Tag Archives: Kiko

KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018 Collection (Review & Swatches)

KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018

I think it’s safe to say that my brother won at Christmas gifting this year. Not only did he buy a bomb present for my husband (a Nintendo Switch game that’s very reminiscent of Final Fantasy games from years gone by – not like the current terribleness that exists), but he also picked me up a bunch of items from KIKO’s holiday 2018 collection. My brother has never bought me makeup before, and I actually thought my *MOM* had purchased these items, and not him. So imagine my surprise when he said he’d lugged these over from Europe (he lives in the Netherlands)!

I realize holiday collections being reviewed in January are kind of stupid (and I’m personally laughing at bloggers putting out holiday advent calendar reviews right now… really guys… what are you doing), but all of these items are still currently available on KIKO‘s site, so I figured I might as well show off these gorgeous products. KIKO isn’t readily accessible in Canada whatsoever, so this was a nice treat!

KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018 Eyeshadow Palette in Party Time
KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018 Eyeshadow Palette in Party Time

I think the first item I opened was this Party Time Sparkling Holiday eyeshadow quad, and while I was doing so my brother was telling me the story of how he was in KIKO and the sales clerk kept pointing him towards neutral makeup for me. He kept correcting her – telling her that I wore bright colours, but she kept pushing him towards more neutral options. (The whole idea of this scenario makes me laugh – because she probably thought he had no idea what he was saying because neutrals are definitely more common than colours. I bet she was shaking her head at him thinking he had no idea what he was talking about!) She did manage to sell him on this very neutral eyeshadow quad with three mattes and one metallic glitter-shimmer shade. The matte shades are very basic in tone – a brow bone highlight shade, a transition colour, and an outer corner deepener. The star of the show is definitely that copper-gold shade, and it’s HECKIN’ glittery. It applies smoothly and opaquely, but if you want the glitter to not drop all over your face throughout the day (I’m not bothered) you’ll need to use some kind of glitter adhesive primer on your eye. I feel like this quad would make a lot of neutral lovers happy because it’s got all your basic shades and a glitter for fun. The colours are pigmented and easy to blend.

KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018 Liquid Highlighter
KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018 Liquid Highlighter

The Liquid Highlighter was an interesting choice by my brother. He’s not up to speed on what kinds of makeup I wear, so I was surprised to see a highlighter in the mix (it’s not one of the first things I would think a guy would pick up to be honest), especially a liquid one. At first swatch it’s really reflective (swatches are below by the way), but once you blend out it blurs out to a more creamy, less shiny consistency. I found I preferred this layered twice on my cheekbones for extra impact. I’m just so used to blazing highlighters that a subtle one never feels like enough anymore! That being said, I like that you CAN layer this. If you want to wear it subtly, apply one layer. Extra bang? Apply a second. I also like that the tube isn’t enormous. I have some liquid highlighters that I have no hope in hell of ever finishing because there’s just SO much product in the tube (hello Cover FX highlighters!).

KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018 Metallic Eyeshadow in All of Blue
KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018 Metallic Eyeshadow in All of Blue

And the last item he picked up for me from KIKO was this unreal metallic eyeshadow in All of Blue. I could NOT believe the colour on this, and, truly, my photograph of it is not doing it justice. This is like blue, molten fire. It’s super saturated in the pan. It’s looks like a kind of metal that is in the middle of cooling but would still be hot to the touch. That’s the best way I can think to describe the impact of this colour in person. I quite literally gasped when I saw it. And I was so proud of my brother for managing to snag this colour from KIKO despite the clerk trying to steer him towards neutrals!

KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018 - swatches
KIKO Sparkling Holiday 2018 – swatches

Swatched out you can see the colours a bit better. The liquid highlighter is obviously a heavy swatch – but I liked to blur it out with my fingertips on the tops of my cheekbones. The Party Time quad is a solid neutral palette with that extra bang of glitter. And the All of Blue metallic shadow? Swatches like garbage. *lol* Initially I was really worried about that swatch because it wasn’t coming across as  beautifully as I had hoped (it’s a different story on the lids though!).

Wearing Party Time eyeshadow quad
Wearing Party Time eyeshadow quad

Party Time quad on the eyes is the easiest holiday look you could ever hope for – easy to use shades with that extra orangey-gold glitter.

Wearing the liquid highlighter
Wearing the liquid highlighter

The liquid highlighter is stunning! It’s actually more subtle here in this photo than I feel like it is in person (this is two layers), but man is it ever gorgeous! I’m starting to have a soft spot for liquid highlighters because they have a more “lit from within” look than powder highlighters (could be my aging skin!).

Wearing All of Blue on the lid.
Wearing All of Blue on the lid.

And the blue eyeshadow. Wow. WOW. Just look at that colour! I used a very stiff, flat brush to apply it to my lids and was so happy with how the pigmentation came out on my eyes. It is SO much better on the eyes than the swatch belied. You may notice a tiny gap in pigmentation on the inner third of my eye – it’s not the shadow doing that – I’m having a weird problem with gaps there lately with any and all shadows I’m using.

Final Thoughts

Uhhhh…. wow?!? First off, I never expected my brother to buy me makup for Christmas, so that was one hell of a surprise! Secondly, while the neutral quad is not quite up my alley due to the nature of the shades, the quality is excellent and I enjoyed playing with it. BUT… the best products I tried were definitely that liquid highlighter and that bold metallic blue eyeshadow. Those are phenomenal products that really suit what I look for in makeup, so I am dead pleased to have those in my collection now!

While not available in Canada, the KIKO Sparkling Holiday collection can be purchased on KIKO’s US web site and it appears that almost the entire collection is about 50%!

This post contains affiliate links.

Products I’m Pitching

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I couldn’t justify doing an Empties post with these products because they’re really not empty. In fact, these are some barely touched products that I’m just completely chucking from my collection. These are items that I just don’t use in my collection and so I have no reason to keep them around. So let’s check out what I’m pitching or passing on!

KIKO Smoky Look eyeshadow pencil in 09
KIKO Smoky Look eyeshadow pencil in 09

This was actually a great product. I loved KIKO’s Smoky Look eyeshadow pencil but I only got to use it twice before it dried up and fell out of the tube that was its home. It dried up within a year which I found slightly shocking since I have eyeshadow pencils that are much, much older than that and aren’t anywhere near as crusty and hard. Into the bin with this one.

Hard Candy Highlight and Contour Cheek Duo
Hard Candy Highlight and Contour Cheek Duo

Oh god this thing is AWFUL. Hard Candy‘s Highlight and Contour (really? Contour your cheeks with pink?!?!) Cheek Duo smells rancid right out of the package. It smells like plastic that has gone off. It goes on the cheeks in a waxy, slimy mess. It never fully sets, so you’re left with a grease smear across your cheeks. This one isn’t even worth passing on to anyone so I’m throwing it out.

MICA Beauty lip balm in Natural
MICA Beauty lip balm in Natural

MICA Beauty lip balm in Natural came in my very first Ipsy bag and I’ve not used it since then. It’s too pigmented to be convenient in a pot as I really feel like I need a lip brush to use this product. My mom liked the colour however, so I’ve passed this on to her.

Absolute! You’re the Balm in Grape
Absolute! You’re the Balm in Grape

Another Ipsy item. I got this Grape balm from Absolute! in my August Ipsy bag and hated it right away. I couldn’t bring myself to wear it again, so it’s getting tossed. Jelly balm with chunky craft glitter in it? No thanks.

Elizabeth Mott It’s So Big mascara
Elizabeth Mott It’s So Big mascara

This never ended up working for me how I wanted it to, so I passed it on to my mom who was willing to try it out. (Yet again… another Ipsy product…)

Elizabeth Mott Pop! Goes the shadow in Champagne
Elizabeth Mott Pop! Goes the shadow in Champagne

And anottttther Ipsy-delivered item I never reach for. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this eyeshadow, it does in fact apply rather nicely, I must have about five different dupes for this shade in my collection. It’s the most basic of basic eyeshadow colours and not one I need multiples of. My mom snagged it from me.

Lord & Berry Black SILK eyeliner
Lord & Berry Black SILK eyeliner

Are we noticing a trend here? Yep, another Ipsy product, also from my August bag. The world’s smallest eyeliner from Lord & Berry and it’s useless. Not creamy or smooth, barely transfers onto the lid, not fun. GARBAGE.

Nivea A Kiss of Olive Oil and Lemon
Nivea A Kiss of Olive Oil and Lemon

Nothing wrong with this product other than the fact that the scent of Olive Oil and Lemon doesn’t seem to be too enticing for me. I love Nivea lip products in general though so I’m definitely not harping on the product quality. My mom liked the scent so she snagged it from the pile of things I was going to throw out.

Pacifica eyeshadow duo
Pacifica eyeshadow duo

And lastly, another Ipsy product. Pacifica‘s eyeshadow duo is too weak in pigmentation for me to bother using. My mom liked the softness of the colours (aka lack of pigmentation) so she’s taking it home to play with.


While culling my makeup collection of items I don’t use/don’t like, I noticed that the bulk of them are all from Ipsy bags. Of the nine items I’m getting rid of today, six of them are from my Ipsy subscription. That right there was enough realization to cause me to cancel my Ipsy delivery. I’ll be receiving the bag for the month of September, but that’s it. For me, it’s just not worth the money to be receiving products I generally tend to use up without repurchasing or just throw away entirely. It was a fun novelty for a while, but the excitement has really worn off by this point.

What’s On My Face – Volume 10

More makeup looks I’ve done over the past few weeks ranging from stuff I wore to work, out to a bar or was just headed over to a friend’s place! I was really happy with this set of looks and I hope you enjoy them.

As a note, I’ve switched to NARS‘ Pro Prime eyeshadow primer, so that’s what I use in all of my looks now unless otherwise stated.

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I loooove this one! It took me a lot more time to put this one together because I don’t normally get this creative and use so many shadows. (Seriously, if you haven’t noticed, I tend to stick to about two lid colours!) I don’t typically wear this much shadow/liner under my eyes on a regular basis because holy hell is that area ever sensitive on me and I usually end up with very watery eyes. This frustrates me because I realize just how much a makeup look comes together when you shade under your eyes!

Anyway, moving on.

With this, I had one goal: I wanted to use the MUFE rainbow glitter that I had picked up last month. I also hadn’t done purple look in quite a while so I figured this was as good a time as any.

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Eyes: I first applied NYX‘s Jumbo Eye Shadow Pencil in Milk all over the lid as a base.

  1. The first colour from a ginormous Sephora eyeshadow palette I have that unfortunately does not have shade names, however, the colour is very similar to MAC‘s Crystal. Essentially, the colour is a very pale lilac shade with a bit of a sheen to it. This shade was placed on the inner half of the lid.
  2. I then used MAC Dame’s Desire right beside the previous shadow, but not all the way out to the corner.
  3. Sleek Sugarlite was blended heavily into the upper crease.
  4. Sleek Highness filled in the outer corner, with;
  5. Sleek Noir at the very edge of the outer lashline to darken up that area.
  6. I then used MAC Vellum to highlight the inner corner of the eye and blended it into the pale purple.

MAC Blanc Type  to highlight the browbone with MAC Omega on my brows. On the lower lashline, I used Sugarlite to line the outer half of the lid, then applied some Too Faced Glitter Glue to the inner half of the lid and tapped on Make Up For Ever‘s Glitters 13 (silver rainbow glitter) on top of the glue. I lined the upper lashline with MUFE‘s Aqua Liner in 13 Blackand used MAC‘s Feline Kohl Power pencil on the lower waterline. And finally, I finished up the eyes with some Ardell‘s 102 Demis and applied  L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 51 Light Vanilla
  • Bronzer: Revlon Photoready Bronzer in Bronzed & Chic
  • Blush: Tarte Exposed with Illamasqua Hussy layered on top
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
  • Lips: I’m not wearing it in the picture, but I wore Rimmel Apocalips in Celestial out that night.
  • Extra: I used MAC‘s Select Coverup in NW20 under my eyes and set it with Laura Mercier

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It was just one of those mornings when I had no idea what to wear and just happened to look into the tub that contains all of my mineralize eyeshadows. Although it’s beautiful, I rarely use this shadow. A word to the wise though, this can apply really patchy and can flake off at a moment’s notice. Beautiful end result, however.

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Eyes:

  1. With a dampened, flat, stiff makeup brush, I packed (and I do mean packed) on MAC Blue Flame all over my entire lid. You may will likely need to layer this.
  2. I then blended Makeup Geek Creme Brulee into the crease.

I also lined the outer third of my bottom lashline with the Blue Flame as well. Too Faced‘s Cream Colored Ponies on my browbone and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • No foundation, bronzer or highlighter.
  • Blush: Illamasqua – Hussy
  • Lips: MAC – Shy Girl

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Obligatory neutral eye look, using the Too Faced A Few of my Favorite Things palette.

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Eyes: (Urban Decay Primer Potion as a primer for this one!)

  1. Too Faced Snowflakes all over the lid.
  2. Too Faced Buche de Noel slightly into the outer corner.
  3. Too Faced Woolen Mittens on the outer corner and blended into the crease.

I did the winged liner with MAC‘s Dipdown fluidline. Too Faced Cream Colored Ponies to highlight the brow with  L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black on the lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: MUA Matte foundation in Shade 1 Soft Sand
  • Bronzer: Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in Light/Medium
  • Blush: Errr no idea. Maybe nothing?
  • Lips: MAC Boldly Bare lipliner with MAC Viva Glam Cyndi on top

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This look features Jealousy Wakes, the eyeshadow created by Christine (Temptalia) for MAC. Unfortunately it was limited edition (boy, was it EVER) and it sold out almost instantly back when it was released. It’s a beautiful shade and this is my default look when I want to wear that shadow.

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Eyes: (Again with UDPP)

  1. MAC Vex, inner two thirds.
  2. MAC Jealousy Wakes, outer corner and into the crease.
  3. Makeup Geek Creme Brulee throughout the crease.

MAC Brule to highlight the brow and  L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: MUA Matte foundation in Shade 1 Soft Sand
  • Bronzer: Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in Light/Medium
  • Blush: Physicians Formula – Natural
  • Highlighter: Dior Amber Diamond
  • Lips: MAC Petting Pink Lip Conditioner

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A shame the sparkles don’t show up more – I was going for a wintry snowfall at night look.

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Eyes:

  1. MAC Crystal Avalanche on the inner two-thirds of the lid.
  2. MAC Print on the outer third.

Although it is incredibly difficult to see in the photograph (which is very frustrating to me), I did layer Illamasqua‘s Beguile pigment on top of Crystal Avalanche. Rest assured that it showed up much better in person.

I used KIKO‘s Twinkle Eye Pencil in 06 (I really need to use this more, it’s fantastic) on the lower lashline. The upper winged lined was created with MAC Blacktrack fluidline. I appliedToo Faced Better Than Sex mascara to both sets of lashes and ran some MAC Omega through my brows. (The brows really never change, I’ll probably stop repeating this…)

Rest of the Face

  • Foundation: MUA BB Cream in Light mixed with some moisturizer
  • Bronzer: Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in Light/Medium
  • Blush: MAC Warm Soul
  • Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
  • Lips: Nothing – was heading out to eat so I didn’t see the point!

I’m pretty pleased in the makeup department lately… most of my looks have been suitable enough to post on here and I had about 15 or so looks to choose from for this post! Pretty happy with that because sometimes I can get a nasty streak where I don’t like anything I applied at all for several days. (That’ll make for an interesting post some day.