Kiko 336 (similar to Nails Inc Baker St)

Here's another quick Kiko swatch. It is not colour accurate at all, unfortunately! My camera just can't capture this type of blue well.

If you know how Nails Inc Baker Street looks, this is very close, but I would say just a smidge brighter. I also think the formula is nicer and the brush is definitely better (almost all of my Nails Incs had funky brushes, irritatingly).

Imagine it to be a bit darker and richer, more saturated than even this picture. It can look different depending on the light! One of my favourite polishes at the moment.

Kiko 336



I already sold my bottle of Nails Inc Baker St so I can't do a comparison :x Sorry...

Kiko 345 and topped with Lynnderella Love, Lace and Lilacs

I picked up this polish when Kiko debuted state-side earlier this year. I've worn it a few times since then, but only took pictures of it this week so I could update my nail polish spreadsheet!

I love the bottle shape of Kiko polishes. The brush is a bit stiffer than I'm used to, and is a little less wide than OPI. The formula itself is nice and creamy, if not a tad thick. I may thin it a bit next time I go to use it. Opaque in two coats is pretty great, especially for a mint like this.

Kiko 345 (2 coats)



I purchased this (among many other mint green polishes) in hopes of finding a dupe (or better) of American Apparel Office (which takes 3 coats for opacity, and I hate the super long brush stem)

Kiko 345 is not a dead on dupe for the AA, but it is the closest I've found, and I think I actually prefer it to AA Office. AA Office is long gone from my stash now, but I posted this swatchstick comparison picture back in March:



For my second day, I topped it off with Lynnderella for my NOTD:

Lynnderella Love, Lace and Lilacs over Kiko 345 (there are no black flecks in LLL; the flash is just reflecting strangely off the microshimmer)

Kiko now Stateside! :O

Last week, I was shopping online for a necklace for my wedding. My comprehensive search of the internet included a search of all the jewelry stores at my two local shopping malls, one of which is Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ. Upon landing on the site's splash page, I saw they were promoting a new wing of the mall (I guess someone decided the mall was not big or crowded enough already... /dripping sarcasm) which included a Kiko store!! WUT WUT?? After my trip last April to London/Paris/Berlin was canceled, I had dejectly put my Kiko wishlist on the backburner. Apparently, the mall announced this wing and the list of stores back in December, and I guess no one in the beauty community noticed.

Anyway, they opened this past Thursday, and I forced DF to take me to the mall today. I had been looking forward to today very much, as the last two weeks of work have been incredibly hellish. Here's a picture of the facade I took before going in (and before DF went to Starbucks and then parked his butt outside the store waiting for me).


Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any photos of the inside, as their store policy does not permit pictures inside. The store is very large (much larger than the Inglot and MUFE Boutique stores also at this glorious mall) and well organized. The permanent line flanks the left side of the store, the nail polishes on the right, and the stands on the floor display repeats of the permanent line as well as limited edition collections. The SAs were very nice, helpful, but not pushy. They all had great makeup, of course! I was very tempted to get the blue mascara that one was sporting, but I had to restrain myself since I would never, ever, get any wear out of it.

My very modest haul:


The infamous eyeshadow sticks which have been compared to the By Terry Ombre Star eyeshadow sticks ($43 USD... uhhhhh... ) and are $12 USD each, but were on offer for $7.90. I'm not sure what Kiko's sales strategy is (i.e., will these effectively always be on promotion?), but this pricing is consistent with the UK pricing (retail 6.90 GBP, currently on sale for 4.90 GBP. At today's exchange rate, this is equivalent to $11.38 and $8.08, respectively).


I picked up the following four shades:



The entire permanent line of eyeshadow sticks were there (black tubes), but I didn't see any of the white or silver packaging ones indicating LE. Since I suck at swatches, here are the some blogs with great swatches of the eyeshadow sticks: Drivel About Frivol, Cassandra Makeup Artist, Susielfa.

My crappy swatches, taken with bounce flash. One swipe each, guys. Now, I'm pretty sure these are going to crease on me (even with primer), but I couldn't resist getting these ones.


Taupe comparison... too many taupes, what am I doing with my life



I picked up 36 because it reminded me of Shiseido Beach Grass trio. Check out this love sandwich:




The nail polishes were $6 for the regular line, and $7 for their quick-dry line. I picked up the minty green shade, as I'm always looking for a dupe of American Apparel Office. Here are the bottles side by side, along with the last "dupe" I tried, Essie Fashion Playground.


My cuticles are in bad shape, so just swatch sticks comparison: 3 coats of the Essie and AA, 2 coats of the Kiko. The Kiko is pretty close to AA, but lighter and slightly less blue.


I chatted with the Assistant Manager while I was checking out, and I inquired about whether they will be taking phone orders: as of now, they don't, but they plan to launch their US site for online shopping in the near future. They are also planning on opening more locations in the US in the coming months (she mentioned another mall here in NJ and a NYC location). Apparently this is on the DL, but I figure if she told me, it must not be that top secret :P

Anyway, my trip to the mall was pretty successful. Picked up some seamless panties and a clutch for my wedding. We also went into every jewelry store to look for a necklace and earrings for the wedding, and I gotta say, jewelry SAs are 100x more invasive than beauty SAs. *autoplay* "No, I'm just looking." I did try on a very nice estate Y-necklace for $890 (all plat), but the chain was very short... DF said it was probably once upon a time for a rich little girl. LOL. I'll need to write-up a post for my wedding accessories, I think! :)

Have a great weekend!