AKA Makeup

A.K.A Cosmetics

Is not a brand I've heard of but was asked to review by a blogger community site. So we received a lipstick, eyeshadow duo and nail polish. 

They say :

A.K.A is a new and exciting cosmetic brand formed in 2011. The company behind the brand are based in the UK with the majority of the goods produced in the UK.

The concept  The act of putting on your makeup is almost a ritual. As the makeup goes on you grow in confidence and the excitement starts to grown in anticipation of the times yet to come. As the layers of colour are applied your personality can change, a playful self starts to come out, any inertia to the ensuing activity brushes away revealing another you that is raring to go. This other you transformed by the application of makeup is where the notion of A.K.A comes from. There is power to do whatever you desire with your alter ego. The way that the application of colour makes you feel as your other you is also emblazoned on all the packaging. This statement is on the pressed powders and also on the boxes reminding you of the journey you are about to take 

Influence, captivate, smoulder and shine with the looks you can achieve. Stunning colours and careful picked shade structures give you the palette to achieve many different looks. Day, night, party, work or play it will not phase you with this solid range. 

The range is designed for covering your basic requirements yet with a smothering of some fun colours to set you out from the crowd.

The set came in a professional bag and with a lovely booklet to explain the products etc. The outer packaging in white is really professional looking however the packing the product comes in does look a little cheap. 

So with the eyeshadow duo it comes off with a silvery taupe colour then a matte/satin version. So I do think the pigment is good payoff and blends well, so the eyeshadow is a good product. However the casing needs to be updated and the sponge applicators are rough to the touch. If this was all you had to use I would use my finger. 

So this is how it applies and blends, so its sort of a taupe colour. Its rough to show the payoff together and i use these as blending colours to my smokey eyes where i don't want to use a full on black.

Next the lipstick was a real confusion item for me as it looked like a nice red but then on swatching was so sheer. It came across as a tinted balm or lip butter , there is some colour payoff but not what i would consider good if your saying this is lipstick. So again this needs a reformulating or rebranding to not mislead consumers as to the colour payoff. However on the lips it does give a tint to the lips which i liked as its a raspberry red colour, great for the incoming winter and if you want just a tint. 

The nail polish is probably the only item that was true to colour and description. It was a silvery, taupe colour which i loved and was really impressed with. It didn't chip or need more then one coat to reach the colour payoff shown. I added two to give it more of a duo-chrome affect as it looks grey in some lights then a dazzling silvery taupe in another light. So this was a really nice colour and called "tarnish" which was lovely. 

So overall im not too impressed, i think the lipstick needs to be more pigmented and less sheer of a formula or re-named. I don't like the packaging at all i think it needs updating and more of a push into the better market, the white plastic is not at the higher end of the spectrum. The nail polish was really impressive and actually lived up to its colour pay off, the eyeshadow was not as good as it could have been. The colours are not new and there are cheaper better brands on the market so its going to be lost in a market thats hard to crack. With some changes then A.K.A could be an amazing brand it has the professional presentation and look, it just needs to make some tweaks to the packaging.