February 15, 2011

In Practice: green + purple look from Kat von D's Truth Palette

Here's the look I've been most successful with from the Truth palette (so far. Let's hope there will be more successes!).

Crease/outer corner: Prague
Lid: Long Distance
Highlight/inner corner: Sugar Skull

(other products used: High Frequency mascara in Lucifer, Autograph eyeliner in Puro Amor, eyeshadow in Lucifer [on brows], Tattoo Concealer in Light- all by Kat Von D. Also used: Urban Decay Primer potion)

I thought this looked a lot better in person, but maybe my light source was playing tricks on me? If so, maybe it's for the better. See how the colors don't blend completely smoothly into each other? Maybe these shadows would be better for a cut crease look?

If you have this palette and aren't having these problems, let me know! I'd love to hear the color combos that everyone has come up with, as well as any tips or tricks for these shadows!

February 14, 2011

Review: Kat Von D Truth Palette

Hi!

Today I'm going to *finally* review the latest palette offering from Kat Von D, "Truth." With the exception of the purpley-plum shadow, most of the palette consists of spring-appropriate pastels. Honestly, not really what I was expecting, but sometimes surprises are good, right?



All the colors were swatched over Urban Decay's Primer Potion.

L-R:


Sugar Skull pale pastel yellow shimmer(this appeared in last spring's Memento Mori palette)

Long Distance lime green shimmer with gold micro glitter

Snake Eyes apple green with gold pearl


Finland (cream) shimmery teal blue









L-R:
Prague dark plummy purple with reddish plum micro shimmer

Galeano (repeat from the Beethoven palette) shimmery warm-toned lavender

Rehab Ultra shimmery pale taupe

Sister Matte pinky-peach (I'm super fair, so it barely showed up on me)






I'm really on the fence about this palette. There are some really lovely colors (Long Distance, Prague, and Finland are my favorites), but there is one I don't quite know what to do with (Sister- i'm looking at you!). Generally the textures in these shadows aren't as good as previous KvD palettes. They're all REALLY powdery, which in turn causes a lot of fall out (you can even see it in the swatch of Prague!). I've also had problems with blending- especially with Rehab. It pretty much disappears/gets patchy if you try to work with it too much. For now, I would say to skip this, unless you are a complete makeup master. With all this said, I'm clinging to hope I can make these shadows work. They swatched well, but are a bit wonky in practice. Honestly I've only had the time/patience to practice a few looks so I'm going to keep working with these and try to figure out these bad boys. If my feelings change, I'll post a follow up review and beg for KvD's forgiveness haha!

Don't take my word for it-- you can purchase it at Sephora.

February 4, 2011

In Practice: Kat Von D pigment in Ladyhawke

If you saw the swatch photo of my review of the Ladyhawke pigment, you may have thought, "How the heck could I wear that in real life?!" The general population probably won't think that a reddish color would look good anywhere near their eye area, but with the right color combo, you can really make it work!



Here's what I used:


  • crease: Kat Von D "LadyHawke" (deep red-plum with shimmer) pigment

  • lid: MAC "Dalliance" (antiqued silvery gold with mega shimmer)mega metal eyeshadow

  • highlight: Kat Von D "Tequila" (pale yellow shimmer)shadow (from the Ludwig palette)

  • eyeliner: Kat Von D "Puro Amor" Autograph eyeliner(matte black)

  • mascara: Kat Von D high voltage mascara in Lucifer (black) (sadly, this has been discontinued)

  • brow: Kat Von D "Lucifer"(matte black) eyeshadow (from the Ludwig palette)

Not pictured:




  • cheeks: MAC "Tenderling" blush (sheer warm nude)


  • lips: Urban Decay "Heavy" Lip junkie (sheer warm glossy nude)

Lesson: Using a more neutral shadow, you can tone down a color you feel is too intense. Just blend them together, et voila! It helps if the neutral shadow has some shimmer in it, to diffuse the level of intensity of the color you're trying to tone down.


If you haven't tried this before, let me know how it works for you!


If you're interested in any of the products used in this look:


http://www.sephora.com/


http://www.maccosmetics.com/

Review: Kat Von D Pigment- Ladyhawke



A quick hello to everyone! This is the first offering from the Land of Lady Things, so sit back and enjoy the ride! On to the review!



Let me start off by saying that I'm a big fan of Kat Von D's cosmetic line. Everything I've purchased from it thus far has been really high quality with pretty packaging- what's not to love? Given my past experience, I knew I could buy something from the line sight unseen and probably be happy with it. Such was the case with this Kat Von D pigment!

Quick take: This is 5 grams/0.17 oz worth of shimmery dark reddish plum loose pigment. I feel like this would have been a good color to go with the Adora collection from fall '10.


(left side- used over Urban Decay Primer Potion. Right side: KvD Ladyhawke pigment all by its lonesome)
Pros: Highly pigmented, versatile (can be mixed with lip products, nail polish; etc), Price point- $16! Packaging is good- 4-holed sifter at top gave me perfect amount of product
Cons: Because it is loose, there is a bit of fallout and it doesn't go on as smoothly as a pressed shadow would. Color looked NOTHING like the swatch on Sephora.com (I ended up liking the color, but I imagine that others may not be so welcoming to this kind of surprise)

How does it compare to MAC pigments? I don't have any, so I don't know lol. (If anyone can clue me in, please do so!) What I do know is that MAC's pigments cost more for less ($19.50 for 4.5 grams/0.15oz).

You might like Kat Von D pigment in Ladyhawke if:
  • You are a fan of bold, highly pigmented cosmetics.
  • You want something high quality for a good price!

I personally am looking to get other colors, but I'm waiting until I can see them in person. No more surprises!

more colors/info: http://www.sephora.com/

Have you used this product? Let me know what you think!