This post officially begins my love affair with one of my greatest discoveries as a makeup lover. I know, the words that I just said are very big words but my goodness, I spent 1/4 of my pocket money for Europe HOARDING, yes HOARDING goodies from Kiko. I visited Kiko at least five times during my stay in Europe and I paniced every single time I was there because I knew that once I get back to Manila, it’s goodbye Kiko for a very long time. Kiko is actually an Italian brand but I saw it everywhere in France and twice in Spain. I found out about it through my foster sister in France because I asked her for recommendations of nice French brands for cosmetics because I heard that there are tons of amazing French beauty brands. She told me that she and her friends barely purchase products from the famous French brands such as Chanel and the like because she buys her makeup from Kiko. I checked it out on my own right after I skimmed through the prices of the makeup in Sephora (I nearly had a heart attack, oh my gosh, everything was overpriced). Recovering from my nearly mini heart attack from Sephora, I thought I was going to have yet another mini heart attack because Kiko. OH MY GOSH KIKO. Kiko is the epitome of a makeup-lover-on-a-budget’s PARADISE. The brand’s signature packaging wasn’t the most appealing in the market but the quality of the makeup that I was trying out PLUS the reaally affordable prices that came with the products had the makeup hoarder inside my soul me go out of hiding. In a nutshell, a lot of people call the brand Nyx, the poor girl’s MAC. I never really liked NYX because I feel like although they have a few hit products, most of their products rightfully match their prices. I would put Kiko right above Nyx and a little bit below MAC.

They had just launched their summer collection, Life in Rio when I was there so I obviously just had to grab some items from the summer collection. First on my list is the Sun Lovers Blush in 04 Atlantic Camellia. The summer collection immediately stood out from their normal line because of it’s vibrant packaging. The colors were very festive and the packaging really does remind me of Rio. I also love how it comes with a really huge mirror which is very handy. The sun lovers blush came in four different shades but Atlantic Camellia appealed to me the most.

The Sun Lover Blush is a mineral blush an is claimed to be hypoallergenic. Each compact contains a blush duo with a total of three shades. The left side has a muted rosey pink shade swirled with a little bit of blue powder which acts as a highlighter. The right side is composed of a bright rose pink shade. Both blushes contain micro shimmer which I like because I find that it makes my skin look nice under the sun. I would like to state that shimmer is different from chunks of glitter which can be found in other blushes. No one in the right mind would want chunks of glitter in their blush unless it’s NARS super Orgasm (teehee). Both blushes are silky in texture and blends beautifully into the skin for a natural flush. Both shades have light to medium opacity and are opaque enough to show up on my cheeks upon first application. This lasted around 5 hours on my skin under the crazy summer heat. Not bad, in my opinion!

 These shades may be used separately or may also be used all together . I would not recommend using a brush and swirl it around the pan because the blush is very delicate and doing so will make you pick up more product than you would want (unless you wanna look like a little girl who went overboard with mommy’s blush). I prefer to gently press my brush onto the first shade then to the other and gently dust the powder onto my cheeks starting from my outer cheek and into the middle of my cheek. Make sure to end at the spot below the edge of your pupil.

After everything that I have said, I think that quality-wise, this blush is an absolute star. It’s nothing revolutionary because blush IS blush but everything about it works for me. Before I end, I would like to share what really blew my mind as I write this review. Out of curiosity, I checked out the content of this blush and oh my gosh. For 14.90eu or around P900, this blush contains about 8 grams worth of product. An average MAC mineralize blush is now sold for $25 or P1500 and each one contains only 3.5g worth of product. I may sound like a cheapskate haha but oh my gosh, knowing this just made this purchase extra sweeter!

 I recommend those who are going to Europe to try out products from Kiko! It will change your life because it’s changing mine, one product at a time. For those who aren’t going to Europe any time soon, be resourceful! It’s summer and a lot of people are going there. ;) I’m sorry but it’s not available in the Philippines yet but I just really had to share! Please let me know if you’d like to read more reviews of the products that I got from Kiko. I’d really love to know! :)

love and lipstick,