Ever since I had to walk past the Kat Von D stand in Sephora empty handed during my last visit to Florida, I dreamt of her stunning collection coming to the UK. Last year, my wish came true and I didn’t hesitate to fill my online Debenhams basket with her Tattoo Liquid Liner, Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks and Studded Kiss Lipsticks. I instantly fell in love with the formula of all three and have been saving for this beautiful palette ever since.
The design of this palette is truly beautiful and different from any other palette in my obnoxiously large collection. It’s made from a thick matte black cardboard which gets unbelievably filthy as soon as you touch it. Apparently, the packaging has now been improved in the US with the addition of a hard-shell case. Fingers crossed they start rolling these out in the UK soon too.
The palette contains a large mirror, illustrated tutorial insert and 12 matte shades arranged into four quads:
– 3x 2.26g Base shades in Laetus (yellowy nude), Lazarus (cool taupe) and Ludwin (warm peach)
– 3 x 1.13g Contour shades in Samael (warm taupe), Saleos (smoky brown) and Succubus (rich rust)
– 3x 1.13g Define shades in Solas (expresso brown), Shax (jet black) and Sytry (chocolate brown)
– 3x 1.13g Highlight shades in Lucius (soft beige), Liberatus (white) and Latinus (light peach)
I love the formula of these shadows. Sometimes light mattes aren’t as pigmented as the darker shades, however, every shade in this palette is super pigmented with a buttery smooth texture that’s easy to blend. There is a slight amount of fallout with this palette which is magnified by the cardboard packaging, as it picks up everything, but they aren’t overly dusty.
Base shades in Laetus, Lazarus and Ludwin
Samael, Solas & Lucius
Saleos, Shax & Liberatus
Succubus, Sytry & Latinus
Kat was said to be inspired to create this palette after years of trying to capture shadows and light within her portraits. She has perfectly selected a mixture of neutral, cool and warm shades that can be used to create simple everyday looks in minutes. My favourite combination is Laetus, Saleos and Lazarus with a touch of Shax, although Succubus is a truly beautiful copper and I’m trying to incorporate this into an everyday look.The eyeshadows are very long-lasting, crease-resistant and cruelty-free. This palette retails for £36 and while some have complained that it doesn’t contain a brush, I personally prefer a palette that contains more product than an applicator I’ll probably never use.
If this palette is out of your price range you might be interested in Makeup Revolution’s Ultra Eye Contour Light & Shade Palette. First of all, I can’t believe how cheeky Makeup Rev have been with this palette! The combination of shades is identical, they didn’t even try to be subtle, did they? As you’d expect, the quality of the shadows is a little poorer; they are dustier, the light shades are slightly less pigmented and the darker shades are a touch patchier. However, their new talc-free formula is incredibly soft and easy to blend. If you don’t mind building each shade and really working at your blending, this is a brilliant dupe. It even comes with a brush, that is actually not that bad! This is one of the best Makeup Revolution palettes I’ve ever tried and while it’s not quite up to the standards of KVD, it’s very close and considering it’s a quarter of the price you can’t complain.
Have you tried either of these palettes?
Do you know of any other high-end dupes?
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