KIKO MILANO VELVET PASSION MATTE LIPSTICK IN 315

My boyfriend recently left his job in the UK, which is great news relationship-wise: we met in my former graduate program & have been long-distance since I started my current program seven (!) years ago, & now we’ll actually be able khổng lồ live together for more than a couple months at a time. On a shallower level, however, this will be my last transatlantic makeup nhận xét for a while. Before my boyfriend returned to lớn the US earlier this month, I sent him to lớn the Kiko store in the Birmingham train station, where he very kindly swatched a few shades of the Velvet Passion matte lipstick line. (Weirdly, there’s another Kiko store five minutes away, in the enormous mall attached lớn the station.) Here’s the full display of the lipsticks, which launched last year. Each one retails for £7 (about $9).

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The shade I chose was 319 (Chocolate), a medium plummy brown that feels very Jazz-Age-casual to me. The Velvet Passion lipstick bullets have an odd squared-off tip that resembles a fountain pen; this reviews points out that they look identical to lớn the Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipsticks, và I wouldn’t be surprised if they were made in the same factory. Overall, the lipstick looks & feels more luxe than I’d expect from a brand with drugstore pricing.

The two-toned tube is (partly) real metal, with a magnetic cap. I associate magnetic tubes with higher-end brands lượt thích NARS và Marc Jacobs, so it was a thrill to find a magnet in my Kiko lipstick. It’s a little weird that the cap overlaps the tube but doesn’t extend to lớn the bottom, but I appreciate the cyberpunk distinctiveness of the design. I can imagine Rachael in Blade Runner pulling this tube from her purse.

In the past, I’ve written about lipsticks with good formulas but subpar packaging. Kiko 319 has the opposite problem: the lipstick itself doesn’t quite live up khổng lồ its exterior. This isn’t a bad lipstick by any means, but the pigmentation is lacking. Here’s one swipe on my arm:

I feared that 319 would be a dupe for MAC Whirl, but it’s much more purple, especially on my lips.

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I can get decent pigmentation if I build up the color on my lips, but the formula clings khổng lồ dry spots instead of smoothing them over: exfoliation is important! Here’s two coats of 319 on a good lip day:

Because of the slight sheerness of the formula, 319 seems khổng lồ look different on everyone. I’ve seen đánh giá in which it pulls brown or greige; on me, though, it’s a brown-tinged purple reminiscent of (but much warmer than) NYX Up the Bass. (Interestingly, the brown and nude shades in Charlotte Tilbury’s Matte Revolution formula seem khổng lồ have the same translucency.) 319 isn’t patchy—the sản phẩm applies pretty evenly, without a lot of slip—but it doesn’t have the màu sắc payoff I’d expect from a MAC or Urban Decay matte lipstick. For that matter, its finish is closer khổng lồ satin than true matte. It feels comfortable on my lips, but it transfers easily onto cups và straws và needs touch-ups almost hourly, which is a pain.

For the look below, I used ColourPop Super Shock Shadow in Dance buổi tiệc ngọt all over my lids, blending out the crease with ABH Buon Fresco & adding some more Buon Fresco to lớn the lower lashline. My blush is Urban Decay Rapture. The bluer purple of the eyeshadow clashes with the warm purple of the lipstick, but I don’t really mind:

Dance tiệc nhỏ is a sheer purplish đen with fuchsia và blue glitter. I included it in my last ColourPop order because it was so pretty in the pan, but spent an entire month figuring out how khổng lồ wear it. Glitter eyeshadows in lighter colors are easy khổng lồ use—pop them in the center of the lid or the inner corners—but dark glitters are trickier. Initially, I tried a smoky look with a few more Modern Renaissance shadows, but it came out weird and muddy. Clearly, I was overthinking it.
In my next attempt, I used Dance buổi tiệc nhỏ as a sheer wash of color, & was pleased at how understated it looked. Let me know if you’ve come up with a better way to lớn wear similar shadows, though, because I’m stymied.
I don’t think I’d run out và buy another Velvet Passion shade (though the bolder colors vị seem more pigmented overall), but I’m pretty happy with this one. I’m also happy that I haven’t bought any new makeup in over a month! I’ll write a low-buy update soon, but for now I’ll say that since I stopped obsessively recording và planning my beauty purchases, I’ve found it much easier to resist temptation. Strange how the mind works, isn’t it?