My friend Gaia (also known as “The Non-Blonde“) happens to be one of my favorite beauty-and-fragrance bloggers, and I take her makeup recommendations seriously. When she raved about Kiko Milano a few months ago, I took note. I recently made my first visit to a Kiko Milano boutique (they’ve been popping up in New Jersey malls, although they have yet to cross the Hudson River to Manhattan), and I purchased two items. Here’s one of them!

Kiko Milano’s Perfecting Eye Coutour belongs to its Fall 2015 “Rebel Romantic” collection. This collection is a mix of lush and delicate colors for lips, eyes, and face as well as a few skincare items promising to enhance radiance.

This collection’s rose-gold packaging with Art Deco accents reminds me of Charlotte Tilbury’s cosmetics line. I see what you did there, Kiko…!

Eyes Potion is described as a “perfecting eye contour serum that sculpts and brightens,” with “special illuminating microbeads [that] add radiance to the area around the eyes.” It contains glycerin and lupine protein to boost skin’s moisture level as well as caffeine to improve circulation.

Here’s a close-up view of Eyes Potion. It’s a creamy fluid with a soft, golden-pearl sheen.

Eyes Potion has turned out to be a dual-purpose item in my morning routine. I dispense a small amount onto the back of my hand and then use the tip of my pinky finger to apply the product gently to the skin under my eyes. Whatever’s left on my finger gets dabbed onto my browbones.

Eyes Potion works well both ways: it brightens my undereye shadows and it highlights the area under my brows. It absorbs quickly into skin and doesn’t cake up, and it adds a soft gleam without any disco sparkle.

And—last but not least—it sells for $16, a bargain when you compare it to $64 for Estee Lauder’s Idealist Cooling Eye Illuminator. Well worth the trip to the mall, in my opinion.

For more information about this product, visit this page on the Kiko Milano website.

Images: first and second photos from Kiko Milano website; bottom photo by Tinsel Creation.

Product source: I purchased this item.