Since entering the land of Italy, so many of my favourite things have originated from there. Obviously the food, the idea of vacationing in a small town on the coast in the middle of summer, the stylish, flowy clothes that are produced from there, and recently, within the last two years, the number one makeup brand of Italy – Kiko Milano.

Kiko is to die for. The sad part about ending my yachting career is that I no longer get to travel around Europe so often, meaning that I can in no way walk into a Kiko store so often. Which is why I intuitively went on a large shopping spree right before I flew home to South Africa, a larger than I imagined kind of shopping spree.

The first time I learnt of Kiko Milano was when in 2024, when I joined one of my many boats in a shipyard in Viareggio. When we had the luxury of time to ourselves, two of my crewmates and I would wander around the city and look at all the different shops.

I will admit that I am a shopaholic. No doubt about that. And when I was younger or in my earlier twenties, it was bad. I tried to consciously shop for things, but I always thought I needed the first thing I saw that I liked.

And the exact same thing happened when I stepped foot into Kiko Milano for the first time. Back then I barely had a clue on how to use makeup or apply certain products or what half the brushes were even used for, but I felt like I could be an expert in a week if I really tried, and if I bought Kiko products.

My female cabin crew member at the time had much more restraint than I could ever envision and only ended up buying one small eyeshadow that she knew she liked. Whereas I almost purchased half the shop. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I remember I spent roughly over 100 Euros in the makeup shop.

My deckhand at the time was flabbergasted. He was a man, and men don’t generally understand the use or concept of makeup, but he had a slight idea and told me I was mad and asked me what on earth would I do with all that makeup. I brushed him off and said it made me happy.

As time went by I knew he was right. He also knew I was bad at or not very good at applying makeup, and I realized I did overspend on products that I knew nothing about and that I wouldn’t have the time to find out about since we had a pretty busy shipyard period.

But looking back on when I first discovered it, until now, when I am even more obsessed with the brand, I have no regrets about the amount I have spent on Kiko in any way. I realized this year that I actually found a brand that I truly love and resonate with. 

From an impulse spree to a growing love and familiarity with a brand I adore is one of the best feelings in the world. Even if that brand is not available in your home country.

I did buy L.A. Girl products which is in our drug stores in SA, but I quickly learned that it could unfortunately never compare to the standards of Kiko. I love my L.A. Girl, but Kiko will always have my heart.

I am honestly Kiko’s number one fan and cannot express my love for it enough, especially the lip gloss! I am obsessed with their lip glosses. If I could only buy one thing from their shop forever it would the lip gloss. I have about ten of them, for the exact reason that I don’t know when I will be able to visit Italy again. Some are the same colours as I do have a signature lip gloss that is my favourite and that suits me well, but I was diverse in my latest choices and even managed to get three of them branded with my name and an icon of my choosing. I also got my mom branded lip products as a gift for her.

The branding on lip products is actually a very cool process to witness and is a very niche thing to do. I say it’s niche because the only Kiko Milano that brands lip products is the one centered in the city of Milan. I regret not branding all of them, but unfortunately, I was running out of time to get to the airport for my flight. I am so excited to revisit Italy on my own terms, not because I have been hired for some boat.

Even when I am having a bad day, reapplying my favourite shade of Kiko always lightens me up a little bit. There are many cool, fancy and expensive brands out there, which I am keen to try out, but I know I will always return to my best – Kiko Milano!