Kiko Sugar Mat Nail Lacquer Set - review and swatches part 1

Hello lovelies! This is the first of two posts that are a little different from what I normally do. I don't review whole collections and rarely do a post that includes more than one polish (besides nail art, of course). The lovely people at Kiko have come out with some holiday collections this year, two of which are made out of polish. The biggest purchase on my trip to Germany was one of these sets, and I decided to swatch all the polishes and show them to you as soon as possible in case you wanna get them yourself. These are available in all Kiko stores, as well as on their website that now ships to 25 European countries (including Romania). So without further ado, here are all the polishes in this set. 

The set includes 8 Sugar Mat aka textured polishes and comes in a very neat and elegant box. 

The box opens like a book to display the 8 Sugar Mat shades. These are all new shades that weren't included in the previous collection and are only available in this set. They all include some kind of shimmer, whether it's more subtle or very sparkly. 

Since there are a lot of shades in this collection, I divided them into two different posts so you don't get bored. This post will include the first row of polishes and I will show you the second one tomorrow. 

Kiko 451 Apricot indoors, artificial light

451 Apricot is a very pretty peach shade with subtle pink shimmer. This was the least pigmented one in the collection but it was still pretty opaque with two coats. I only added a 3rd one because I thought I saw a bit of nail line when I took the first pictures. That extra coat made it dry slower which could be a problem unless you use a fast drying spray.

Kiko 451 Apricot indoors, artificial light

Shades like this usually clash with my skin tone but I'm happy to say that this one has a little pinkish hue that makes it wearable for us cool toned people. It's a very elegant and neutral take on the textured polish and I'm glad to have it in my collection. 

Kiko 452 Watermelon indoors, artificial light

 452 Watermelon is, well, a watermelon pink shade with light pink shimmer. It's actually a bit brighter in real life than in these photos. The shimmer is also quite subtle, like the one in the peach shade. 

Kiko 452 Watermelon indoors, artificial light

This was one of the more pigmented shades, with one coat being almost enough. I still did a second one to cover the bald spots. It also dried very fast and I love how bright and summery this shade is. 

Kiko 453 Cherry Red indoors, artificial light

453 Cherry Red is a cool toned red shade with fuchsia shimmer. The shimmer is quite dense and sparkly in this one. I love this shade of red because it goes well with my skin tone. Reds are also problematic for me but I'm really happy with this one. 

Kiko 453 Cherry Red indoors, artificial light

Like the pink shade, this was almost perfect in one coat but I did two to take care of any bald spots. Again the drying time was very fast. Love this one! 

Kiko 454 Wine indoors, artificial light

454 Wine is a wine shade with fuchsia shimmer. The shimmer is similar to the one in the red shade, which means it's pretty dense. The pigmentation is not as good, but 2 coats are enough to make it look pefect. Drying time is also pretty fast. 

Kiko 454 Wine indoors, artificial light

These are the first 4 shades in the collection. I hope you've enjoyed them! The other ones will be up tomorrow so stay tuned!