skill Blue, a super glittery royal blue colour. I love the mesh style delivery system in the packaging, so if you dropped this eye shadow you wouldn't make as much of a mess as with typical loose eyeshadows. And finally is the Make-up Pochette, a gorgeous make-up bag that I would be more inclined to carry as a clutch bag on a night out lol!!!

Kiko is a great affordable brand, that offers great quality items at affordable price points. If you would like any items from this collection, I wouldn't hang around as it's limited edition, you can find what's left of it here.  

Pretty Honest; The Straight Talking Beauty Companion

I get really weary of buying beauty books and the like, just because there's so much available for free on the internet, I always wonder what extra I'm going to get that I haven't already heard, read and watched for free. However I had actually been contemplating this purchase, so when given the opportunity to review it I jumped at it, as I like Sali Hughes straight forward and honest approach to beauty.

TheFoundationDirectory; Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes

The great thing about this book is you can read the chapters independently, so for a busy working mum like myself I can skip straight to the sections of interest, and have the book to hand to draw on whenever I need it. One of my biggest bugbears is 1. Assuming I'm wearing makeup to cover up bad skin (I love skincare just as much as makeup), 2. Assuming because I wear makeup I'm unintelligent, 3. Assuming because I wear makeup I'm shallow, ok so that's more than one. Reading the introduction in this book was like have a good natter with my bestie; ranting and moaning about the same thing and realising you really get each other. But it's also nice to hear it from a well respected journalist, almost gives it extra validation, if it was ever needed.
 

TheFoundationDirectory; Sali Hughes - Pretty Honest

After reading the Introduction, the chapter on Skin Types and Managing Counter Staff (great tips by the way), I jumped straight to the section on Foundation, and by the second page I read this.....'And how women of colour manage to leave the department stores without attacking a make-up counter with their handbag is beyond me, so under-served or plainly ignored are they by very many brands'.....I fell in love with Sali even more.  

 

Now I haven't had the chance to read the book cover to cover (see busy working mum reference above), but I do feel like I've got a treasure on my hands, I'll make reference to this book time and time again, after all there's nothing better than being curled up on the sofa, drink in hand with a good book.

Sali Hughes Pretty Honest is out now in paperback, you can find it here, here and here.

Do you buy beauty books? Have you read this one? What others would you recommend?

Dermalogica's HydraBlur Primer

When this cute little package landed on my doorstep in December I was surprised and fell in love instantly, I mean look at that gorgeous personalised makeup bag, and everyone knows I love a good selfie. So I couldn't wait to open and see what would aid my pursuit of the perfect selfie lol!!! Obviously the contents of the selfie prep pack are more important than the packaging, and I'm pleased to report it didn't let me down.




TheFoundationDirectory; Dermalogica's HydraBlur Primer

So what is this HydraBlur Primer? HydraBlur is a skincare primer hybrid, Dermalogica wanted to create a primer that would not only benefit makeup application, but also skin health, and who better to do that really?! So what did they come up with? A lightweight, mattifying, blurring primer, that leaves skin with a silky smooth finish. The good thing is that mattifying doesn't mean drying, HydraBlur offers intense moisturisation, natural coverage, blurs fine lines and wrinkles and refines pores for all skin conditions especially dry and dehydrated. It contains H2ORelease Complex of Hyaluronic acid, Algin and Trehalose to optimise hydration levels throughout the day. Abyssinian Seed Oil also helps maintain moisture levels, but also smooth's skin texture and tone. Wu-Zhu-Yu fruit extract enhances skin's radiance by boosting microcirculation, micro-encapsulated tint releases upon application to provide natural coverage and mattifiers reduce shine, disguise fine lines and create a soft-focused blurred effect.


Now two things in makeup raise my eyebrow instantly (think quizzical look), that's things that claim to blur and one shade does it all tinted products. But this actually does gives a minimal blurring effect to the skin and does not leave my brown skin ashy or grey looking, in addition it instantly mattifies, but my combination skin is not left dry or dehydrated in the current cold climate.


I honestly have to say I didn't think I would like this primer this much (see raised eyebrow comment above), but I have fallen for it, what more can you want; hydration, blurring, mattification (not sure that's a word), increased makeup longevity.... Oh, I'm sure you're waiting for the catch, well here it is....it cost £38! But if you want that hybrid between makeup prep and skincare then I would definitely check this out, it's just launched and is available here, and comes in a nice squeezy tube so you can get every last bit of your product out.


Thanks for visiting the blog today


Alex

 

B Beauty; B Sweet Makeup Collection

Last month I attended the launch of B Beauty's Spring 2015 Collection, B are embracing all things bright and pretty, so the usual coral and pink shades have been amped up for Spring Summer. The collection consists of a whipped mouse textured blush, a moisturising SPF15 lipstick, a Highligting Serum, alongside the launch of a makeup brush range.

B Beauty; B Sweet Makeup Collection

I received one of the 2 shades available in the B Sweet Whipped Blush called Strawberry, it's a soft pink shade, which unfortunately appears a little ashy on my skin tone. This is a lightweight whipped texture that provides a flush of colour to create an instant healthy glow, maybe the other shade Peach (more orange toned) would be more suitable for me. These retail for £7.99 each.

One of my favourites from the collection is the B Sweet Lipsticks, there are 3 shades, I received Sherbet Dip, a gorgeous bright deep pink shade. This gives buildable moisturising coverage, with SPF15 protection, The packaging is also great, think Chanel style where the lipstick pops out at the bottom, but at a more purse friendly £7.99.

Next up is the B Sweet Popping Candy Highlighting Serum, I was initially confused by this product, is it a serum, a highlighter or a primer? I was right to be confused as this is a multi-use product, it can be used as a hydrating serum, a highlighter or an illuminating primer as well as being mixed in with foundation. I'm still figuring out the best way for me to use this, it is lightweight and provides very subtle shimmer, it retails for £14.99 for 30ml.

B Beauty Makeup Brush Collection

Finally and my other favourite is the makeup brushes, I received the travel set, which contains the Powder Brush, Foundation Brush, Eyeshadow Brush and Lip Brush. Good drugstore brushes are hard to find, and Real Techniques have dominated in this area, but I think B can give them a run for their money. These brushes are super soft and I like the travel case with mirror these brushes are housed in. I'm definitely interested in looking at some fo the full sized options, and as with all B products they are Vegan and Cruelty free, this set retails for £17.99, but is currently on sale for £13.49 at superdrug.com.

Have you tried anything from the B Sweet Spring Collection, what are your thoughts?

Thanks for visiting the blog today

Alex

black|Up Paris Cosmetics

Black|Up Paris is fast becoming one of my favourite brands, it was founded in 1999 by an African makeup artist, and was the first upscale beauty brand to cater especially to black and mixed beauties. It pairs professional quality products with ease of use, it promises to provide a non-ashy finish and includes makeup, skincare and fragrance. I had heard about this brand for a while, but only dabbled in it recently when I tried and loved the CC cream, reviewed here.

I’ll start with the contouring sticks, this is a dual ended stick, think 2 stick foundations merged. One end for highlighting and the other for contouring and comes in 5 shades. I received shades 3 and 4. The contouring shades are identical and I can use these interchangeably, they are also quite warm toned and not as cool toned as a contour colour should be, but I feel on darker skin we can get away with this. The highlighting shades are very different, for this I need shade 3, these blend like butter, I love these. They cost £29 each, and if you know what shade you are in the CC cream, this is the shade you’ll be in these. 

 

 

Next is the Radiance Sublime Powder, I thought this would be extremely shimmery on the skin, but it’s quite subtle and adds a nice warm glow. It's developed with a new extra fine texture that blends easily, combining pigment and shimmer, it’s oil free, fragrance free and paraben free. The 5 shades are designed to match different undertones, I have shade no4 and it cost £26.

The 5 Colour Eyeshadow Palette is £32, each palette is designed to work in harmony, and structured around 3 looks a nude look using the matte shades, a day time look using the colour trio that can then be turned into a smokey night time look using the darkest matte shade. The palettes consists of 4 different textures, this one consists of 1 metallic shade, 1 satin shade, 2 matte shades and 1 glitter shade. I love this palette, it’s compact and great for travel, even though it’s structured around 3 looks, a multitude of looks can actually be created, I have palette no4 out of 5.

Finally are the mono eyeshadows, which have been developed in a new formula, and come in either a matte or metallic finish. Shade 02 is a light, bright orange shade, which is pigmented and blends beautifully. I’ve used this both on the eyes and cheeks, and it’s absolutely gorgeous, definitely a shade a brownbeauty should have in her stash. Then shade 12, which is a vibrant, light turquoise blue, not an everyday shade, but great for when you want a pop of colour. Again pigmented and blends beautifully, especially for a matte shade.  There are 15 shades in total, they don’t have names just numbers, and cost £15.50 each.

black|Up Paris is available on their website or Debenhams.com.

Thank you for visiting the blog today.

Alex