It’s not very often I get the chance to visit Glasgow as it’s a bit of a trek away, but my lovely little brother had booked a night away for me along with gig tickets to see Foxes at the 02 Academy as a Christmas present. Unfortunately, the gig was cancelled but this didn’t stop me from staying the night at the Alexander Thomson Hotel, hitting Lush Buchanan Street to pick up a few Easter themed treats and spend the afternoon shopping at the Glasgow Fort Shopping Centre (Junction 10, M8, G34 9DL).
Kiko, a leading Italian brand of cosmetics and skincare products, was established in 1997, however it’s only until recently I discovered the brand through receiving one of their Long Lasting Shadow Sticks in a You Beauty subscription box and their Velvet Touch Creamy Blush Stick in a Latest in Beauty box. I was blown away by the quality of both products. Their pigmentation was out of this world, the sleek black matte packaging was sophisticated and the formula: silky, crease-proof and easy to apply. I was convinced that KIKO was a high end brand and that the eyeshadow stick retailed for over double it’s actual price; KIKO takes ‘drugstore’ makeup to a whole different level.
The store was modern, clean, bright and spacious. Even though there was a lot of staff present on the shop floor I was approached only once which I appreciated, as there’s nothing worse than being continuously followed around by pushy sales people. I actually had no idea Kiko’s collection was so huge. Every wall space was full of makeup, skincare, makeup tools and accessories with the floor space filled with sales stock and their limited edition products such as their Best Friend’s Forever and Campus Idol collections. I was excited to see that they were running a ‘Make Up, Shake Up’ promotion where you could purchase 5 products for only £10, however, all that was left was a selection of seriously bright eyeshadows, nail polishes and lip glosses so I was a little disappointed by the range of products included.
I was however impressed with how many versatile products, beautiful shades, finishes and accessories that were available. The nail station contained pretty much every colour a girl could dream of and their range of eyeshadow shades was similarly impressive.
I picked up two of Kiko’s Smart Lipsticks in 927 Intense Rose and 910 Baby Pink (£3.90 each), two eyeshadows in shades 118 Pearly Beige Silk and 124 Pearly Dark Dove Grey (£2.90 each) and the Blending Wave Multicolour Blush from their Limited edition ‘The Artist’ collection in Creative Peach (£10.90). I was also tempted by their Green Skin Tone Corrector Primer and Skin Evolution Foundation, but I was running seriously low on some skin care essentials so regrettably had to leave them behind.
As well as visiting the Kiko Milano store we stuffed our greedy little faces with some freshly made sugared donuts, treated ourselves to a Vanilla Bean Macchiato at Starbucks (which I cannot recommend highly enough!) and browsed around ASDA Living, M&S, River Island and HMV for a while. I also stumbled across some Olivia Palermo for Ciate, Too Faced and Nars products in TKMaxx for less than half price, however, all the packaging had been opened and the products used and smudged. For a beauty blogger, it was pretty devastating to come across although I did pick up a few Essie, Jessica and Ciate nail polishes at next to nothing so it wasn’t a completely traumatising experience.
Have you visited Kiko Milano Glasgow recently? Or tried any products from their collection?
I’d love to hear from you! Why not leave me a comment below?
