Kat Von D | Beauty Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette

Kat Von D | Beauty Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette

The concept of the palette is that you can use the colours to create highlights and shadows to contour your eyes – like face contouring gone hardcore. There’s a handy step-by-step guide included with the palette which shows you how to define and lift your eyes for natural and smoky looks, as well as narrow and widen your eyes. In theory this sounds great, but in practice I found it tricky to keep my eyes looking natural, and when I did get them kind of right it just looked weird at the wrong angles (much like normal contouring!) so I’ve just been using them as regular eyeshadows.

The Shade + Light Eye palette consists of three quads: a neutral, a cool and a warm quad. Each quad has two light shades (with names that start with “L”) and two dark shades (with names that start with “S”). One light shade in each palette is designed to be used as a base, so it’s twice the size of the others (0.08 oz vs 0.04 oz) – which is a fantastic idea, because there are way too many palettes in my hoard where I’ve plowed through the medium colour while barely touching the dark and light shades. Under the base shade in each quad, there’s a contouring, defining and highlighting shades. The arrangement is handy, although most of the shades are versatile enough that they can be used on cool and warm toned people.

In general, the shades are all very pigmented, and blend out pretty well – there aren’t any flops in this palette formula-wise, though the darker shades tend to have more fallout and are unsurprisingly harder to blend. They’re long-wearing over primer, and don’t fade during the day.

What It Is: The Kat Von D Beauty Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette is a versatile eyeshadow palette designed to create depth, dimension, and contour on the eyelids. It features a curated selection of neutral shades in a mix of matte and shimmer finishes, ideal for sculpting and defining the eyes.

What It Does:

• Defines: Creates depth and dimension on the eyelids with contour shades.
• Sculpts: Adds definition and structure to the eye area.
• Highlights: Brightens and enhances the eyes with highlighting shades.
• Blends: Seamlessly blends to create a smooth, professional look.

Benefits:

• Versatile Shades: Includes a variety of neutral shades to suit different skin tones and create a range of eye looks.
• Blendable Formula: Easy to blend, allowing for smooth transitions between shades.
• Pigmented: High color payoff for intense and vibrant eye looks.
• Long-Wearing: Designed to stay in place throughout the day without creasing or fading.
• Compact Design: Travel-friendly palette with a sturdy case.

Ingredients:

Mica, Kaolin, Zinc Stearate,Lauroyl, lysin,Dimethicone, Silica, Squalane, Glyceryl caprylate, Hydrogenated lecithin, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate, Carthamus Tinctorius Seed Oil, Rosa Canina Flower Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxide , Carmine, Ultramarines, Triethoxycaprylylsilane.

How to Use:

1. Base: Apply a neutral base shade all over the eyelid to create a smooth canvas.
2. Contour: Use deeper shades to define the crease and outer corners of the eye.
3. Highlight: Apply lighter shades to the brow bone and inner corners of the eyes for a brightening effect.
4. Blend: Use a blending brush to seamlessly blend shades together for a polished look.

Cosmetic Finish: Matte, satin, and shimmer finishes

Makeup Features:

• Highly Pigmented: Delivers intense color payoff for bold eye looks.
• Smooth Application: Glides on effortlessly and blends well.
• Versatile Palette: Suitable for creating a variety of eye looks, from everyday to dramatic.

Product Certification and Standard: Cruelty-free, typically free from parabens and sulfates.

Dispenser Type: Palette with individual pans.

Suitable For: All skin types, including sensitive eyes.

Product Type: Eye Contour Palette
Product Form:  Powder

Special Effects:

• Customizable Looks: Allows for endless eye looks with a range of contouring and highlighting options.
• Professional Quality: Designed to achieve salon-quality results at home.

The Lights:

Lucius (neutral highlight) – described as soft beige. It’s a pale beige with a gorgeously creamy, blendable texture and a slight sheen. On my NC25 skin, it’s a nice bright highlight.

Liberatus (cool highlight) – describee as pinkish ivory. It’s a very pale white with a slight pink tinge – too pale for me to use for everyday neutral eye make-up. I found it quite powdery, and took a bit of work to blend out.

Latinus (warm highlight) – described as golden bisque. This is a warm yellow beige with the same creamy texture and sheen as Lucius. On my skin it blends out beautifully as a subtle glowy highlight. I’ve been using it in my undereye area as well.

Laetus (neutral base) – described as creamy nude. Laetus is like a slightly cooler, matter version of Latinus. It’s a little more powdery but still blends well. On my skin it’s a bit too light as a base shade.

Lazarus (cool base) – described as cool taupe. It’s a matte mushroomy grey taupe, and my favourite base shade although I’m pretty warm. It blends well and has fantastic colour payoff.

Ludwin (warm base) – described as peachy bronze. This is a pale orangey brown with a slight sheen which blends out prettily, but this colour looks super blah on me – it kind of makes my skin look kind of irritated and unnatural.

The Shades:

Samael (neutral contour) – described as dusty fawn. It’s a medium grey-tinged brown with a tiny bit of satiny sheen. I really like this shade, but unfortunately it pills up a bit and doesn’t blend as smoothly as some of the other shades in this palette.

Succubus (warm contour) – described as rich rust. It’s a deep terracotta colour with a super subtle sheen, and blends well but the colour doesn’t suit me much.

Saleos (cool contour) – described as smoky brown. This is a matte dark grey-brown, which took a bit of work to blend.

Solas (neutral define) – espresso brown. This is a matte coffee-bean brown shade. Like the other deep neutral shade, there’s a bit of pilly fallout and take a little work to blend.

Shax (cool define) – described as jet black. It’s matte black, and not super opaque, and a bit tricky to blend.

Sytry (warm define) – described as chocolate brown. I think this is actually a bit cooler than Solas from the neutral quad – I love this shade! It’s also more blendable and less powdery.

Packaging

The palette comes housed in a cardboard-covered-in-satin-wrapping-paper affair held closed by hidden magnets, like many other mid-range palettes these days – I’m not a huge fan, as I’ve found that the corners get dented easily and the palette starts looking sad pretty quickly, but I’ve accepted that it’s what’s happening and there ain’t anything I can do about it. The logo on the front is Gothic calligraphy hand-designed by Miss Von D herself, which looks fantastically cool. I really like the mirror on the inside – it’s a nice wide mirror which lets you see both your eyes very easily, with pretty swirly cutouts.