I recently had a bit of a mini haul in Kiko, if you follow me on Instagram you might have seen this picture of the goodies I picked up. After reading so much about the brand, but being yet to try anything, it felt like it was high time to pick up a few things and I’ve been trying them out for the past month.
I really wanted to try to Universal Fit Hydrating Foundation after reading a bunch of positive reviews from other bloggers and with an amazing £6.90 price tag I couldn’t not bring one home! First up, the packaging is lovely. It’s sleek, simple and no frills, without looking cheap and seems super travel friendly with it’s tube packaging and screw top lid.
The Universal Fit Hydrating Foundation comes in an incredible 20 shades so there should be something to suit everyone. I went for Neutral 30 which on first application is perfect, however it does have a tendency to oxidise quite badly on me – I’m still playing around with combinations to see if this is due to a reaction with my skins natural oils, which primer I’m using etc. as some days it seems to be worse than others. Fortunately it seems to just look darker on me rather than super orange so I think I’ll still be able to use this once I have a tan and I plan on taking it on holiday with me later this month.
This foundation is described as medium to high coverage, which I really don’t agree with. I guess everyone has a different idea of what provides medium coverage but I expect a medium to high coverage foundation to mean I could skip concealer. If you have really good skin to begin with then this probably does feel like it provides medium to high coverage but this really didn’t do anything on it’s own to cover up blemishes or hyperpigmentation – there would be no way I could currently wear this without some fairly industrial levels of concealing going on first. I’d say it’s medium coverage at best if you build it up with a few layers.
Kiko describes the consistency of the foundation as pliable which I completely do agree with. It feels thick and creamy out of the tube however smooths out and blends on to the skin really easily. It’s lightweight on the skin and sinks in giving a dewy glow and letting your natural skin still show through. If you have beautiful skin and just want to even out the colour and tone then I think this would be amazing for you. As it blends so well it’s definitely buildable to get to a medium coverage however it then doesn’t feel as light on the skin. I prefer to add concealer over the areas that need and then use just one layer of this.
For me, I see myself using this on holiday, when my skin always looks better thanks to the benefits of a tan, and I don’t need to rely so much on a medium to high coverage or over a really good concealer
I think this is a foundation that is at it’s best when you only apply the one layer – you can’t feel it on the skin and it looks really natural. The parts of my skin that look pretty good anyway (everywhere apart from the red post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation on my right cheek and my chin which has a couple of blemishes) just look like an enhanced version of my natural skin, which is kind of the dream really.
Gripes about the coverage it provides me with aside, I do really like this foundation. With a concealer the effect is lovely and my skin never feels dried out from wearing it so I guess it’s hydrating claims are true. If you do suffer from less than perfect skin then maybe take the medium to high coverage claims with a pinch of salt to avoid disappointment and if you’re someone who finds foundations often oxidise on you then maybe this isn’t one for you. I’m going to play around a bit more to see if I can find a combination of products to stop / minimise the oxidisation but if not, I’d still be tempted to pick this up in a lighter shade to counteract how it oxidises on me.
Kiko Universal Fit Hydrating Foundation, £6.90 › available here
bobo & mimi 