Tag Archives: Kat Von D

Kat Von D Metal Crush (Review & Swatches)

Kat Von D Metal Crush

I am laaaate to the party with the Kat Von D Metal Crush shadows! They were really hard to get my hands on when they first launched (and some of the shades are continuously out of stock because they’re so popular!) and the price point was a bit jarring ($25 CAD per shadow!).

Kat Von D Metal Crush
Kat Von D Metal Crush

However, I was at IMATS earlier this month and they had reduced prices so I decided to pick up two shades I’d had sitting in my Sephora cart for a VERY long time! It worked out kind of well because I’d also been sent one shade from PR (although it had arrived completely shattered and I had to repress it) so I was able to try out a few more shades and speak to the formula a bit more.

Kat Von D Metal Crush shadows in Raw Power, Thunderstruck and Synergy
Kat Von D Metal Crush shadows in Raw Power, Thunderstruck and Synergy

Oddly, I didn’t pick up the more vibrant shades (for once in my life) – I was sent Synergy (the bronze metallic) and I bought Raw Power (red/mahogany) and Thunderstruck (white duochrome/pearl). Thunderstruck is the shade everyone seems to rave about and it is ALWAYS out of stock on Sephora’s web site!

Kat Von D Metal Crush shadows swatched: Raw Power, Synergy and Thunderstruck
Kat Von D Metal Crush shadows swatched: Raw Power, Synergy and Thunderstruck

Swatched, you can see just how intense the pigmentation is. All of these shadows are metallic (hence the name Metal Crush), so you’ll need to pull in some mattes to complete your look.

Kat Von D Metal Crush shadows swatched: Raw Power, Synergy and Thunderstruck
Kat Von D Metal Crush shadows swatched: Raw Power, Synergy and Thunderstruck

This is a semi-out of focus shot (and unedited) to show you the colour dimension in Thunderstruck. It can look pure white straight on, but from an angle it reflects pink and orange and occasionally some tinges of blue (it’s quite opalescent). It’s a great shadow to put all over the lid and then pair it with other colours on the outer corner because it can shape itself to fit a lot of different colours. I know a lot of people also wear it as a highlighter on their cheekbones, but I was oddly not as keen on it that way.

Eye Looks Using Metal Crush

Wearing Synergy on the lid, Raw Power on the outer half of the lid and through the crease.
Wearing Synergy on the lid, Raw Power on the outer half of the lid and through the crease.
Wearing Synergy on the lid, Raw Power on the outer half of the lid and through the crease.
Wearing Synergy on the lid, Raw Power on the outer half of the lid and through the crease.
Wearing Thunderstruck on the inner half of the lid.
Wearing Thunderstruck on the inner half of the lid.
Wearing Thunderstruck on the inner half of the lid.
Wearing Thunderstruck on the inner half of the lid.

My Thoughts

I found that the Metal Crush shadows were extremely pigmented and beautiful. The shade range is gorgeous and exciting, and I do wish I had some of the brighter shades because they look absolutely incredible. The major stickler for people may be the price point ($25 CAD/$21 USD). Sure, the pans are much larger than your average eyeshadow (you’re getting about 1 gram more than normal), but if you want to pick up a handful of shades, you’re pushing close to $100 which can be a bit of a punch to the wallet. I am INCREDIBLY happy that Kat Von D released her Metal Matte palette for the holiday season which is an amazing value since you get not only a huge variety of her Metal Crush shadows, but you also get a ton of her matte shadows. While I don’t own this palette (yet) myself, the reviews have all said that the quality is amazing and on par for the brand. The Metal Matte palette is limited edition, so make sure you pick it up while you can!

To sum up my feelings on these shadows… I like the packaging, I think the shadow quality is excellent, the colours are beautiful (they’ve got some GORGEOUS vibrant shades!) and you’re getting quite a bit of product in the pans.

The Kat Von D Metal Crush eyeshadows can be purchased on Sephora.ca for $25 CAD each or on sephora.com for $21 USD each. Or, get a bit more bang for your buck by grabbing the Metal Matte holiday palette ($74 CAD/$60 USD).

The shade "Synergy" was sent to me for consideration.

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II (Review & Swatch)

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II

This isn’t a new product by any means, but I was super late to try out the Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks so I figured why the heck not share my thoughts?

I’ll start this review out by saying that I have (slowly) learned over the last few years that I am not a tremendous fan of liquid lipsticks. I like the longevity of them, but I really, REALLY struggle with the dry as paint feeling on my lips. Oh sure, I *love* matte lipsticks, but they have a certain amount of give/pliability to them that a matte liquid lipstick just doesn’t have. So keep that in mind while you’re reading this review.

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II

The Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks come in beautiful gothic-esque packaging that always makes me smile. The tube and handle itself are beautifully etched with designs that really help add to the overall feel of this product – much like KVD herself, this product oozes old world gothness that I’ve always appreciated.

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II

The Everlasting Liquid Lipstick “gives lips long-lasting wear and high-pigment color. Its creamy, color-rich formula glides over lips like a gloss but dries to a true matte finish. It’s infused with natural comfort-enhancing ingredients, including vitamin E and sunflower seed so you can flaunt lasting matte color that leaves lips feeling comfortable.”

One of the things I like the most about this liquid lipstick is that the colour glides on flawlessly with the doefoot applicator. It’s opaque in one swipe and it layers really, REALLY well in case you make a mistake – this is rather unexpected with a liquid lipstick as I usually have intense layering problems that often result in crumbling.

Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II - swatch
Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II – swatch

The colour I have in this post is Lolita II. It was the original “manufacturer error” that resulted in a change in shade from the original Lolita. Lolita II is described as a terracotta nude, whereas the original Lolita was more of a chestnut rose. On me it goes very warm terracotta with a hint of brown.

Wearing Lolita II
Wearing Lolita II

The shot above is after about 6 hours of wear. It has been touched up on my inner lip, but the outer rim has not been altered at all.

Close up of Lolita II to show wear and tear after several hours of wear
Close up of Lolita II to show wear and tear after several hours of wear

The one thing I think worth mentioning with this liquid lipstick is that it does tend to fade on the inner rim of my lip quite quickly. For me, this is actually a good thing since I despise that paint-like feeling at the center of my mouth, but it does mean you’ll need to re-apply the colour there a bit more often. (Again, the shot above was taken after six hours of wear and the only place that had been retouched was the inner corner of my mouth.)

201610_katvond_everlastingliquidlipstick_lolitaii2
I think Lolita II is a beautiful shade, but I’m also a bit confused about the hype behind this. Is it because it’s a warm, deeper nude that has everyone excited? Or was it more because this colour turned out to be wrong shade when it was originally packaged as the original Lolita? I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s gorgeous, but it’s not the “OMG!” shade I was expecting based on the hype!

Final Thoughts

For me, because of the fading on the inner rim, this ended up being one of the more comfortable matte liquid lipsticks I’ve worn in recent memory. It does beat out my Too Faced Melted Mattes, but not my beloved Melteds (which aren’t a matte liquid lipstick, so maybe the comparison is irrelevant). I also found it less drying than my Smashbox Always On liquid lipsticks as well. For me, being able to wear this lipstick for roughly six hours was pretty impressive – I’ve never managed to wear a liquid lipstick that long without wanting to scrape it off my lips! It also didn’t crumble or look patchy at all – huge blessing!

This is one of the easier formulas of liquid lipstick to put on and I think it must have something to do with the formula because the wand applicator is pretty standard. Overall, I like this product more than other liquid lipsticks I’ve tried, but I’m not like… jonesing to add more to my collection because I’m just not an enormous liquid lipstick fan, you know? I’m sure we all feel that way about certain products!

The Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks can be purchased on sephora.ca for $24 CAD or on sephora.com for $20 USD.

Okay so here’s the surprise that I neglected to mention at the top – lucky you for reading this far! 😉

I actually have two of the shade Lolita II and I’m giving one away! I picked one up as a sample from Sephora a month ago, and then I received a full size one from PR for review. I decided to test out the small sample one and left the big one alone (except to take the photographs you see here in this post – it has not been opened at all) so I could give it away to one of you guys. This will be a short giveaway since I do have a huge one happening right now as well.

201610_katvond_everlastingliquidlipstick_lolitaii5

Giveaway Rules

  • This giveaway is open internationally!
  • This giveaway starts on October 5, 2016 and runs for one week.
  • Please be aware that all entries will be double checked to ensure fairness.
  • One winner will win a Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Lolita II.
  • The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail. If they fail to respond within that time frame, I will pick another prize winner. (And so on.)
  • “Giveaway accounts” will not be considered for this prize. (If you want to know what I mean by that, please click here.)

Good luck!


What’s On My Face – Volume 47

I’ve only just realized that this is going to be a very heavy “makeup posting” week! I’ve got a What’s On My Face post for you today, a makeup tutorial up on YouTube tomorrow and then a “Totally Cute Challenge Week” on Friday. So if you’re looking for inspiration, hopefully you’ll find something you like on here this week. 🙂


201607_womfvol47_look1.1

Even though I had picked it up aaaages ago at IMATS New York, I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to play with my Mehron Fire palette. The look came out pretty nicely, but they were HUGELY benefited by a white, sticky base.

201607_womfvol47_look1.2

Eyes
I first applied NYX’s Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk as a base, then:

  1. MAC Cork
  2. Mehron Inferno
  3. Mehron Hot Pink
  4. Mehron Purple Heat
  5. MAC Blanc Type

I created the wing with MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline and applied Too Faced Better Than Sex waterproof mascara to my lashes.

Face

  • Foundation: Revlon Colorstay liquid  in 200 Nude
  • Blush: Hourglass Diffused Heat
  • Highlighter: MAC Soft & Gentle
  • Lips: Tarte Lip Quench in Rose

201607_womfvol47_look2.1

More playing around with my IMATS goodies!

201607_womfvol47_look2.2

Eyes
(all from the Violet Voss Holy Grail palette)

  1. Transition
  2. Toffee
  3. How U Doin
  4. Wine N Dine
  5. Teddy Bear
  6. Crystal
  7. Thanks A Latte

I created the wing with Kat Von D‘s Tattoo Liner in Trooper and tightlined both water lines with Marc Jacobs’ Highliner Gel Crayon in Blacquer. I coacted my lashes with Maybelline Lash Sensational Luscious Full Fan Effect mascara and applied a pair of House of Lashes Au Naturale falsies.

Face

  • Foundation: BECCA Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation in Fair
  • Blush: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Luminous Flush
  • Bronzer: Joe Fresh Sand Bronzer
  • Highlighter: MAC Whisper of Gilt
  • Lips: Wet n Wild Cherry Picking

201606_forzoe_purple_face3

I did this one as a guest post for Zoe over on Writing Whimsy in June! She asked for “purple” and I just went hogwild with it.

201606_forzoe_purple_openeye 201606_forzoe_purple_eyemap

Eyes

  1. Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie through the top of the crease.
  2. Makeup Geek Blacklight all over the lid.
  3. Makeup Geek Masquerade on the outer half of the lid.
  4. Makeup Geek Drama Queen on the outer corner to deepen it up.
  5. Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean and White lies mixed together on the brow bone.
  6. Makeup Geek Phantom on the inner corner.

I lined the outer half of my lash line with Makeup Geek Masquerade and then applied Lit CosmeticsDisco Diva glitter to the inner half and painted it into a thin point (I used Lit’s glitter adhesive to get it to stick). I created the wing with Kat Von D’s Tattoo Liner in Trooper and tightlined my waterlines with Marc Jacobs’ Highliner Gel Crayon in Blacquer. I applied Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof mascara to my lashes and popped on a pair of Bombshell lashes by Houses of Lashes.

Face

  • Foundation: Make Up For Ever Ultra HD liquid in Y225
  • Bronzer: Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer in Bronze
  • Blush: Urban Decay Bittersweet
  • Highlighter: BECCA Pearl
  • Lips: Too Faced Unicorn Tears

201607_womfvol47_look3.1

I did this look for a YouTube tutorial back in March. At the time I thought I was going to be able to cross post every makeup tutorial I did on there to on here… and it looks like that won’t be possible, but here’s that looks regardless!

201607_womfvol47_look3.2

Eyes

  1. BECCA Ombre Rouge shade #3
  2. BECCA Ombre Rouge shade #4
  3. BECCA Ombre Rouge shade #2
  4. BECCA Ombre Rouge shade #1
  5. BECCA Ombre Rouge shade #5

I created the wing with Make Up For Ever‘s Ink Liner and applied Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara to my lashes. I’m also wearing a pair of Bombshell lashes by House of Lashes.

Face

  • Primer: Make Up For Ever Step 1 Radiant Pink Primer
  • Foundation: BECCA Aqua Luminous Perfecting foundation in Fair
  • Bronzer: Bourjois Delice de Poudre
  • Blush: BECCA Flowerchild
  • Highlighter: BECCA Champagne Pop
  • Lips: I lined my lips with MAC‘s Boldly Bare lip pencil first, then filled them in with MAC Brave with MAC Shy Girl on top

201607_womfvol47_look4.1

Annnnd more products I got from IMATS New York. Eesh, I had no idea how IMATS heavy this post was going to be!

201607_womfvol47_look4.2

Eyes
I first applied NYX‘s Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk as a base, then:

  1. Sugarpill Flamepoint
  2. Sugarpill Mochi
  3. Sugarpill Velocity
  4. Sugarpill 2AM
  5. MAC Blanc Type

I created the wing with MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline and applied Too Faced Better Than Sex Waterproof mascara to my lashes.

Face

  • Primer: Joe Fresh Illuminating Primer in Pure Glow
  • Foundation: Clinique Chubby in the Nude in Intense Ivory
  • Blush: Stila Convertible Color in Peach Blossom
  • Bronzer: MAC Refined Golden
  • Highlighter: Too Faced Candelight Warm Glow
  • Lips: Clinique Pop Glaze in Licorice Pop

Kat Von D Shade + Light Quad in Rust (Review, Swatches & Look)

Kat Von D Shade + Light Quad in Rust

I see the launch of the Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Quads as a colourful extension to her Shade + Light Eye Palette. You know… kind of like colourful addons that you can use to help flesh out the neutral look of the original palette.

Except… I was drawn to the shade range that is probably MOST like the original eyeshadow palette!

Kat Von D Shade + Light Quad in Rust
Kat Von D Shade + Light Quad in Rust

The brand new Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Quads come in four different colours that speak to different tonal shades. There’s Rust (matte brownish reds – which is the one featured in this post), Sage (matte greens), Plum (matte purples) and Smoke (matte cool grays). They’re also ALL matte shades.

Kat Von D Shade + Light Quad in Rust
Kat Von D Shade + Light Quad in Rust

So the Rust quad is… well… it’s pretty freaking gorgeous. As the name suggests, it features very warm and rusty shades. The largest pan is a bit more peach, the two middle shades are varying tones of orangey-red (be still my heart) and the final shade is a perfect brow bone highlight colour for me.

Kat Von D Shade + Light Quad in Rust - Swatches
Kat Von D Shade + Light Quad in Rust – Swatches

Swatched out on my skin you can see that they are really saturated with pigment. They do verge on slightly powdery (as does the original palette), but I’ll take that over a hardpacked shadow any day. I don’t tend to struggle with powdery shadows because I feel like you’ve got even more pigment to blend with.

KVD Rust versus KVD Shade + Light Palette - swatches
KVD Rust versus KVD Shade + Light Palette – swatches

I know a lot of people are going to compare the Rust quad to the warm toned section of the original KVD palette, so I thought I’d swatch both out for you to compare yourselves. They are definitely *similar*, but not quite the same. I prefer the tones in the Rust quad personally, but if you’re looking for more colour dimension to add to your collection, the other quads (Plum, Sage) may suit you better. You cannot go wrong with the formula though – so pick whichever quad suits your fancy!

Wearing Rust
Wearing Rust

Here’s how it played out on my face. I’m wearing only the Rust quad on my eyelids, and, since I know I’ll be asked, on my lips is Maybelline’s Vibrant Mandarin and on my cheeks is Hard Candy’s Skinny Dipping.

Wearing Rust
Wearing Rust
Eye Closeup
Eye Closeup

The Contour shade (the orange) was easily the most pigmented, so I’d say start small when you apply it to your lids and then keep building it up. I ended up whacking a whole ton on when I first applied it and the colour just kept blossoming over my lid as I was blending. (Not a bad thing, just worth mentioning!)

Eye Closeup
Eye Closeup

Final Thoughts

The Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Quad in Rust is a thing of beauty. The texture of the eyeshadows is soft and powdery (which I’ll leave up to you to decide if that’s a texture you enjoy – for me, that’s a thumbs up!) which make them very easy to blend. The colours are gorgeous and work incredibly well together – you can wear this quad without needing to pull in any other shadows for a cohesive eye look. I do find the packaging is a bit bulky, but it does fit with the KVD aesthetic so I understand the reasoning for it. I also love that she stuck to matte shadows with this launch. Overall product definitely gets two thumbs up from me!

The Kat Von D Shade +Light Eye Contour Quads can be purchased on sephora.ca for $34 CAD or on sephora.com for $26 USD.

The product featured in this post was sent to me for review.

Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer (Review, Swatch & Time Trial)

Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer
Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer

While my face may be on the dry side of things, I struggle with super freaking oily eyelids. If you’ve seen any of my makeup tutorials on my YouTube channel, you’ll often see me applying two separate eyeshadow primers to make sure my eyeshadow doesn’t crease on me throughout the day. Long gone are the days of using a single eyeshadow primer (although the Maybelline Master Prime gives me *almost* creaseless perfection!) for me it seems!

Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer
Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer

That being said, I am ALWAYS happy to try a new one out! Kat Von D recently released her Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer in a whopping five shades. You may think five shades is nothing, but have you ever stopped to consider that eyeshadow primers are (for the most part) quite clear?  Most of them offer little to no coverage for our veiny eyelids which is a struggle for people who enjoy wearing paler eyeshadow shades but also have a lot of veins and discolouration on their eyelids that they want to cover. The five shades range from fair to deep and I think it’s actually an impressive array considering that this is “only” an eyeshadow primer! (For example, there are brands out there that ONLY have four shades of foundation! Looking at you Joe Fresh!)

Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer with twist up
Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer with twist up

The brand indicates that the “formula color corrects your specific skintone to neutralize lids so that you can show off super-saturated, true color payoff.” It also comes in a nifty twist up stick for easy application.

Also comes with a sharpener!
Also comes with a sharpener!

It does come with a sharpener on the opposite end, but I can’t imagine why you’d need to sharpen this product – it’s not like precise lines are needed to cover your eyes. Regardless, it’s there if you need it!

Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer in Fair
Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer in Fair

The shade Fair is quite brightening on my skin and a tad bit pinker. I will point out the formula is on the dry side of things, so I end up applying the Lock-It primer by first running it on my eyelids, then blending it out with a finger to help warm up and spread the product out.

Time lapse on a day that it held up for me
Time lapse on a day that it held up for me

I know people like comparisons, so here we go! The shot on the left is from 7:30 am before I went to work, and the short on the right is when I got home at 5:00 pm. It looks flawless doesn’t it? There is no creasing whatsoever, and the colours are just as vibrant as ever (except for maybe my transition shade). However… this photo kind of annoyed me, because this is not an accurate reflection of how the primer always behaved. Sometimes I had severe creasing on my lids, and sometimes I didn’t. It was almost impossible to tell which days my eyeshadow would crease and which days it wouldn’t. I actually took the above time lapse photos to show you how much it could crease on me, but instead that very same day my eyeshadows stayed intact. *throws hands up in the air*

Final Thoughts

The Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer worked for me… sometimes. And that’s not a claim I’m overly comfortable with. If I can’t rely on my primer to work 100% of the time, then I’m going to double up on primers because I am not going to risk having my eyeshadow crease on me while I’m out. (Doubled up, this worked just fine for me!)

I love that Kat Von D offers five different shades to create a blank canvas on a wide variety of skintones. I think that’s especially important because it highlights the fact that companies are finally realizing there isn’t a one colour fits all for beauty products, and that’s extremely encouraging.

If you’re someone that doesn’t struggle with greasepit eyelids, I think this is a perfectly satisfactory eyeshadow primer that creates a blank canvas that makes your eyeshadows pop. But if you’re like me, and you need something more like super glue for your eyelids, I don’t think this is a primer you can wear on its own. That being said, I have blogger friends that this worked far better on, so please check out Swatch and Review and Workaday Beauty‘s posts on this primer!

The Kat Von D Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer can be purchased on sephora.ca for $33 CAD or on sephora.com for $25 USD.

The product featured in this post was went to be for consideration.