The Good, The Bad and The Ugly- The review series.
The launch of Kuckian Cosmetics for me was highly anticipated for a long time. I have been a fan of the content creator on Youtube: John Kuckian for a couple of years now and when I seen that his makeup line had launched I jumped at the opportunity to buy something from the collection. I had seen many sneak peaks on John's snapchat about the up coming liquid lipsticks and eye shadow pigments. They all looked incredible and I wanted to buy it all but I kept within my budget and purchased a liquid lip kit in the shade
"Wildfire".
I wasn't able to purchase straight away so had to settle for pre-order which arrived towards the end of January. To my surprise I received a HUGE box which I thought was a little extra for one lipkit...but then again, this is quite representative of John's personality and a great way to make bold first impressions for a launch.
The box arrived with black stuffing and a note inside informing buyers of the affiliates program which I may consider looking into further. It also came with a booklet guide on how to use the makeup effectively for the best results. I tend to ignore these and throw them away as I just use makeup the way it works best for me, however that is just personal preference.
I took everything out the box and was really blown away. For the small amount I paid (£17.89 + shipping) I got a lot. I can also really appreciate the effort put in to ensure that the contents of my order were safely packaged.
The aesthetic of the packaging is everything! I love the classic black and white combination with a pop of colour. This is exactly how I designed my bedroom and I usually hoard boxes with similar aesthetics to keep as storage. I will usually keep nicely packaged makeup on my vanity as it goes well with the colour scheme of my room so immediately when I opened this up I knew that's what I was going to do!
The kit comes with one liquid lipstick and two lip liners to compliment the lipstick. I heard John mention that the packaging for the kits was made from artifact foam which is supposedly very high quality and sturdy foam made for keeping artifacts in. I could definitely feel that it was sturdy and did not feel cheap at all. In fact the whole thing looked really expensive and very Chanel.
I was really excited to give this kit a glowing review with no flaws whatsoever as John is a Youtuber who I really enjoy watching and I am still subscribed to. However I want to be an honest blogger and remain unbiased towards products simply because I like the names behind them.
I was a little disappointed when I opened the first lip liner as it came with the top broken and inside, embedded in the product was a fiber that resembled a hair. I can't confirm if it was a hair, dust, or something else, but regardless it turned me off a little bit.
I threw this piece away and just forgot about it, at the end of the day it's not life or death. I'm the kind of girl who if someone handed me a burger with a hair on it at a restaurant I would just simply ask for a new one and forget about it and not make a song and dance about it, so this doesn't bother me too much. I'm sure if I wasn't so lazy and contacted customer services they would have sent me a replacement, but I waited so long for these truthfully I just couldn't be bothered.
The other lip liner came in tact perfectly.
I swatched them first on the back of my hand to look at the colour and pigmentation. They were extremely creamy and had excellent colour payoff. The only thing that disappointed me was the actual colour itself. I bought "Wildfire" under the impression that it was a unique burnt orange shade:
However upon swatching I noticed that the colour is very different and actually is more of a warm red. This could however be due to my skin tone being medium with olive undertones as I notice a lot of the time that colours look very different on me than it does on my paler and darker friends.
Regardless of the colour not being what I anticipated I still like it and will continue to wear it, but now it just means that I need to buy a burnt orange lipstick!
I first tried using the full kit with liners and lipstick on top and it gave an extremely shiny satin look which I think looks great.
I then applied the liquid lipstick on its own and it looked much more matte. I love both looks and like that both techniques give very different effects so you are able to mix and match. Of course the liners can be used on their own also.
I have to say out of both the looks I prefer the liquid lipstick on its own and would have preferred to buy just the lipstick on its own and pay a little less for it. I do see why they are being sold as kits though and I imagine that this will appeal to a lot of customers as they will feel that they're getting a lot more value for money.
Final thoughts?
Well despite the negatives of the review and the controversy surrounding the owner of this brand, I don't regret buying these. I still really love the formula of the liquid lipstick and to be completely honest its become one of my every day go to lippies. I think it goes perfectly with my hair colour and despite it not being the colour I thought it would be it still looks amazing. I think the launch of Kuckian has been a huge success and I am glad John is doing well for himself and perusing his dream career. I would love to see the Kuckian liquid lipsticks being sold as singles as I just don't see myself reaching for the liners that often. That however is just personal preference and I'm sure there are people that really enjoy the liner and lippie combo.
Thanks again for reading! Hope you loved this post and found it somewhat informative! Will you be buying anything from the Kuckian Cosmetics line? I'd love to know!
Kisses,
Laura Rose x
