Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette

When the Shade + Light Eye Contour palette was announced, I immediately started drooling for it. I got mine early by nicely asking a Sephora employee about it, after seeing a few people on Instagram with it.

Top row, L-R: Laetus, Lazarus, Ludwin
Bottom row, L-R: Samael, Solas, Lucius, Saleos, Shax, Liberatus, Succubus, Sytry, Latinus

Top: Laetus
Bottom: Samael, Solas, Lucius

Laetus - Pale yellow beige
Samael - Light tan. Leans warm
Solas - Medium brown. Leans cool.
Lucius - Pale cream

Top: Laetus
Bottom: Samael, Solas, Lucius (Laetus and Lucius are nearly the same color as my skin, which is why you can't see them)

Top: Lazarus
Bottom: Saleos, Shax, Liberatus

Lazarus - Light taupe
Saleos - Medium-dark grey with a hint of brown
Shax - Black
Liberatus - Cool-leaning white

Top: Lazarus
Bottom: Saleos, Shax, Liberatus

Top: Ludwin
Bottom: Succubus, Sytry, Latinus

Ludwin - Slightly tan peach
Succubus - Reddened medium brown
Sytry - Medium-dark warm brown with a slight grey undertone
Latinus - Very pale yellow. This is the only shade with a satin finish.

Top: Ludwin
Bottom: Succubus, Sytry, Latinus

PIGMENTATION: For the most part, these shadows have excellent pigmentation.  Shax and Saleos fell slightly short of everyone else's mark. If I gave them report cards, Saleos would get a A- and Shax would get a B. Laetus and Lucius nearly match my skintone, but if you aren't a ghost, they'll definitely show up. (If you are a ghost, they will make excellent blending colors!)

PRODUCT: Laetus and Lucius felt a little chalky.  Samael and Solas felt almost like cream shadows when I touched the pan. Succubus, Sytry, and Latinus were so lovely and buttery.  I wore Laetus,
Samael, Solas, and Lucius the other day without UDPP (which I NEVER do) and I didn't have any creasing or fading for the entire time I had the shadows on (which was only about five hours). Eyeshadow ALWAYS creases on me- even when my skin was like paper from taking Accutane- so color me impressed. When I was dipping my brushes into the pans, a lot of powder was kicked up, but I didn't notice any fall out or crazy dust halo of eyeshadow on my cheeks (which sometimes happens when I'm trying to create magic with super powdery shadows.)

Check out that fancy background!

PACKAGING: The packaging is cardboard with decently sized mirror. This palette is divided into three tone sections: Neutral, Cool, and Warm and comes with an instruction guide on how to use the each section. There are two looks given for each tone section for a total of 6 looks-- perfect if you're new to makeup, or get in a rut. 

PRICE: $46

All in all, Shade + Light Eye Contour is THE perfect neutral palette. It has a great range of shades that really would work for all skin tones, there are no real duds in terms of texture, and it even comes with a guide to take the guesswork out of using it.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it. Kat Von D's Shade + Light Eye Contour palette will be fully available from Sephora soon! 

Review: Physician's Formula Eye Booster in Ultra Black

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of liquid eyeliner, and that I'm super picky about it.  I need something that is really pigmented, can effortlessly create a sharp line, and is waterproof.  Enter the Eye Booster by Physician's Formula.

PIGMENTATION: The name of this color, Ultra Black, is not a misnomer.  One swipe immediately delivers a rich, dense black.

I rubbed these lines a few times, and, as you can see, nothing happened.

PRODUCT: Not too thin, not too thick, the eyeliner's formula glides easily over my eyelids.  It dries down super fast, and STAYS PUT. I experienced no flaking or running-- even when my left eye would go rogue and water like crazy.  Also, it dries down to a satin finish.  The only downside to the how fast this dries, is that I have to scrape the dried eyeliner off of the brush tip a few times each time I use it.

The claim for this formula is that it has lash-boosting properties.  When I began using this, I was using the Urban Decay Lush Lash mascara, which did help my lashes grow.  If anything, the Eye Booster just maintained what the Lush Lash mascara did.

Obviously this is super well-loved!

PACKAGING: At first I was wary of the pen-style eyeliner since I was used to an inkwell, but it's really awesome.  The brush tip isn't too thin or too thick, and the fibers are really smooth.

PRICE: I bought this for around $11 at CVS, but it might be more or less depending on where you buy it.

All in all, the Eye Booster is easily my new favorite eyeliner, and is a great drugstore buy (or any store, really).  Of course, you don't have to take my word for it.  Physician's Formula Eye Booster is available  now at a drugstore near you. (or drugstore.com if not)

Review: Kat Von D Shade Shifter Eyeshadow- Devotion

Over the weekend, I was makeup shopping with my mom, and couldn't resist picking up one of the new KvD Shade Shifter eyeshadows.  The color I got was Devotion, which is described on Sephora.com as "copper."  I'd describe this as a metallic goldenrod yellow with a faint green shift which only really shows up in direct light.

PACKAGING: This eyeshadow is housed in a compact complete with a decent-sized mirror and a large sponge applicator.  There's a little window on the lid where you can see the color of the eyeshadow.  The packaging is plastic, so if you drop it on a hard surface it might crack, but it seems sturdy enough that it won't break from using it frequently. (I'm comparing it to cheaper plastic packaging in which the plastic hinge will break from opening and closing it often, like that of the Wet n Wild eyeshadow palettes.)

PIGMENTATION: Excellent! One swipe (dry) gives even, opaque color.  Since the Shade Shifter line is marketed as "water activated," I applied it with a damped sponge as per the recommendation on the box.  I found that it was just as smooth and pigmented, but the duo chrome aspect was not heightened at all.

L-R: Devotion swatched wet, dry.

Unfortunately, I couldn't capture the green duo. It is subtle, but it's there!

PRODUCT: The shadow is really smooth, buttery, and easily blendable.

PRICE: For $16, you get .09oz of product plus a mirror and a decent applicator.  It seems that this type of packaging for a single eyeshadow is unique to a brand like this*, but when compared to a luxury brand, this is a great deal**.  

*The brands I am referring to are: Urban Decay, Illamasqua, MAC, and Makeup Forever.  If there's something I've missed, please let me know!

** Dior's 1-Colour Ultra-Smoothing High Impact Eyeshadow, which is a similar-ly packaged single e/s with a mirror and applicator, is $29 for .07 oz. 

OVERALL, even though the shade this shifts to is just barely there, Devotion is a quality shadow that is worth checking out.

You don't have to take my word for it! The Kat Von D Shade Shifter Eyeshadow in Devotion (as well as the other three colors) is available now in Sephora stores and Sephora.com.

Review: Sephora Collection Retractable Brow Pencil- Waterproof

As someone with brows that naturally light and unfortunately sparse, I find it's really important to fill them in, lest I look something like this:

Usually my hair is dyed jet black, and I'd fill in my eyebrows to match, using the following:

• Kat Von D's eyeshadow in Lucifer
• Kat Von D's angled eyebrow brush
• Anastasia clear brow wax

However, I've let my hair go a little lighter, and those black brows are now WAY too harsh. Enter Sephora's Retractable Brow Pencil.

COLOR: I bought this in 04 Midnight Brown, which is the darkest available. It's a little lighter than my dyed hair color, but not so light that it looks blonde.  I think it works a little better for my "lighter" looks, as I find myself adding some darker color to my brow when I'm doing something super bright or dark on my eye.

PACKAGING: As the title implies, this is a retractable pencil.  I have had no problems with the twist-up mechanism.  At the opposite end, there is a little brow comb, which I controls product distribution better than a mascara spoolie brush.  The overall pencil is a great size for my makeup bag-- not so tiny that it will get lost, but not so huge that it won't fit.  The downside to the smaller size is that it only contains 0.003oz of product.

Comb end 

"Pencil" end

PRODUCT: The product itself is slightly creamy, so it glides on really well without having to do 1000 strokes over the same area for something to show up.  It's also very skinny, so I can get super defined eyebrows without going overboard (which sometimes happened with the shadow + KvD brush).  I haven't done any waterproofing tests with it, but it has been lasting on my sweaty face during this stupid hot summer.

OVERALL: At a $12 pricetag, this is definitely a worthy buy.  I do wish it came in one shade darker for when my hair is darker, because I can't see myself going back to eyeshadow for my brows after this!

My sad, natural eyebrow.

Filled in!

HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO ANASTASIA'S BROW WIZ?

When I bought Sephora's retractable eyebrow pencil, it was in the running against Anastasia's very similar Brow Wiz product.  The differences in Brow Wiz are: it contains more product (0.08 oz), has a much drier formula, has a spoolie brush on the end, and costs $20.  I figure the price increase has something to do with the fact that it has more product, but the dry formula was the deal breaker.  Granted, I only did comparison swatches with testers, so there's a chance that Anastasia's tester had dried out from everyone using it.  Regardless, I didn't mind saving $8!

Don't take my word for it-- The Sephora Collection Retractable Brow Pencil- waterproof is available now!